I’m no mystic but one idea with slim evidence I just can’t shake is that anything and everything that’s theoretically elegant will find application or explanatory power in the fullness of time. Besides noneuclidean geometry, integer partitions come to top of mind as something that looks pure finding applications that we didn’t know we needed, and surprisingly fast.
I can only barely understand the explanation for things like monstrous moonshine, but I’m with Conway on this stuff anyway.. there has to be a reason, it can’t just be a coincidence. Or in more classical terms, maybe nature abhors a vacuum, but not in the original sense. Lots of math is just too cool to not use somewhere.
I can only barely understand the explanation for things like monstrous moonshine, but I’m with Conway on this stuff anyway.. there has to be a reason, it can’t just be a coincidence. Or in more classical terms, maybe nature abhors a vacuum, but not in the original sense. Lots of math is just too cool to not use somewhere.