[dwroberts]

Probably one of the funniest things to read on a site like this, when you consider that eg. Boolean algebra was entirely abstract and had little practical purpose for almost 100 years until Shannon picked it up for use in circuits

[card_zero]

Boole was trying to improve logic for humans, "The Laws of Thought". So it has a connection to human problems, and eventually to practical matters. He could instead have been working on something much more abstract and much less useful.

By which I'm trying to make an abstract point about the inevitability of staying somewhat down to earth. I mean "pure" curiosity is great, except it isn't ever really pure, and abstract mathematics isn't ever totally abstract, it's just sort of meta in relation to practical things that humans care about.

[dwroberts]

> So it has a connection to human problems, and eventually to practical matters.

But in relation to parent post I was replying to, it did not provide an answer or solution to anything. It has much closer relation to philosophy than anything.

Focusing on only ‘solutions’ in any field is shortsighted because you can’t know how the dots will connect. Someone’s seemingly pointless curiosity or experiment can unlock something unexpected, just like Boole