[slavapestov]

> My view now is that the applications are quite limited, but the math is still cool.

This is true of everything, of course. Everyone knows that “practical applications” is just a flimsy excuse to get funding for your cool math project.

I’ve found that the main benefit of learning math is not the practical applications of the theorems and algorithms themselves, but just the practice you get from using this approach to thinking. This also frees you up to learn the math you find interesting and not what you think might be immediately useful in your day job.