Why I Just Left Academia
Friday, August 13, 2010 - 15:28
in Mathematics & Economics
This week a computer science researcher named Vinay Deolalikar claimed to have a proof that P is not equal to NP. Let’s set aside what this means for another day, lest I get distracted. The important thing now is that this is big. Huge, even! If, that is, he’s correct. But correct or not, that’s the kind of thing one expects to see in academia. Tenure gives professors job security and research freedom, exactly the conditions needed to enable them to make the non-incremental breakthroughs that fundamentally alter the intellectual landscape. (And in the case of P not equal to NP, to acquire fame and fortune.) read more