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+--- Thread: Article We built our world on “Big Math.” Now we no longer understand it. (marketing patterns (/thread-21853.html)
We built our world on “Big Math.” Now we no longer understand it. (marketing patterns - C C - Nov 13, 2026
https://bigthink.com/history-society/big-math/
EXCERPTS: Math has undeniably escaped the human mind and implanted itself in nearly every corner of the world. Over the past 75 years, as computers became commonplace and grew in power, what once amounted to mental arithmetic has become something else entirely. It’s not just math; it’s “Big Math,” too large for the human brain alone.
Big Math’s offshoot algorithms, the step-by-step sets of instructions and rules used to perform calculations, now undergird much of the technologies we take for granted in modern life. They organize your addictive TikTok feed, compress your Netflix shows from terabytes to gigabytes so you can stream seamlessly, help you locate your lost iPhone with Apple’s Find My app, and manage the logistics of your Amazon purchase, among many other functions.
Disassemble these algorithms and what you will see are numbers. Lots of numbers. To the untrained eye, they might seem random, meaningless. But discernible patterns emerge in these digits. While mysterious, they can be demystified.
[..] Big Math isn’t merely augmenting and improving our lives; it’s increasingly determining them. Will you get a credit card? Be granted a loan? Accepted into college? Considered for a job? Algorithms are making more and more of these vital decisions. And, of course, algorithms provide the foundation for the artificial intelligence models driving the modern economy and altering how we live and work.
“In the democracies of the world, where people still have a choice and can participate, how can they participate meaningfully given how uncomfortable most people are with math?” Strogatz wondered during our conversation, adding that comprehension of these key Big Math advances shouldn’t be hoarded by tech titans.
[...] Mathematicians also don’t fully understand how the AI models, which they helped birth, are now churning out remarkable math proofs at a bewildering pace, upending their entire field... (MORE - missing details)