Timeline for Questions, answers, comments or discussions on aspects of politics relevant to mathematicians on MathOverflow (main or meta)
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
30 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Feb 25, 2022 at 13:50 | comment | added | R. van Dobben de Bruyn | Another concrete example of a political issue relevant to the mathematics community is the uncertainty about the ICM in Russia in 2022, cf. this question. | |
| Aug 27, 2020 at 8:15 | history | became hot meta post | |||
| Aug 23, 2020 at 13:16 | comment | added | Harry Gindi | Oh, like bespoke. Gotcha! @ToddTrimble | |
| Aug 23, 2020 at 11:19 | comment | added | Todd Trimble Mod | @HarryGindi It means something coined or fashioned for a single-use occasion. | |
| Aug 23, 2020 at 8:12 | history | edited | Toby Bartels | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
misspelling
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| Aug 23, 2020 at 4:31 | comment | added | Harry Gindi | @ToddTrimble Reading that thread, I'm extremely confused what is a 'nonce post'… Nonce means something rather different here in the UK. | |
| Aug 23, 2020 at 4:28 | comment | added | Harry Gindi | @ToddTrimble oh geez. | |
| Aug 23, 2020 at 2:04 | comment | added | Todd Trimble Mod | @HarryGindi Not quite complete unity: we've tried it before, meta.mathoverflow.net/questions/2797/mathoverflow-user-jailed/…, and the resulting discussion discourages me from trying it again. | |
| Aug 21, 2020 at 10:48 | answer | added | Paul Siegel | timeline score: 16 | |
| Aug 21, 2020 at 5:13 | comment | added | Harry Gindi | @GerryMyerson If allowing those discussions is going to be used as a wedge to pry MO open to the culture war, then I propose banning those topics as well, which is unfortunate, since I think those are issues where we could find complete unity. | |
| Aug 19, 2020 at 23:23 | comment | added | Gerry Myerson | Typing mathematician political prisoner into Google brought up many names including José Luis Massera, Vadim Anatolyevich Yankov, Azat Miftakhov. Would this be a discussion on aspects of politics relevant to mathematicians on MathOverflow? I can see where it might fit better on academia.se, but not every mathematician is an academic – what if an industrial mathematician is held as a political prisoner? | |
| Aug 19, 2020 at 21:45 | answer | added | fedja | timeline score: 7 | |
| Aug 19, 2020 at 19:50 | history | edited | Stefan KohlMod | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Added a list of examples of aspects of politics which may be relevant in the context.
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| Aug 19, 2020 at 16:45 | answer | added | Hailong Dao | timeline score: 29 | |
| Aug 18, 2020 at 17:51 | answer | added | user44143 | timeline score: 10 | |
| Aug 18, 2020 at 12:07 | answer | added | Tim Campion | timeline score: 5 | |
| Aug 18, 2020 at 11:23 | comment | added | LSpice | Does an upvote on this question mean "I'm glad it was asked" (which I am) or "I think comments about politics belong on meta discussions about policy" (which I don't)? That's not to say that there are no questions in which it's relevant, but it wasn't relevant on the meta post to which you refer (which should have been only a question of policy and moderation). I think that comment thread did not reflect well on us, including specifically me and the people with whom I agree politically. | |
| Aug 17, 2020 at 21:18 | comment | added | David Roberts Mod | @Noah, totally agree. I didn't say answers couldn't stray into what some might call the political, and I didn't say it was impossible for really MO-only suitable questions, just unlikely IMHO. | |
| Aug 17, 2020 at 18:48 | comment | added | Noah Snyder | @DavidRoberts: Martin Hairer's question seems pretty clearly much more on-topic here than at academia. | |
| Aug 17, 2020 at 0:32 | comment | added | David Roberts Mod | Reading the site description (mathematics research) in a strict sense, and in the context where questions that relate to academia more broadly have been increasingly directed to academia.SE, I find it hard (though not impossible) to imagine questions that are actually on-topic. Any answer to this question should address why politics-related discussion/questions are more suited to here and not better on academia.SE | |
| Aug 16, 2020 at 22:01 | comment | added | Stanley Yao Xiao | Specifically, something like this page would certainly be considered "politics relevant to mathematicians": icm2022boycott.org | |
| Aug 16, 2020 at 18:54 | comment | added | Stefan Kohl Mod | @NoahSnyder I think "politics relevant to mathematicians" is far more than just issues of gender and "race" (the last word put in quotes as there are no different biological races of humans -- so "race" in itself may be seen as a racist term). -- For example, is it not relevant to mathematicians how universities and research are funded, which regulations there are on types of employment contracts mathematicians can get at universities, whether people studying mathematics need to pay tuition fees, and so on? | |
| Aug 16, 2020 at 18:40 | comment | added | Noah Snyder | @StefanKohl: I think that's imprecise and that the imprecision is going to hurt the conversation. Other aspects of politics simply don't come up here. Furthermore, it's easy to say "politics" and "math" are separate if you're thinking of politics in the usual sense of political parties, campaigns, government policy, etc., and much harder to see the exact line when you're talking about the roles of gender and race inside mathematics. | |
| Aug 16, 2020 at 18:35 | comment | added | Stefan Kohl Mod | @NoahSnyder The "issues related to gender and race in mathematics" are only one aspect of politics (though maybe one which is given particular value in the US ... ). | |
| Aug 16, 2020 at 18:28 | comment | added | Noah Snyder | In particular, I think this question would be much clearer if you replaced "politics" with "issues related to gender and race in mathematics." | |
| Aug 16, 2020 at 18:28 | comment | added | Lucia | I don't know, Noah. The other meta question had comments that included: "Nazis", "confederates", "antifascists" (I don't know why this term would be anything other than a badge of pride, but ok), "fascists and apologists", "white supremacists." Can the discussion get any uglier? The discussion on main (moved to chat) was largely thoughtful with people trying to engage with each other. On chat I was especially heartened to read Remy's thoughtful opinion. | |
| Aug 16, 2020 at 18:23 | comment | added | Noah Snyder | I don't think anyone wants there to be political discussions here. The issue mostly seems to be what the borders of politics are. At exactly what point did Martin Hairer's question and its answers become "political"? It's just very hard to draw a clear line between what's political and what is not. (And at no stage did any of the discussion involve "politics" in the traditional sense of parties or government.) | |
| Aug 16, 2020 at 18:19 | comment | added | Lucia | I should add that I think you are right to bring up this question. It's good for people to reflect on it as a community, even if everyone individually would surely have thought of such issues. | |
| Aug 16, 2020 at 18:14 | comment | added | Lucia | Political discussions, even among friends, run the risk of misunderstandings. The situation seems particularly toxic these days, and especially in the US. A forum like MO where people don't in general know each other, or understand each other's motivations, is not suited for political discourse. If people (of any political persuasion) wish to get outraged at each other, there is always Twitter! Just my two cents. | |
| Aug 16, 2020 at 16:21 | history | asked | Stefan KohlMod | CC BY-SA 4.0 |