Why Do I Keep Meeting Programmers with Strong Opinions on Foundations?
I am a mathematician who lives in Silicon Valley and I keep meeting programmers with extremely strong opinions on foundations. This is mystifying. Why does this keep happening to me? There is no situation that justifies a programmer telling an algebraic geometer that Zorn's lemma is evil, yet I encounter this regularly. They phrase it in terms of the axiom of choice though. It is bizarre and extremely common. One time I told a software engineer I work in algebraic geometry and they told me that sounds like "normie math." When I asked what wasn't "normie math" they said "category theory."
I did not have the wherewithal to tell them who actually uses category theory most in mathematics other than homotopy theorists. I was too confused.
Haskell devs are the largest consistent offender here. Many of them have bizarrely intense investment in type theory as a foundation for mathematics. And a particular passion for univalent foundations. I don't want to say all Haskell devs are like this, but I think about half of the ones I have met are. Do these people think analysts do fake math or something? Why is there such a strong desire to dilute equality to equivalence among people who push around and package lists all day.
What has currying done to these people and how do I fix it?
Everytime hear the phrase "graphs are categories" from a person who does not know what a spectral sequence is it feels like being hit in the face with a sack of wet mice. It is also just not true. A category is a directed multigraph with extra structure. This statement is exactly backwards and is also probably one of the worst things you could tell a person who is only now encountering graphs in a mathematical context.
I can't believe I need to start a conversation on this but what is the correct way to interact with people being rude about my field of study? This is not a problem I should have. I work in mirror symmetry, not environmental contaminants or pediatric medicine.
Do I just start talking about amenable groups and Banach-Tarski to scare them away?
My life has become an infinite clown show, please advise.