Why Learn Linear Algebra If a Computer Does It Better?

Steven Brunton says you should still learn linear algebra even if a computer can do linear algebra better than you, because the point is to build intuition, and the same is true for calculus and physics. Curiosity, reading, and the fundamentals have always been good advice. Understanding history also matters, so the present shift can sit next to other great changes across human existence.

The mind's curiosity is under constant pressure from the engagement economy. The same engine that makes a person curious also makes that person doom scroll, so the work is to avoid distractions and let curiosity stay with one subject long enough to soak it in and actually learn it. High school and college are hard to survive with a phone, the distraction box, sitting right there. AI is different in one important way: the incentive is to give value from the interaction rather than to get someone glued and addicted.

Boredom is part of the remedy. Everyone was bored as a kid, and curiosity and focus often come from boredom. He tries to be bored more often on purpose.