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by jltsiren 8 days ago
Depends on the solution. If the solution is that P≠NP, the concept of NP-completeness remains the bigger contribution, unless the proof techniques are particularly interesting and lead to other major results. The same applies if P=NP but the proof does not ultimately lead to a practical algorithm. If we get a practical algorithm, the answer is more valuable than the question.
1 comments

Do questions like goldbach conjecture, fermats last theorem, etc deserve more credit than whoever answers them?
Fermat's last theorem probably doesn't. While attempts to solve it have led to many mathematical discoveries, the theorem itself feels little more than a piece of trivia. I'm less familiar with the implications of the Goldbach conjecture.

In contrast, class NP and NP-completeness quickly became central concepts in theoretical computer science.