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user-inactivated · 3817 days ago · link · · parent · post: Jordan Ellenberg, “How Not To Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking”
First place is first place. Do you think someone like Bill Gates is going to question whether or not his decisions were the right ones because someone in 2314 might be worth more money than he is now? We can stretch this out to ridiculous proportions, but it won't change my initial point. You can talk about local vs global maxima all day long, that sort of stuff only really matters to a mathematician. In the real world, we judge our achievements in relation to those around us, not to idealized perfection. Is Gordon Ramsay a great chef because he's perfect and no one can ever be as good, or better than him, or is he a great chef because he's arguably better than everyone else?