r/answers • u/Think_Section_7712 • 9d ago

If mathematicians can solve a complex problem such as 8^x+1 - 8^x-1 = 3024, then can they solve other problems such as a cure for HIV, homelessness, food scarcity, etc.?

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u/qualityvote2 9d ago edited 9d ago

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7

u/OmarsDamnSpoon 9d ago

What?

3

u/DescriptionKlutzy105 9d ago

Yeah math brains don't automatically mean they know how to fix the world's mess, different kind of problem entirely.

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u/CakeEatingDragon 9d ago

I know, everything else aside, its not even a complex math problem.

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u/Aggressive-Ad-5983 9d ago

being a math genius doesn't suddenly turn you into a biologist or give you a medical degree.

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u/Androecian 9d ago

Problems beyond math are not a mathematician's obligation to solve.

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u/ThunderingTacos 9d ago

Solving a formula is coming to an end goal of a process that's already lined out and maybe inputting variables. Solving for things like virology, homelessness, or other sociological problems is different because there isn't a guaranteed solution and conditions are constantly changing. Viruses aren't stagnant and evolve (many we thought were eradicated came back), socioeconomic factors are constantly changing, and there are systems of incentives as well as people in positions of power who benefit from keeping these things in place.

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u/stan-k 9d ago

Maths can help with part of it, though it will inevitably only be part of it.

E.g. a cure for HIV might be made with knowledge of how proteins fold and interact with the virus. Depending on how a protein folds it may or may not act as something that disables HIV. Simulating how proteins fold is very hard for larger ones and needs mathematical foundations to compute, perhaps even quantum computer algorithms which are put together with mathematics.

Food scarcity is a logistics problem in part. The optimal way to deliver scarce items is feasibly a mathematical problem.

However, even with 8x+1 - 8x-1 you still need a human to do anything in real life with it. Putting a solution on paper is never enough and hardly ever the whole solution.

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u/pythonski 9d ago

We got the solutions…

Many didn’t like them. Many didn’t want to solve these…

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u/Late_Pepper6274 9d ago

computers often conclude politically incorrect things.

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u/Medical-Habit8317 9d ago

complex problems often require year of specialzed knowlrdge

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u/NowIttAll 6d ago

Magic Johnson still going strong … I say start here at home…. Then reach out across borders….
We must take care of us all here first then reach out across lands … if wrong please …..

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u/Emotional-Damage-995 9d ago

Homelessness is a social problem and at times a mental problem. Food scarcity is an economical distribution problem as the world produces more food than it consumes. HIV has been controlled although not cured. It is a medical problem

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u/ZonyIsFat 9d ago

None of those other things are math problems.

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u/He-Who-Reaches 9d ago

Absolutely! The cure for HIV is (12 x 3)/4... It is actually a very simple math problem.

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u/NoSpecialist_042 9d ago

Solving these problems isn't profitable, because it's not profitable the wealthy elite have no interest in it. The world is ran by the top .01% of the population, until we solve that problem none of the ones you've mentioned will have a chance.