Perelman has given fruits, but being as selfish as he is now makes him as good as dead. Imagine if Ramanujan had went back to India and given up just after the Ramanujan conjecture. Or if Erdos had called it quits shortly after working on the probabilistic method.
> Perelman has given fruits, but being as selfish as he is now makes him as good as dead.
This is one of the dumbest and offensive thing I have read here in YN.
> Imagine if Ramanujan had went back to India and given up just after the Ramanujan conjecture. Or if Erdos had called it quits shortly after working on the probabilistic method.
And what would happen? Nothing. Humanity will still be here without their contribution.
Let me list the stupid assumptions contained on those lines:
* New knowledge is simply a gift - not a product of effort. * People that produce knowledge have obligation of giving it to society. * On the top of it, now he is now "as good as dead". So let me see if I understood: leeches like jimmyjim (who probably never produced anything useful in his life) should be allowed to go on, while people like Perelman - who already given us a very valuable gift - should now die? Because he is tired, or refuses to continue to do so? Is he some kind of slave to humanity?
> Imagine if Ramanujan had went back to India and given up just after the Ramanujan conjecture. Maybe he would have a happier life for himself and his family? Maybe he would change and become a great writer? A mass murderer? A drunk? Who fucking cares, and why the fuck does it matter? It is his life, and he can do whatever he wants with it.
That's what I'm choosing to believe, anyway.
That said, let's imagine another scenario. In a late night, your mother is being raped right before my eyes. It is my moral obligation to report this, isn't it? Of course, I can choose to exercise my free right and not report this incident, because, it's my life, and I can do whatever I want with it... but if I have the capability to do so, I think I should rather satisfy my moral obligation. But maybe that's just me. And maybe you'd see better if you pulled your head out of Ayn Rand's arse.
Perelman has the capacity and capability to give fascinating gifts of knowledge to this world, and I hope that we all come to respect his wishes (to honor him in a way that it doesn't offend him), so that the newfound knowledge is used for good to better mankind.