I’m very opinionated. So it’s nearly impossible for me to hear someone’s arguments and *not* find something I disagree with. (This includes reading things I myself wrote years - or weeks - ago.) And yet the amazing Grant Sanderson @3blue1brown has put out a long, detailed video on the future of mathematics, in which I cannot find a single flaw. I’ll be sending this to every PhD student and postdoc I know, and strongly recommend everyone watch it.
youtube.com/watch?v=LKrwhj…
(Of course I tried to say many of the same things in my conversation with Thomas Koberda. But Grant’s version, unsurprisingly, does an infinitely better job at communicating those ideas!)
youtube.com/watch?v=LKrwhj…
(Of course I tried to say many of the same things in my conversation with Thomas Koberda. But Grant’s version, unsurprisingly, does an infinitely better job at communicating those ideas!)
Oct 20, 2026 · 12:43 PM UTC
31
117
909
73,604
@AlexKontorovich Your conversation with Thomas Koberda was fantastic, and I've also been enthusiastically recommending it to people. It definitely says much more than I did here!
(Link, for anyone unfamiliar: proofsandprompts.com/2026/10/14/the…)
(Link, for anyone unfamiliar: proofsandprompts.com/2026/10/14/the…)
0
1
49
3,206
@AlexKontorovich @3blue1brown The worst advice of the year is to recommend a young mathematician to apply for a PhD.
0
0
9
764
@AlexKontorovich @3blue1brown Disagree. I LOVE 3b1b, but this feels like finding a silver lining as math becomes the new humanities: no economic value, no status, just "do it for the love of it." And transferable skills? Transfer to what? AI is replacing those skills in other fields too.
2
0
14
1,871
@AlexKontorovich @3blue1brown When a self-described very opinionated mathematician can't find a single flaw, that's worth a watch. Grant's visuals also carry half the argument, which is why his videos land even for people whose first language isn't English 📐
0
0
0
375
@AlexKontorovich @3blue1brown You are glossing over the legitimate concerns raised in the comments. A big part of the reason many students were drawn to mathematics in the first place, aside from contributing to society in a meaningful way, was for the personal enjoyment of the process itself.
1
0
0
163
@AlexKontorovich @3blue1brown No. The people who solve Navier Stokes should get the Millenium problem (if people did it), not those who then develop the methods into a broader theory.
0
0
0
221
@AlexKontorovich @3blue1brown I will watch this video because of this tweet and I would not have watched it otherwise
0
0
1
277
@AlexKontorovich @3blue1brown The graphical renderings are truly beautiful. However, I think he misses the point in two important dimensions: 1) there is no mention whatsoever on the fundamental transformation which AI is causing on the career of young mathematicians.
2
0
1
869
@AlexKontorovich @3blue1brown Your humility is something to learn from.
0
0
0
161
@AlexKontorovich @3blue1brown I have to watch it yet but the analogy I have in my head:
"Computer" used to be an actual human occupation. Purely mental, white collar. When machines took over, we needed MORE math, CS, EE, physics people, not less.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_…
"Computer" used to be an actual human occupation. Purely mental, white collar. When machines took over, we needed MORE math, CS, EE, physics people, not less.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_…
0
0
0
583
@AlexKontorovich @3blue1brown Many courses / departments that now need math instructors because they need their students to learn at least some math may well need to ‘outsource’ leas of that to math instructors. Many students in programs that just require some math see the math courses as ‘unavoidable pain’..
1
0
0
444
@AlexKontorovich @3blue1brown I think he underestimates how much the world around math will change. For example it’s questionable if scientists and engineers will need math education to the extent they have historically. In the long term we’re most likely going to see a general devaluation of formal thinking.
0
0
0
21
@AlexKontorovich @3blue1brown Thanks for posting. I see so many parallels to software engineering and can only assume that, as time goes on, more and more groups will have to face very similar challenges in their industries
0
0
1
408
@AlexKontorovich @3blue1brown lol same; was listening intently to find ANYTHING to disagree on and came up with zilch
0
0
1
91
@AlexKontorovich @3blue1brown He is really good...more than well-reasoned, his optimism is infectious
0
0
0
274
@AlexKontorovich @3blue1brown I'm not sure if all he says matches his previous outlook. He says here he doesn't want to reel people in, e.g. to start a PhD. Is that a redcon?
0
0
1
658
Grant Sanderson (@3blue1brown) is the most influential mathematician of the 21st century.
0
0
0
284
@AlexKontorovich @3blue1brown Hi Alex, I am also interest in mathematics with the exact same optimism. How will the PhD recruitment change in Math
0
0
0
151
@AlexKontorovich @3blue1brown Exactly same feelings. I prematurely wrote a comment on the video after watching a little bit disagreeing with him only to delete it later after watching the whole video.
0
0
0
216
We just raised $5.7M for @polarbrowser, the AI browser that beats Anthropic and OpenAI on every major web agent benchmark.
- 4,500,000+ actions taken for users, automating sales, recruiting, and ops
- One company cancelled Clay and saves 25+ hrs/wk per person
- Team is from MIT, Street, Perplexity, Modal, and Apple
100 hours of work. From 30 seconds of typing.
Download the world's most powerful AI browser: polarbrowser.com
- 4,500,000+ actions taken for users, automating sales, recruiting, and ops
- One company cancelled Clay and saves 25+ hrs/wk per person
- Team is from MIT, Street, Perplexity, Modal, and Apple
100 hours of work. From 30 seconds of typing.
Download the world's most powerful AI browser: polarbrowser.com
1,137
1,082
14,771
16,558,459
@AlexKontorovich @3blue1brown He frames the scenarios "AI gets better than humans at asking questions, theory building, and everything else" as funny hypotheticals to ponder, when they are the most likely outcome soon.
Then he explains how the latter case is still good, with little more than wishful thinking.
Then he explains how the latter case is still good, with little more than wishful thinking.
0
0
2
383
@AlexKontorovich @3blue1brown always a good time to go into math. the tools change every week, the math doesn't. study things with a long shelf life.
0
0
1
185
@AlexKontorovich if proofs get cheap and Lean checks them, the scarce skill is choosing the question. does refereeing shift the same way, from "is it right?" to "is it worth proving?"
0
0
0
103
@AlexKontorovich @3blue1brown Moreover, the well-established problem of skill transfer shows that skills do not automatically generalize across domains. Solving math problems primarily makes you better at solving math problems, not necessarily at anything else.
0
0
1
166
@AlexKontorovich @3blue1brown People need to learn to do AI in steps and a change in the order of the steps I will suggest below is going to change the outcome- with AI specially if you know how it works.
Ask it to start from higher order logic
Do not start with axioms
1 empirical logic
Formalize
3 explain
Ask it to start from higher order logic
Do not start with axioms
1 empirical logic
Formalize
3 explain
0
0
0
18
@AlexKontorovich @3blue1brown It's really over when you have to start sending motivational messages now. Hahah
0
0
0
100
@AlexKontorovich @3blue1brown Oh, I'm like Alex ;)
0
0
0
87
