Top Student at Their Peak-Chapter 953 - 345: Not-So-Reliable Artificial Intelligence
Qiao Yu had feelings for the old man Lott Degen.
Before his death, the old professor mainly worked on N-body problem research in mathematics.
To be honest, Lott Degen’s contributions in the field of mathematical research were not all that significant.
But his abilities in the field of mathematics education were universally recognized.
Not every mathematician can educate three Fields Medal winners.
These three awardees were all legitimate students of Lott Degen during their graduate studies.
Of course, Lott Degen had more than just three students; many more, even though they didn’t receive this most important award in mathematics, still became mainstays in the mathematics field.
However, Qiao Yu didn’t care about these things.
After all, when Qiao Yu first interacted with Lott Degen, the old professor was already the dean of the Princeton School of Mathematics.
At the same time, he was also the chief editor of the Mathematical Yearbook.
In a sense, this old professor had the grace of recognizing his talent.
Thinking back to when Lott Degen was just in his sixties, more than a decade has passed, and the old man is nearly eighty, so his passing was not a surprise.
In fact, last year, rumors in the mathematics community said the old man’s health had deteriorated.
But hearing this news still left Qiao Yu feeling somewhat wistful.
These are just the growing pains.
Your loved ones around you grow older day by day. Especially Elder Yuan, who is almost ninety years old now.
Though relatively healthy for his age, he can no longer think or speak as forcefully as before.
This left Qiao Yu with some reflections.
After a moment of silence, he asked, "Speaking of which, my mom is almost fifty. By the way, Uncle Zheng, you’re almost fifty, right?"
"Not even close. I’m not even forty-four yet," Zheng Xiweng replied irritably.
"Oh, so you’re a little old man too," Qiao Yu nodded.
Zheng Xiweng was too lazy to argue with Qiao Yu.
At forty-four, one could say this is a prime age in this era.
Well, to be honest, over the past few years, Zheng Xiweng has felt his physical strength and energy decline.
However, long-term scientific exercise has kept him in decent health. At least, he can handle high-intensity tasks and doesn’t easily get sick.
Yet Qiao Yu did not continue the topic but instead started to reminisce, "Professor Dugen was actually a pretty good person.
I still remember when he was the dean of the Princeton School of Mathematics, he first wanted to invite me to enroll, and later wanted to invite me to a tenured professorship.
Before retiring, he even arranged an honorary professor title for me. But you know, back then, how could I dare go to Princeton?
If I went, I would never have returned. See, that’s how people are. Some people’s greatest wish in life is to become a tenured professor at a place like Princeton.
But what happens in the end... in middle age, they fall into destitution, with a bleak late life. Some people just need to nod and they could go, but they just don’t want to."
Zheng Xiweng found it even harder to respond to this sentiment.
After all, it also involved another man with a more complicated relationship with Qiao Yu. Now, he lives a wandering life on West Street.
In theory, with Frank’s survival skills, street homelessness wouldn’t last this long, and he likely wouldn’t even reach the average lifespan of a vagabond.
But the relationship between him and Qiao Yu was so complex.
Though Qiao Yu emphasized repeatedly that there’s no need to care for him, both Zheng Xiweng and his colleagues felt they shouldn’t just completely ignore him.
Otherwise, what if Qiao Yu regretted it one day?
Of course, giving him too good a life was impossible either.
But arranging for some warm help in the places he wanders was manageable.
Volunteers delivering food, love-driven medical teams occasionally conducting check-ups nearby, distributing some medicine...
When it got cold, handing out old clothes and blankets for free around, giving him slight preferential treatment, could allow him to barely survive.
A few years ago, doing these things was quite troublesome. But these days it has gotten easier. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦
Ever since West University opened up infrastructure projects in three states for Huaxia, this kind of aid could almost be done without leaving a trace.
The reason is actually quite simple.
The attitude from the White House has softened. And the movers and shakers in these states have become more restless.
The superiority of the federal system has manifested itself vividly during this period.
As far as Zheng Xiweng knows, the state governments of many states in West University have already established secret ties with Huaxia.
According to some agreements signed, Zheng Xiweng even suspects that what Huaxia Capital says carries more weight in these states than what is said from that White House in Washington.
It can only be said that being adaptable to circumstances is valuable in any era and place, carrying enormous weight.
"...Forget it, let’s not dwell on past matters. In any case, Lott Degen was a good man and certainly an excellent mathematician, at least he was a good judge of character.
So I think his departure deserves some commemoration. Incidentally, Tao Xuanzhi has been asking me what I’ve been up to these past few years, how about this...
Let’s organize a conference. It’ll be held at the Centennial Auditorium; the conference title will be commemorating Lott Degen and the value dynamics from modality to elementary mathematics."
"Elementary Mathematics?" Zheng Xiweng asked.
"Mm, actually, it’s a new term I just thought of. Wasn’t there all that hype about the Metaverse before, based on virtual technology, so my elementary mathematics is kind of in the same vein.
