[aleph_minus_one]

> You're being paid hundreds of thousands dollars to deliver business value - so do that. Build mathematical towers on your own time.

A better understanding of the deep underlying structure behind the business problems is a step towards proving business value. This is exactly what I mean with a " much less anti-intellectual way of approaching [business problems]".

[AnimalMuppet]

A better understanding of the deep underlying structure behind the business problems can be a step towards proving business value. Or it can be interesting to a small number of people, but completely useless.

Of course, the people to whom it is interesting think that the case they're interested in is almost certainly in the "providing business value" category. In their enthusiasm, they probably over-estimate the odds...