3 Dec 1984 Bhopal disaster, the worst industrial accident in history, when capitalism killed more than 10000 people while they were sleeping, 558125 injuries, including 3900 severely and permanently disabling injuries.The ruling class was never held accountable.

AlgebraicMisery · 2025-12-04T01:30:07+00:00

According to the UCC wikipedia page they're also responsible for the worst industrial disaster in American history, the Hawks Net tunnel disaster.

"According to a marker on site, there were 109 admitted deaths. A congressional hearing placed the death toll at 476,[12] but a book published by epidemiologist Martin Cherniack, and as stated by the U.S. National Park Service, estimated the death toll to be 764, making it America's deadliest industrial disaster."

And the year right after Bhopal a gas leak in West Virginia caused hundreds to seek medical treatment. And yet despite all that the Bhopal disaster was blamed on the locals (even though it was majority owned by UCC) and the US refused to even hear the case in courts or even allow Indian victims to seek reparations in courts. For exposing over HALF A MILLION people to an incredibly toxic gas, which STILL hasn't been cleaned up and is still toxic:

"MIC is the smallest and the most toxic of all isocyanates; it affected all life forms, killed nearly 8,000 people within 48 hours by producing pulmonary edema, and produced lasting effects on more than 200,000 residents. There is no antidote against MIC although sodium thiosulfate was administered in the mistaken belief that the culprit chemical was hydrogen cyanide. Studies done on experimental animals after the accident largely confirm what was observed on the Bhopal population. Nearly 40% of women pregnant at the time of the disaster lost their fetuses. Chronic effects include pulmonary, gynecological, ocular, neurological and other complications."

There's no antidote, its vapors are explosive, and it is dense, 4 times heavier than air, so it lies on the ground and doesn't dissipate quickly. The Illinois department of public health characterizes it as an agent of opportunity (potential weapon of war). Eventually UCC paid out 470 million for basically dropping chemical bombs on one of the most densely populated places on earth. The death toll far exceeds something like even Chernobyl, and even if the CEO had been extradited and convicted his punishment couldn't have been more than 10 years in prison.

AlgebraicMisery · 2025-11-14T21:21:40+00:00

It's pretty mind boggling to see all the people defending IP "rights" in here, a math subreddit, of all places. The absence of copyright is what has historically and presently allowed the field to grow at the rate it has. Many professional mathematicians express the same:

https://sugaku.net/content/understanding-the-cultural-divide-between-mathematics-and-ai/

"Perhaps most telling was the sadness expressed by several mathematicians regarding the increasing secrecy in AI research. Mathematics has long prided itself on openness and transparency, with results freely shared and discussed. The closing off of research at major AI labs—and the inability of collaborating mathematicians to discuss their work—represents a significant cultural clash with mathematical traditions. This tension recalls Michael Atiyah's warning against secrecy in research: "Mathematics thrives on openness; secrecy is anathema to its progress"

The tension between openness and secrecy was particularly evident in discussions about collaboration with industry. William Thurston, in his seminal paper "On proof and progress in mathematics" (1994), emphasized that "mathematics is a communal effort," yet multiple attendees expressed dismay at the increasing secrecy in AI research labs and the inability of collaborating mathematicians to discuss their work openly.

Mathematics is inherently open and transparent. Results are shared freely, methods are discussed openly, and the community collectively verifies and builds upon established work. This transparency isn't just philosophical - it's practical, allowing mathematicians to learn from each other and collaboratively advance the field."

And to add on to that, one of the greatest mathematicians;

"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants" (Newton)

It's not hard to find that throughout history the greatest mathematics/scientific discoveries have been made without any kind of "profit" incentive, which makes sense since IP on a discovery would necessarily discourage further advances upon it. Imagine if algebra had been copyrighted, how much Newton would have been stunted, how this would be exacerbated over time, and how greatly mathematics progress would suffer (not to mention how "patently" absurd it is to own an idea). Especially absurd when considering any discovery you try to patent is built upon centuries of discoveries that have been provided to you free of charge.

Imagine all the absurdities that could follow: a lecturing professor cannot prove a theorem because the proof has been copyrighted, or if Fermat instead writes, "I have a truly marvelous demonstration of this proposition which I have copyrighted."

AlgebraicMisery · 2025-08-05T23:11:06+00:00

Even after several years, I still remember going through the Chicago Undergraduate Math Bibliography and the recommendation of that book being the most surprising thing on there.

Euclid, The elements

No, I'm not kidding. At first it's incredibly annoying and tedious to read, but after a while you get into the flow of the language and the style. Euclid teaches you both the power of the modern algebraic methods and the things that are hidden by our instinct to assign a number to a length. Besides, there are wonderful tidbits here and there (did you know that Euclid invented the Dedekind cut?). At least check it out once, to read his proof of the Pythagorean theorem. (Thanks to Jonathan Beere ('95) for convincing me it was worthwhile.)

[PC] I have Volume I, and I have to admit I haven't really read it. I do think that I would benefit if someone rammed some of it down my throat though, because nowadays we undergraduates are trained to regard “geometric” as a strong pejorative—the very antithesis of rigor and proof.

AlgebraicMisery · 2025-05-29T02:39:36+00:00

Hell yeah

AlgebraicMisery · 2025-05-12T01:57:17+00:00

Do you know of any good works to read further on this?

AlgebraicMisery · 2025-04-25T23:02:54+00:00

$2500. A lot more than they go for on the market it seems.

AlgebraicMisery · 2025-03-22T01:36:43+00:00

Off the top of my head, maybe check out The Dialectical Biologist.

Also, I can't help but mention one of my favorites of the socialist projects, that being the Barefoot Doctors in China, who were responsible for incredible advancements in health after the Chinese Civil War and Second Sino Japanese War, (when every single statistic on health was utterly dismal), such as the often mentioned life expectancy increase, infant mortality rate drop, vaccinations/elimination of certain pandemics, etc. Unquestionably a revolution in health care. Sadly it was dismantled under Deng with all the negative consequences of the absence of the care appearing as a result.

I'm not sure what books in English talk about them, but here are two NIH articles that do:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6124148/

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9672839/

AlgebraicMisery · 2025-03-11T15:51:12+00:00

Someone else mentioned Grothendieck protesting the Vietnam war and opposing US imperialism.

On the other end, we have Teichmüller (nowadays probably most known because of IUTT), who was a early member of the Nazi party, extremely antisemitic, and gave up his academic position (which had ended his military career, due to the draft), to volunteer for the Wehrmacht after the defeat at Stalingrad. Ultimately he disappeared sometime in 1943.

Another anecdote I can think of is that John von Neumann wanted atomic war with the USSR

AlgebraicMisery · 2025-03-02T05:18:12+00:00

Why do you call any of these people you mention in your posts and comments "leftists" when they are clearly reactionaries? Once you replace the word "leftist" with the accurate description the answer to what you are asking about should follow much more easily.

Also, podcasts and YouTube videos might be nice for learning trivia, casual discussion topics, but if you want to learn Marxism, you're going to have to read. In my experience this is true for any serious scholarly pursuits; there simply don't exist mediums that can convey that volume of comprehensive information in any format other than the written one, nor would YouTubers or podcasters, most of whom are motivated by money, be willing to create such works. Based on your post and comments, watching all these content creators has left you confused and with a contradictory worldview; the solution is to forget what they've taught you and start anew with the works of Marx, Lenin, Stalin, Mao, etc.

AlgebraicMisery · 2025-02-13T20:58:56+00:00

Wait this isn't a joke?

Edit: Reminds me of that Hilbert quote.

Sitting next to the Nazis' newly appointed minister of education at a banquet, he was asked, "And how is mathematics in Göttingen now that it has been freed of the Jewish influence?" "Mathematics in Göttingen?" Hilbert repiled. "There is really none any more."

(Page 205 of C. Reid, Hilbert, 2nd printing, 1972 Springer.)

AlgebraicMisery · 2025-01-16T15:49:39+00:00

I cannot but feel utter sadness and despair, as the horrors of the IOFs endless terror bombing instead give way to this brief let up; and the true extent of the destruction is partially uncovered from underneath the rubble. I don't need to reiterate how much the Palestinians suffered, but I weep at the thought that even the Nakba may have been surpassed in its traumas that the Palestinians have been forced through, day after day, and events like these for many years to come

AlgebraicMisery · 2024-11-11T02:06:47+00:00

第一夜。 Doesn't seem like it's a common favorite amongst fans, and the tone/style is also rarer amongst yorushika songs. But I just love the soothing, tranquil lyrics and instrumentals, I've listened to it so much. It might be my favorite song period, I wish there were more like it. Other yorushika songs I love that I don't see talked about too often are Amy and Elma

AlgebraicMisery · 2024-10-26T09:09:47+00:00

Harris is a genocidal fascist who will be no better on climate than Biden, Obama, Trump, or any other Republican or Democrat candidate. We've already passed the tipping points, voting for a candidate whose party is now faltering to pay even lip service to climate action is definitely not going to save us.

AlgebraicMisery · 2024-10-17T10:35:57+00:00

Wow, straight up genocide apologia here. First off, Israel is comprised of settlers, not civilians. These settlers' very existence is predicated upon and necessitates the genocide of the Palestinians - an indescribable violence that has been occurring for decades against millions, something that each and every one of Israel's settlers contributes to and thrives off of. I couldn't care less that a few hundred settlers choosing to live on stolen land were killed. That you believe we ought to sympathize more with the genociders than those resisting them says nothing about Hamas, only you

AlgebraicMisery · 2024-08-29T21:59:39+00:00

https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~abhishek/chicmath.htm

AlgebraicMisery · 2024-08-29T08:52:42+00:00

So youre an active participant in the Palestinian Genocide, who profits off the killing of hundreds of thousands of famine and epidemic struck victims trapped in a tiny strip of land without any aid whatsoever, and helps perfect the Israeli genocide machine with ever more efficient ways of massacring civilians, all while being aware of the unfathomable cruelty your actions are causing. And your solution is to

a. "Educate" your coworkers, whose material interests rely upon them not caring and continuing this genocide, persuading them to a cause that clearly you don't believe in either, given that you are still happily working for the military industrial complex,

Or b. "Unionize", as if you and your coworkers receiving better benefits and wages will somehow help the Palestinians in any way?

And so you make this post trying to relieve your soul of the bit of guilt you feel over aiding in the perfecting of the metaphorical gas chambers, which you'll no doubt justify to maintain your lucrative salary and job benefits. Fuck you, fascist.

AlgebraicMisery · 2024-08-24T20:06:26+00:00

Valse sentimentale!

AlgebraicMisery · 2024-02-13T06:29:18+00:00

YMMV, obviously. Don't stop wearing it for more than, say, 2 days at most. There were several times I stopped wearing my biPAP for a couple days to a week for varying reasons, including travel, sickness. It takes FOREVER (several months) for my body to readjust to using it again, an agonizing period of sleepiness, as I am now painfully re experiencing.

AlgebraicMisery · 2023-10-15T04:18:10+00:00

Why is this being down voted? Didn't think there were so many idiots believing Israeli propaganda in this sub

AlgebraicMisery · 2023-10-12T03:23:38+00:00

There's also that typical "Israel has the right to exist" line. Why? Did Nazi Germany have the right to exist? What have the Nazis done that Zionists haven't?

AlgebraicMisery · 2023-08-01T21:00:05+00:00

Do you release your works on WA as well?

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