Why did Voevodsky abandon his work on “singletons”?











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In an interview (I link the Google translation), Voevodsky talks about how, in the late 2000s, he worked on the problem of "restoring the history of populations according to their modern genetic composition". Some of his unpublished papers on this topic are now available online. For example, a paper titled "Singletons" is available on the IAS website. Why did Voevodsky abandon the subject of this rather fleshed-out paper so suddenly?










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    In an interview (I link the Google translation), Voevodsky talks about how, in the late 2000s, he worked on the problem of "restoring the history of populations according to their modern genetic composition". Some of his unpublished papers on this topic are now available online. For example, a paper titled "Singletons" is available on the IAS website. Why did Voevodsky abandon the subject of this rather fleshed-out paper so suddenly?










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      up vote
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      down vote

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      up vote
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      down vote

      favorite











      In an interview (I link the Google translation), Voevodsky talks about how, in the late 2000s, he worked on the problem of "restoring the history of populations according to their modern genetic composition". Some of his unpublished papers on this topic are now available online. For example, a paper titled "Singletons" is available on the IAS website. Why did Voevodsky abandon the subject of this rather fleshed-out paper so suddenly?










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      user514014 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.











      In an interview (I link the Google translation), Voevodsky talks about how, in the late 2000s, he worked on the problem of "restoring the history of populations according to their modern genetic composition". Some of his unpublished papers on this topic are now available online. For example, a paper titled "Singletons" is available on the IAS website. Why did Voevodsky abandon the subject of this rather fleshed-out paper so suddenly?







      ho.history-overview m-biology






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      asked Nov 22 at 4:47









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          Dan Grayson features this paper in his talk at the Voevodsky memorial conference. He points to an interview by Mikhailov, where VV says (Google translate):




          As a result, I chose, as I understand correctly now, the problem of restoring the history of populations according to their modern genetic composition. I was busy with this task for a total of about two years and in the end, already in 2009, I realized that what I had invented was useless. In my life, for now, this was probably the biggest scientific failure. A lot of work was invested in the project, which completely failed. Some benefit, of course, nevertheless, was - I learned a lot from probability theory, which I did not know well, and I also learned a lot about demography and demographic history.







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          • 5




            Indeed, this is where I first heard of the linked paper. But it doesn't quite answer the question of in what way the paper(s) failed to meet Voevodsky's goals. What exactly makes his singletons work useless for this purpose?
            – user514014
            2 days ago










          • Hmm, unfortunately we may never know...
            – David Roberts
            2 days ago











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          Dan Grayson features this paper in his talk at the Voevodsky memorial conference. He points to an interview by Mikhailov, where VV says (Google translate):




          As a result, I chose, as I understand correctly now, the problem of restoring the history of populations according to their modern genetic composition. I was busy with this task for a total of about two years and in the end, already in 2009, I realized that what I had invented was useless. In my life, for now, this was probably the biggest scientific failure. A lot of work was invested in the project, which completely failed. Some benefit, of course, nevertheless, was - I learned a lot from probability theory, which I did not know well, and I also learned a lot about demography and demographic history.







          share|cite|improve this answer

















          • 5




            Indeed, this is where I first heard of the linked paper. But it doesn't quite answer the question of in what way the paper(s) failed to meet Voevodsky's goals. What exactly makes his singletons work useless for this purpose?
            – user514014
            2 days ago










          • Hmm, unfortunately we may never know...
            – David Roberts
            2 days ago















          up vote
          4
          down vote













          Dan Grayson features this paper in his talk at the Voevodsky memorial conference. He points to an interview by Mikhailov, where VV says (Google translate):




          As a result, I chose, as I understand correctly now, the problem of restoring the history of populations according to their modern genetic composition. I was busy with this task for a total of about two years and in the end, already in 2009, I realized that what I had invented was useless. In my life, for now, this was probably the biggest scientific failure. A lot of work was invested in the project, which completely failed. Some benefit, of course, nevertheless, was - I learned a lot from probability theory, which I did not know well, and I also learned a lot about demography and demographic history.







          share|cite|improve this answer

















          • 5




            Indeed, this is where I first heard of the linked paper. But it doesn't quite answer the question of in what way the paper(s) failed to meet Voevodsky's goals. What exactly makes his singletons work useless for this purpose?
            – user514014
            2 days ago










          • Hmm, unfortunately we may never know...
            – David Roberts
            2 days ago













          up vote
          4
          down vote










          up vote
          4
          down vote









          Dan Grayson features this paper in his talk at the Voevodsky memorial conference. He points to an interview by Mikhailov, where VV says (Google translate):




          As a result, I chose, as I understand correctly now, the problem of restoring the history of populations according to their modern genetic composition. I was busy with this task for a total of about two years and in the end, already in 2009, I realized that what I had invented was useless. In my life, for now, this was probably the biggest scientific failure. A lot of work was invested in the project, which completely failed. Some benefit, of course, nevertheless, was - I learned a lot from probability theory, which I did not know well, and I also learned a lot about demography and demographic history.







          share|cite|improve this answer












          Dan Grayson features this paper in his talk at the Voevodsky memorial conference. He points to an interview by Mikhailov, where VV says (Google translate):




          As a result, I chose, as I understand correctly now, the problem of restoring the history of populations according to their modern genetic composition. I was busy with this task for a total of about two years and in the end, already in 2009, I realized that what I had invented was useless. In my life, for now, this was probably the biggest scientific failure. A lot of work was invested in the project, which completely failed. Some benefit, of course, nevertheless, was - I learned a lot from probability theory, which I did not know well, and I also learned a lot about demography and demographic history.








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          share|cite|improve this answer



          share|cite|improve this answer










          answered 2 days ago









          David Roberts

          16.4k462173




          16.4k462173








          • 5




            Indeed, this is where I first heard of the linked paper. But it doesn't quite answer the question of in what way the paper(s) failed to meet Voevodsky's goals. What exactly makes his singletons work useless for this purpose?
            – user514014
            2 days ago










          • Hmm, unfortunately we may never know...
            – David Roberts
            2 days ago














          • 5




            Indeed, this is where I first heard of the linked paper. But it doesn't quite answer the question of in what way the paper(s) failed to meet Voevodsky's goals. What exactly makes his singletons work useless for this purpose?
            – user514014
            2 days ago










          • Hmm, unfortunately we may never know...
            – David Roberts
            2 days ago








          5




          5




          Indeed, this is where I first heard of the linked paper. But it doesn't quite answer the question of in what way the paper(s) failed to meet Voevodsky's goals. What exactly makes his singletons work useless for this purpose?
          – user514014
          2 days ago




          Indeed, this is where I first heard of the linked paper. But it doesn't quite answer the question of in what way the paper(s) failed to meet Voevodsky's goals. What exactly makes his singletons work useless for this purpose?
          – user514014
          2 days ago












          Hmm, unfortunately we may never know...
          – David Roberts
          2 days ago




          Hmm, unfortunately we may never know...
          – David Roberts
          2 days ago










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