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Best of HN @bestofhn.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

An essay by mathematician David Bessis on how AI theorem-proving could hollow out math, without advancing it. Submit to upvote on HN news.ycombinator.com/submitlink?u=h…

davidbessis.substack.com

The fall of the theorem economy

How AI could destroy mathematics and barely touch it

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Natalie Christie Peluso 🧠 @nataliepeluso.com · 28/06/2026

While this essay is centred on mathematics, the gist is the same for any human conceptual thought facing AI Intelligence is process, path-walking, culture, collective, accretive #neuroskyence davidbessis.substack.com/p/the-fall-o...

davidbessis.substack.com

The fall of the theorem economy

How AI could destroy mathematics and barely touch it

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Nathan Douglas @tenesm.us · 19/06/2026

I finished *Foucault's Pendulum*, then had a transformative experience with @davidbessis.bsky.social's fantastic *Mathematica*, then John Williams' *Stoner*, then Bird and Sherwin's *American Prometheus*, and now Italo Calvino's *Invisible Cities*. What a delightful week!

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Pieces of Mathematics @piecesofmathematics.com · 14/06/2026

"Comprendre une notion mathématique, c'est apprendre à voir des choses que, jusqu'alors, on ne voyait pas. C'est apprendre a les trouver évidentes. C'est élever son état de conscience." - David Bessis, Mathematica - Une aventure au coeur de nous-mêmes, Éd.duSeuil,2022,p.47. #math #maths #mathematics

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Moa Johansson @moajohansson.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

Great text by David Bessis! Read it all. He puts the finger on, and formulates very well, exactly what also bothers me about the AI-take of "solving" mathematics: davidbessis.substack.com/p/the-fall-o...

davidbessis.substack.com

The fall of the theorem economy

How AI could destroy mathematics and barely touch it

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TomTeach @tommaths.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

Not another textbook, just a great book about Mathematics. What do we really do when we "do" and "think" about Mathematics? I recommend without a doubt. #MathsToday

The cover of the book "Mathematica", by David Bessis.

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David Bessis @davidbessis.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

"Mathematics in the age of AI"—a one-hour conversation I had earlier this year, for an audience of machine-learning graduate students at Université Paris-Saclay. [In French] www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dTb...

youtube.com

Journée ImpAct 2026 - David Bessis

YouTube video by Institut DataIA Paris-Saclay

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David Brady @davebrady72.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

Bessis continues his run of being one of the most interesting and engaging popular intellectuals these days. open.substack.com/pub/davidbes...

open.substack.com

Twins reared apart do not exist

The shaky science of genetic determinism

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Grand Labo @grandlabo.com · 24/02/2026

Quel est l'intérêt de se lancer dans une carrière scientifique, si l'IA générale arrive ? Sur son blog, @davidbessis.bsky.social répond à cette difficile question posée par un doctorant. Vous ne lirez probablement rien de plus intéressant cette semaine. davidbessis.substack.com/p/letter-to-...

davidbessis.substack.com

Letter to a PhD student

What's the point of intellectual work, if AGI is around the corner?

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Justin Cormack @justincormack.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

Thanks to @cedricchin.bsky.social for arranging a group call with @davidbessis.bsky.social definitely going to be reading his book about how maths is really done, see davidbessis.substack.com/p/thinking-f... for a taste

davidbessis.substack.com

Thinking fast, slow, and super slow

How mathematicians train their intuition

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Stanislas Dehaene @standehaene.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

Il est arrivé… « Le Rectangle de Lascaux »rencontre le triangle des Éditions Odile Jacob ! Sortie en librairie mercredi 28 janvier. @editionsodilejacob.bsky.social @cnrs.fr @inserm.fr @college-de-france.fr @cedricvillani.bsky.social @davidbessis.bsky.social

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David Bessis @davidbessis.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

This reminds me of John Nash's letter where he declined an offer for a prestigious chair at the University of Chicago because he was expecting to become Emperor of Antarctica.

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Julian Togelius @togelius.bsky.social · 29/12/2025

I recently read "Mathematica" by David Bessis, and I think it's a fantastic book! Before I recommend it to everyone, I would love to hear from people who do mathematics, or at least prove a theorem now and then. Do you agree with Bessis' description of what mathematics is and what mathematicians do?

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Petra Schwer @petraschwer.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

In case you are still trying to find a present for yourself or a loved one who would like to hear more about what we mathematicians do and how so.... I can only recommend Bessis' book Mathematica. What a wonderful read. I could highlight every other sentence. #math #maths #mathsky

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David Bessis @davidbessis.bsky.social · 06/12/2025

Taken at face value, "twins reared apart" studies seem to prove the IQ is almost entirely genetic. But when you look at the actual science, you realize that it is entirely inconclusive — the approach just doen't work! davidbessis.substack.com/p/twins-rear...

davidbessis.substack.com

Twins reared apart do not exist

The shaky science of genetic determinism

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Quanta Magazine @quantamagazine.org · 27/11/2025

The mathematician David Bessis believes that mathematical skill is not innate, but learned. “Genius is not an essence. It’s a state. It’s a state that you build by doing a certain job.”

quantamagazine.org

Mathematical Thinking Isn’t What You Think It Is | Quanta Magazine

The mathematician David Bessis claims that everyone is capable of, and can benefit greatly from, mathematical thinking.

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QuBobs @qubobs.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

His book "Mathematica" is a real eye-opener. David Bessis describes accurately and vividly the way we perceive and manipulate mathematical objects. Colleagues who read it also felt he put into words what they had not been able to formulate about the mathematical process. Highly recommended.

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David Bessis @davidbessis.bsky.social · 17/11/2025

Just received this legitimate reader request: could I publish a French Substack, alongside the original English? (The same could be asked about my posts here.) I could, but it wouldn't be worth the effort. I'm writing for a global audience whose only lingua franca is English.

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David Brady @davebrady72.bsky.social · 03/11/2025

Russ Roberts’ “Econ Talk” is one of the most interesting podcasts. This episode with @davidbessis.bsky.social is truly fascinating. It got me thinking we should train students to think of research as “a dialogue between intuition and evidence.” podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...

podcasts.apple.com

A Mind-Blowing Way of Looking at Math (with David Bessis)

Podcast Episode · EconTalk · 10/27/2025 · 1h 22m

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Dori Moody @dorimoody.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

“We seek numbness, avoidance of pain, oblivion...I wake up every day aiming at Christianity, and often can’t even land on Epicureanism.” @philipchristman.bsky.social sums up our times in his amazing @plough.bsky.social Book Tour Reviews: www.plough.com/en/topics/cu...

plough.com

Book Tour: World Enough and Time

Phil Christman reviews Putting Ourselves Back in the Equation by George Musser, Mathematica: A Secret World of Intuition and Curiosity by David Bessis, Fully Alive by Elizabeth Oldfield, and Making Ti...

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David Bessis @davidbessis.bsky.social · 16/06/2025

Why you can't fit Terry Tao on a bell curve, and why genius is too extreme for genetics: davidbessis.substack.com/p/why-genes-...

davidbessis.substack.com

Why genes can't explain genius

The mathematical structure of cognitive inequality

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David Bessis @davidbessis.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

If you're curious about absurdly over-engineered protocols for drawing winners of public giveaways — or if you just want a free copy of my book — take a look at my new long form post. davidbessis.substack.com/p/paperback-...

davidbessis.substack.com

Paperback is in! — a cryptographic giveaway

Win a signed copy of Mathematica: A Secret World of Intuition and Curiosity

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David Bessis @davidbessis.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

"Successful math becomes so intuitive that it no longer feels like math." New long form post... davidbessis.substack.com/p/the-magic-...

davidbessis.substack.com

The magic of mathematical intuition

Why the math you do understand feels stupidly easy

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truerphilosophy.bsky.social @truerphilosophy.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

Turing's high school teacher (from B. Jack Copeland's biography of Turing). More evidence for @davidbessis.bsky.social's hypothesis: great mathematicians got great by continuously reconstructing everything they were taught, for themselves. This is why Turing invented "the Turing machine" at age 23.

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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 20/03/2025

Having fought and overcome the twin demons of anxiety and depression, there is nothing any fascist could do to scare me.

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David Bessis @davidbessis.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

For some reason, my first long form post is suddenly getting viral: it received 2x more views in the past 30 days than in the first 3 months. davidbessis.substack.com/p/weve-been-...

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Markus Meister @mameister4.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

Here it is finally: Our mathematical methods book for life scientists! Aimed at advanced undergrads and beginning grad students, plus all those who want a deeper look at the math behind quantitative biology. @portugueslab.bsky.social. 1/3

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David Bessis @davidbessis.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

"With the possible exception of a few lost tribes somewhere in the Amazon or Andaman Islands, career mathematicians are the last true animists in this world." From my new long form post: davidbessis.substack.com/p/the-real-m...

davidbessis.substack.com

The real mathematics is the one that we dream

The ancient taboo at the heart of rationality

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David Bessis @davidbessis.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

I am delighted to announce that Mathematica has received Ukrainian 🍾 and Korean 🍾 translation offers, adding to the long list of international editions: French, Japanese, Italian, English, Russian, plus Greek 🍾, Chinese 🍾 and Turkish🍾 that are due soon. A total of 10 languages!

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David Bessis @davidbessis.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

So: - concrete foundations for formal math - sand and mud foundations for intuitive math - no reason to do formal math if it wasn't for its "meaning" => math only exists because meaningless formalism ENHANCES our ability to build semantics => this is the true motivation of my conceptualist take

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David Bessis @davidbessis.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

The fascinating final words of Bouchard's 1990 Science paper on IQ & twins reared apart. While the paper is methodologically unsound — and its results aren't to be trusted — I actually enjoy the boldness of their conclusion. Make no mistake, the stakes are super high!

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David Bessis @davidbessis.bsky.social · 09/01/2025

Philosophers: logic is the foundation of mathematics. Mathematicians:

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Olivia Garard @teaandtactics.bsky.social · 07/01/2025

This was phenomenal. There is also a wonderful critique of Kahneman's System 1 and System 2 theory; Bessis proposes that it is missing System 3, a way of mediating or meditating between 1 and 2.

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David Bessis @davidbessis.bsky.social · 09/01/2025

Beyond nature and nurture: How mathematics changed my view on talent davidbessis.substack.com/p/beyond-nat...

davidbessis.substack.com

Beyond nature and nurture

How mathematics changed my view on talent

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David Bessis @davidbessis.bsky.social · 08/01/2025

"While asleep, I had an unusual experience. There was a red screen formed by flowing blood, as it were. I was observing it. Suddenly a hand began to write on the screen [...] a number of elliptic integrals. They stuck to my mind." — Srinivasa Ramanujan

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David Bessis @davidbessis.bsky.social · 28/12/2024

This reframing won't happen unless high-brow academics initiate it — because math is too intimidating for other people (including math teachers) to feel entitled to reframe it. This is why I'll keep on exposing & promoting the latent epistemology of my book. davidbessis.substack.com/p/weve-been-...

davidbessis.substack.com

We've been wrong about math for 2300 years

A radical conceptualist take on the foundations of mathematics

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Steven Strogatz @stevenstrogatz.com · 27/12/2024

If someone asked you what the number "e" is, and they didn't know anything about calculus, how would you explain the meaning and significance of this marvelous number? Here was how I approached the challenge in my book The Joy of x.

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David Bessis @davidbessis.bsky.social · 26/12/2024

Not sure if this works when walking the dog, but here's the full set of illustrations: davidbessis.substack.com/p/a-visual-c...

davidbessis.substack.com

A visual companion to the audio edition of Mathematica

The full set of illustrations and tables from the print edition

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David Bessis @davidbessis.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

Wow, look at who's tweeting about my book 🥰! x.com/AlbertEinste...

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David Bessis @davidbessis.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

Just realized that the French word "bredouille" is basically impossible to translate into English: "empty-handed" doesn't even carry a tenth of the expressivity of "bredouille".

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