𝕏-istentialism Is a Humanism

The lifecycle of a pure math theorem: - 1997: my PhD advisor asks me to work on one of his conjectures - 2000: I solve the simplest case and dream of generalizing my approach - 2003: after years of struggle, I come to the conclusion that my approach *cannot* generalize - 2006: after reading a paper by Daan Krammer, I have a lighting bulb moment and realize that my approach works in full generality *up to equivalence of categories*... this enables me to solve my advisor's conjecture... I then use it as an ingredient in the proof of a much older and more famous conjecture (the "K(π,1) conjecture for finite complex reflection groups") - 2007: I submit my article for publication - 2009: referee #1 gives up - 2010: 2 more referees have now given up, complaining that the paper is too hard to read - 2012: referee #4 is finally able to produce a report, the revision work starts - 2014: the paper is accepted for publication - 2015: the paper is published - 2007-2025: because the older conjecture overshadows the lesser known conjecture by my advisor, and because my paper is too difficult, virtually no-one asks any question about the "lighting bulb" categorical idea at the core of the proof - Jan 22, 2026: I received an inbound email from a mathematician from another hemisphere, inquiring about the categorical aspects - Jan 26, 2026: I have my first ever videocall discussing the specifics of this core component of my proof