Quote:
Originally posted by KnifeMissle
There are no elitist mathematicians, we're all elite.
The idea that there are mathematics that can't possibly have any application is such an exaggeration that I don't mind calling it a fallacy. Even for the most abstract branches of mathematics, we simply say that there is currently no known application. The idea that it is interesting and gives us confidence in our reasoning is useful enough, for the moment. However, too often in the past has some branch of abstract mathematics become applicable that we dare not say that something is useless. Two very important examples are complex numbers and calculus!
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Read the book. "The Mathematical Experience" by Philip J. Davis and Reuben Hersh.