It's interesting to suddenly get all these hits.. I haven't touched the blog in a long time.
I'm sorry that you didn't find it well-written -- it wasn't written with you in mind. Originally I wanted to write about my research in a way that was understandable to a lay person, but I quickly abandoned that and went for the mythical "second year undergrad" level.
You have pretty strong thoughts about what is "useful mathematical work". Are you the high priest and decider of the usefulness of mathematics? To be honest, it almost sounds like some category theorist was super mean to you...
One more thing. Arguments like "niche of a niche" are sociological - just because something is niche doesn't mean it's not important (or, god forbid, fun!). Maths is one of the most conservative fields in this sense; what is and is not considered "standard" is extremely political.
I'm sorry that you didn't find it well-written -- it wasn't written with you in mind. Originally I wanted to write about my research in a way that was understandable to a lay person, but I quickly abandoned that and went for the mythical "second year undergrad" level.
You have pretty strong thoughts about what is "useful mathematical work". Are you the high priest and decider of the usefulness of mathematics? To be honest, it almost sounds like some category theorist was super mean to you...
One more thing. Arguments like "niche of a niche" are sociological - just because something is niche doesn't mean it's not important (or, god forbid, fun!). Maths is one of the most conservative fields in this sense; what is and is not considered "standard" is extremely political.