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 Some of his unpublished papers on this topic are now available online.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 Some of his unpublished papers on this topic are now available online.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?
ho.history-overview m-biology
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up vote
6
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favorite
up vote
6
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 Some of his unpublished papers on this topic are now available online.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?
ho.history-overview m-biology
New contributor
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 Some of his unpublished papers on this topic are now available online.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
ho.history-overview m-biology
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asked Nov 22 at 4:47
user514014
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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.
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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1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
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.
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
add a comment |
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.
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
add a comment |
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.
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.
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
add a comment |
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
add a comment |
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