# What could I do if I was the worlds greatest mathematician? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 23, 2004, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-i-do-if-i-was-the-worlds-greatest-mathematician/246698 "2004-05-23T22:30:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CalH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3ab097/32.png) [@CalH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalH)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2004, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-i-do-if-i-was-the-worlds-greatest-mathematician/246698/1 "2004-05-23T22:30:52Z")
Of absolutely all time? What cool things could I do? Let’s say I was a superhuman mathematician? Could I predict rises and falls in the stock market? Make loads of money in investment? Work out a mathematical theorem that allows me to sleep with _exactly_ 22 women every day (I’ve got it down to 18 - boy my life’s work is sooooo hard)… Come on… pull out all the stops… be imaginative (but try to stick to the subject matter)… So, what could I (or you) do if I (or you) were the greatest ever mathematical being? ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2004, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-i-do-if-i-was-the-worlds-greatest-mathematician/246698/2 "2004-05-23T22:48:20Z")
[http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Wiles.html](http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Wiles.html) ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-i-do-if-i-was-the-worlds-greatest-mathematician/246698/3 "2004-05-24T00:24:53Z")
You could solve problems that no one else understands. Maybe your work would find applications someday, maybe it wouldn’t. We’re not in it for the fame. ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-i-do-if-i-was-the-worlds-greatest-mathematician/246698/4 "2004-05-24T00:45:20Z")
Graham’s Constant, or something like that … I don’t remember precisely what it was. **ultrafilter** , he of the thread detailing it, might be able to clue you in more adequately;) ---
**Author:** ![Uvula\_Donor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Uvula\_Donor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uvula_Donor)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-i-do-if-i-was-the-worlds-greatest-mathematician/246698/5 "2004-05-24T04:06:45Z")
Maybe I’d be able to balance my checkbook. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-i-do-if-i-was-the-worlds-greatest-mathematician/246698/6 "2004-05-24T14:26:16Z")
Cash in on mad math groupie action! ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-i-do-if-i-was-the-worlds-greatest-mathematician/246698/7 "2004-05-24T14:43:16Z")
Your could call yourself a “Mathemagician” and get a wizards’ cloak and peaked hat with numbers and formulas all over it. IIRC I think this is how **cabbage** dresses. ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-i-do-if-i-was-the-worlds-greatest-mathematician/246698/8 "2004-05-24T15:16:45Z")
Let’s look at some past famous mathematicians (I’ll include physicists): Newton: probably died a virgin. Gauss: Killed young in a duel over a woman, which was probably a goverment assassination. Stephen Hawking: … Andew Wiles: the nearest thing to fame any of get nowadays… OTOH, if you forgo true mathematics, you might well be able to make a killing on the stock market. But no-one’s going to call you the bets mathematician of all time. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-i-do-if-i-was-the-worlds-greatest-mathematician/246698/9 "2004-05-24T15:48:18Z")
> [@Shade](#): > > Gauss: Killed young in a duel over a woman, which was probably a goverment assassination. You’re thinking of Galois, and no one’s really sure what the duel was about (unless there’s some recent discovery I don’t know of). ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-i-do-if-i-was-the-worlds-greatest-mathematician/246698/10 "2004-05-24T17:34:46Z")
Your theories couldn’t be proved until 40 years from now. And your heirs would be robbed of profits because of it. Just win the lottery! ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-i-do-if-i-was-the-worlds-greatest-mathematician/246698/11 "2004-05-24T17:49:48Z")
> [@CalH](#): > > Let’s say I was a superhuman mathematician? To the best of my knowledge, there has never been a superhero whose super power was incredible mathematical ability. There’s a reason for that. 🙂 > [@](#): > > Could I predict rises and falls in the stock market? Make loads of money in investment? Before you try, you might want to take a look at [_A Mathematician Plays the Stock Market_](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0465054803/qid=1085420781/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-2386458-2606351?v=glance&s=books) by John Allen Paulos. > [@](#): > > Work out a mathematical theorem that allows me to sleep with _exactly_ 22 women every day Okay, now I’m thinking of the scene in _A Beautiful Mind_ where John Nash is in the bar… ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-i-do-if-i-was-the-worlds-greatest-mathematician/246698/12 "2004-05-24T19:05:21Z")
You could derive great enjoyment fiddling with patterns nobody else can see. I think that’s about it, but there are worse ways to spend your time. The downside is that if someone finds something practical to do with anything you’ve come up with, it’ll probably be a weapon. ---
**Author:** ![verbenabeast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c4cdca/32.png) [@verbenabeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/verbenabeast)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-i-do-if-i-was-the-worlds-greatest-mathematician/246698/13 "2004-05-24T22:06:30Z")
add and subtrakt rilly gud? ---
**Author:** ![SlowMindThinking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@SlowMindThinking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlowMindThinking)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-i-do-if-i-was-the-worlds-greatest-mathematician/246698/14 "2004-05-24T23:10:18Z")
> [@Shade](#): > > Let’s look at some past famous mathematicians (I’ll include physicists): > > Newton: probably died a virgin. > Gauss: Killed young in a duel over a woman, which was probably a goverment assassination. > Stephen Hawking: … > Andew Wiles: the nearest thing to fame any of get nowadays… > > OTOH, if you forgo true mathematics, you might well be able to make a killing on the stock market. But no-one’s going to call you the bets mathematician of all time. This list is a little unfair. I believe Euler had huge numbers of children, Gauss lived to a ripe old age (and left a large estate behind), and Newton chose to be a virgin. Otherwise, Newton did take advantage of his “fame”. A better list would be Galois: died young in a ditch after being shot in a duel Abel: died young and in extreme poverty, with no one realizing his genius until afterwards Riemann: died young Archimedes: died old, but at the hands of a Roman soldier he pissed off. To answer the OP, if I were tgreatest mathematician I could predict how many women I could pick up at the bars: zero. I might earn a few million bucks solving the greatest outstanding math problems, though. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-i-do-if-i-was-the-worlds-greatest-mathematician/246698/15 "2004-05-24T23:17:01Z")
> [@CalH](#): > > Could I predict rises and falls in the stock market? Make loads of money in investment? Work out a mathematical theorem that allows me to sleep with _exactly_ 22 women every day (I’ve got it down to 18 - boy my life’s work is sooooo hard)… No, but you could do all of these things if you were the world’s greatest psychologist. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-i-do-if-i-was-the-worlds-greatest-mathematician/246698/16 "2004-05-24T23:35:01Z")
> [@SlowMindThinking](#): > > To answer the OP, if I were tgreatest mathematician I could predict how many women I could pick up at the bars: zero. > > I might earn a few million bucks solving the greatest outstanding math problems, though. With a million bucks or so, it gets a lot easier to pick up women at bars. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-i-do-if-i-was-the-worlds-greatest-mathematician/246698/17 "2004-05-24T23:43:36Z")
Forgot to add, if you were the world’s greatest mathematician, or any kind of mathematician at all, you would learn quickly how bad at math everyone around you is. It’s completely mystifying, but for some reason people seem to feel the need to confess to us. ---
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-i-do-if-i-was-the-worlds-greatest-mathematician/246698/18 "2004-05-25T01:09:52Z")
Calculate the value of pi, to the last whole number. You’ll be knighted by the Queen of England, feted by Mensa, and ignored by hot babes. ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-i-do-if-i-was-the-worlds-greatest-mathematician/246698/19 "2004-05-25T10:09:23Z")
> [@medstar](#): > > Calculate the value of pi, to the last whole number. You’ll be knighted by the Queen of England, feted by Mensa, and ignored by hot babes. On the contrary: 1. Pi is rational. (medstar’s proof). 2. (Pi is rational) or (I sleep with 22 hot babes every night) (from 1, defn of or) 3. not ( (Pi is not rational) and (I don’t sleep with 22 hot babes every night) ) (de morgan) 4. Pi is not rational (standard proof, [http://planetmath.org/encyclopedia/Pi.html](http://planetmath.org/encyclopedia/Pi.html)) 5. not ( I don’t sleep with 22 hot babes every night) (as (A and B) = B when A is true) 6. I sleep with 22 hot babes every night. (double not) QED, baby. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2004, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-i-do-if-i-was-the-worlds-greatest-mathematician/246698/20 "2004-05-25T11:46:25Z")
You could predict a socioeconomic setup which would allow a small group of colonists to forge a new Galactic Empire a thousand years from now. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-i-do-if-i-was-the-worlds-greatest-mathematician/246698.md?page=2)