In isolation, Alexander Grothendieck seemed to have lost touch with reality, but some say his metaphysical theories could contain wonders One day in September 2014, in a hamlet in the French Pyrenean foothills, Jean-Claude, a landscape gardener in his late 50s, was surprised to see his neighbour at the gate. He hadn’t spoken to the 86-year-old in nearly 15 years after a dispute over a climbing rose that Jean-Claude had wanted to prune. The old man lived in total seclusion, tending to his garden in the djellaba he always wore, writing by night, heeding no one. Now, the long-bearded seeker looked troubled. “Would you do me a favour?” he asked Jean-Claude. Continue reading...

Young people are evaluating good and bad life decisions on a scale and seeking input from others. To philosophy experts, it sounds familiar You can count calories, steps, streams of your favorite song – and now, you can assign a number to how cool you are. See: aura points, a way to calculate your rizz. (That’s what the kids call charisma, and if you didn’t know that, you just lost 100 aura points.) Ask someone out and get a yes? That’s 100 aura points for you. Still on Snapchat past the age of 19? Gross and suspect … dock 1,000 aura points. Confidently answered a question in class, but got it wrong? You’re in the red now. Continue reading...