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It seems as of late ,especially since 2013, there is huge demand for learning complicated mathematics, coding, and trading algorithms. It's like the AP-math class of high school, but as of 2013 expanded to include almost everyone, not just a dozen students lol. This recent obsession with math and finance is described in more detail..... Obsession with Math? Where do you live where people have math obsessions? Where I live STEM graduates are a massive minority (We had an HN article on the front page about this very topic just yesterday) Mathematics is some sort of taboo magic in the eyes of 99.99% of humans, not something anybody studies to gain prestige, status or global notoriety. Your average citizen can't even name one mathematician. People observe, read headlines about high-IQ founders, venture capitalists, and coders making tons of money in Web 2.0 (Uber, Pinterest, Snaphat, Dropbox, etc.); STEM people getting tons of prestige, status, and global notoriety for their finding (Arxiv physics and math papers frequently go viral); and how the economy, especially as of 2008, rewards intellectualism and STEM in terms of higher wages and surging asset prices (like stocks (the S&P 500 has nearly tripled since the 2009 bottom), web 2.0 valuations (Snapchat is worth $15 billion, on its way to $50 billion), and real estate (Palo Also home prices have doubled since 2011)), and, understandably, many people want a piece of the wealth pie. They see that intellect - which includes STEM, finance, and also quantitative finance - is the path to both riches and social status (as embodied by wealthy geniuses like Musk, Thiel, Zuckerberg, Shkreli).... There is NOTHING genius about narcissistic photo-sharing websites or SnapChat. These are just illusive innovations, a fools-paradise for the masses. Not only that, but the "social status" of these founders you mention has rarely left the confines of the tech-world anyway, if you want social status in our society go to acting school and move to Hollywood. I mean..... this world you mention where STEM students gain so much prestige and math papers go.... viral? Where is this world? What planet are you posting from? Which galaxy is it located in? Is this post of yours real-life or am I dreaming? |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echo_chamber_(media)