Technology invades the modern world

Chapter 13: Badges Are Not Enough

"Thank you, Professor," said Lin Ran.

“We are all atonal,” Horkheimer said.

Seeing that Lin Ran didn't react to this, he shook his head and laughed, "Well, it seems that Larry Mayer didn't convey much of Theodor Adorno's ideas to you."

In Holheimer's impression, Larry Mayer is a loyal supporter of Theodor Adorno, who was an important driving force in the development of contemporary Western intellectual history towards postmodernism and post-Marxist thought. His philosophical work "Negative Dialectics" laid the theoretical foundation for the critical theory trend in the past century.

The "atonal aggregate" mentioned by Horkheimer is derived from the concept of atonal dialectical imagination in Adorno's Negative Dialectics.

When we were at the Center for Social Research at the University of Frankfurt, they privately did not call us a collective, but preferred to say that we were all an atonal collection.

Lin Ran tensed up for a moment. "Damn it! Relying solely on badges won't cut it. I still need to understand the philosophy and historical context of the Frankfurt School. Otherwise, relying solely on badges won't make it through."

He also thought, could it be that at the founding ceremony of the Frankfurt School, the leaders had a different name for this badge?

It is really difficult to know the truth about these historical contexts except for those who have experienced them firsthand.

However, although Lin Ran's answer did not satisfy Horkheimer and instead made him a little confused, he still did not rule out giving the young Chinese man in front of him a chance and some advice from his predecessors.

"Relax, even if you don't have the Fabian Society badge, I won't sit idly by and watch you be taken away by Rudolph.

I've heard of Arthur Rudolph. He's not a good person. He used to work for the NAZI and has a lot of blood on his hands.

There were many people in Washington who wanted to kill him, but he was able to survive because he was in a remote place like Redstone and worked for NASA.

Lin Ran understood in his heart that Horkheimer was Jewish. It was obvious that among these scientists recruited from Nazi Germany, the Jewish academic tycoons who had done the most evil must have heard of him.

Therefore, Horkheimer did not give the other party any face at all.

Horkheimer went on to say, "But although Arthur Rudolf worked for NAZI Germany, the blood on his hands was not Jewish, but Irish."

At this point, Horkheimer didn't say anything more, and Lin Ran could guess roughly what he meant.

In America, the Irish are the second largest ethnic group. They are very united and politically successful. Many bigwigs in Washington are of Irish descent.

Joe, the Vice President of America in 08, is a famous Irish politician.

"But you don't have to worry, NASA can't just send anyone it wants.

Arthur Rudolph must have been thinking of recruiting you directly as a NASA engineer through Project Paperclip.

But I guarantee you that he can't recruit you to NASA through Project Paperclip against your will."

Lin Ran asked curiously, "Professor, what is the Paperclip Project?"

Horkheimer patted his head and said, "Oh, I forgot you didn't know about this plan. After the end of World War II, NASA passed an action called Project Paperclip in order to recruit German scientists. This allowed NASA to directly and forcibly recruit German scientists.

This program continues to this day, but today its target has become scientists from Cold War rival countries.

Arthur Rudolph roughly wants to identify you as a scientist from China.

But since I can vouch for you, it doesn't really matter where you're from."

Lin Ran was still worried. Although the other party didn't explicitly say that he didn't believe him when he said he was from Europe, that was the meaning.

Lin Ran didn't break the silence, but thanked him again: "I see, Professor, thank you very much. If you hadn't been here today, I don't know what would have happened to me."

He then briefly talked about the past with Haynes and how the equation he solved could play a role for NASA.

Horkheimer frowned, "Okay, I understand.

Randolph, wait a day, don't wait any longer. I'll arrange for you to attend an academic conference on Fermat's Last Theorem at the Department of Mathematics at Columbia University this afternoon. Please prepare as soon as possible."

"it is good."

This is the advantage of choosing Fermat's Last Theorem as a stepping stone. If you mention the twin prime conjecture or the Poincaré conjecture, you will need to explain it to a philosophy professor like Horkheimer so that he or she will understand its value.

Fermat's Last Theorem, a famous conjecture from the 17th century, does not need much explanation because it is related to Fermat. The other party naturally knows its value.

Ralph Fox, chairman of the Department of Mathematics at Columbia University, specializes in differential topology.

Compared with his academic achievements, his interesting stories in the field of Go are more talked about.

However, what people talked about was not because he was great, but because he was not good at it.

When he was in Princeton, he played against Stephen Smale, who wanted to give him a handicap.

"What?" Ralph Fox's face was full of shock. He certainly knew Horkheimer, the famous professor in the philosophy department and the leader of the Frankfurt School.

The other party came to him and said that there was a Chinese student in our school who proved Fermat's Last Theorem.

If it hadn't been Horkheimer who was speaking, he would have thought it was an April Fool's joke that had come four months early.

"I'm not sure, so I came to ask you to help him organize an academic conference at Columbia University this afternoon.

If his proof is true, we need to offer him a professorship as soon as possible and then prepare to hold an academic conference across the United States."

“I’m sorry, I don’t know much about Fermat’s Last Theorem. Many professors are still on vacation in Europe and haven’t returned yet.

Let me think about who I should ask to attend this academic conference.

Oh, my God, Professor Horkheimer, you really gave me an unexpected surprise. I didn't expect the beginning of 1960 to be so sudden.

Okay, I roughly know where it is. It’s in the classroom on the southwest side of the second floor of the Mathematics Department building.

Sorry, this is a bit sudden, I need to get the professors ready."

Ralph Fox planned to bring in Lipman Bales and Paul Cohen first.

Although none of the three of them are working on Fermat's Last Theorem or related fields, they can make a rough judgment.

Is the other party's proof reliable?

They can still do this.

If it is reliable, then call back all the professors on vacation as soon as possible.

Compared to Fermat's Last Theorem, what is vacation?
(End of this chapter)