> If what you say was true, many of them would be recluses up in the mountains, but none of them are.
Except, for instance, Wiles and Perelman? And I’m pretty sure that mathematicians are rather more introverted and solitary on average than most people.
In any case, that just doesn’t follow. Mathematicians realize that collaboration is important in math just as it is in most other fields. Humans are also social animals and many of us enjoy collaboration and social interaction for its own sake. And yes, that means social status is a thing that motivates many humans. But nobody decides to study math in order to gain status! Any status stuff is entirely contextual to and conditional on having already decided to study math.
Except, for instance, Wiles and Perelman? And I’m pretty sure that mathematicians are rather more introverted and solitary on average than most people.
In any case, that just doesn’t follow. Mathematicians realize that collaboration is important in math just as it is in most other fields. Humans are also social animals and many of us enjoy collaboration and social interaction for its own sake. And yes, that means social status is a thing that motivates many humans. But nobody decides to study math in order to gain status! Any status stuff is entirely contextual to and conditional on having already decided to study math.