Re: 68 isn't too old to stop, Jon.

On Wednesday, December 2, 2020 at 4:07:42 PM UTC+1, Derek wrote:
> 1. 68 isn't too old to stop doing things that *revolt* you. 
> 2. 68 isn't too old to stop *feeling* revolted at what you do. 
> 3. 68 isn't too old to stop having to *ready* yourself before #1 and #2. 
> 
> "Every now and then, when I think about what's involved 
> in eating meat, the thought *revolts* me. The *feeling* never 
> lasts, and at my next meal I'm always *ready* to tuck into 
> a chunk of meat." 
> Jonathan Ball 01 May 2007 http://bit.ly/2dgi2ds 
> 
> Happy birthday, old man.

Jonathan Ball expressed the hope, relatively recently, that I would never ever get a tenure-track position or any decently paid job at all and would spend the rest of my life in a pit of despair, possibly ending up on the streets.

I have just recently submitted an application for a tenure-track role near where I live, and plan to submit another before the end of December. In both cases the outcome is highly uncertain, but really the only point of weakness in the application is the small quantity of accepted peer-reviewed publications since completion of PhD. I have put forward two highly ambitious pre-prints into the public domain which have generated some public critical commentary, and there too the outcome is uncertain. This includes once again claiming to have solved inconsistency of Reinhardt cardinals, and also a claimed solution of one of the Millennium Problems which will mean that I win one million dollars from the Claymath Institute. I plan to create a set of video lectures about these proofs, explaining them in detail, which probably I will not put into the public domain until such time as the outcome of the peer-review process is known. My degree of confidence is high, but naturally the final outcome is uncertain, even more so from the perspective of someone who has not read the proof.

If all my hopes and dreams come crashing to the ground and I end up falling into a pit of despair and possibly even on the streets (although mind you Mari fully supports me in my efforts to continue my research, and her marriage vow was to "love and cherish me and stand by me at all times" and I have no doubt that she will honour that), then in that case I will be sure to let Jonathan Ball know so that he can take some joy in the news. But I think probably even the worst-case scenario will be okay. If my research career proves unsustainable my possibility of attaining well-paid work in the private sector even at this stage is still quite good, I think, if I take good advice from those who are in the know about how to make my LinkedIn profile look good and how to network with the right people in that area. I've also had some thoughts about setting up my own maths education website as a business model.

But Jonathan Ball appears to confidently believe that I am a failure mathematically, have an inadequate work ethic, an exploitative relationship with my wife, and also says that he will be truly delighted when I inevitably hit rock-bottom, so... let me join Derek in saying, happy birthday Jon. How's tricks? It's been so long since we had a good chat. How are you doing with working on mustering the moral courage to admit to yourself that it's unconscionable to financially support modern systems of meat production and you cannot possibly continue to do it if you have any sense of moral integrity at all, and that your feeble rationalisations attempting to argue that vegans should somehow be ashamed are utterly farcical? It must be a difficult struggle to work towards staring that obvious reality in the face. I wish you well.