During my recent trip back home, I had a chance to talk with friends and family over dinner about the future of Greece. I heard about tales of political corruption and wasted opportunities within Greece, but I noticed also a growing resentment towards the rest of the world, who was mocking us, at best, and was out to get us, at worst. After I had listened for a while to the older generation, I asked them this: “So, what do you plan to do about all this?” They looked at me and an old, wise-looking man said: “There is nothing to be done. If you try to change anything, they will find you and silence you. I tried to change things once…” At this point, the younger generation, some still in high-school, others in college, nodded approvingly. But one young man, a young composer planning to study at the famed Berklee College of Music, was looking at me intently. What was he thinking? Why wasn’t he nodding with the old man? I don’t know. But, it was then that I turned to the old man and said: “There are wise men who see the world as it is. And there are fools who see it as it can be.”
For the young composer, who still dreams that his hands are capable of changing the world, I dedicate this post. To those who are struggling to see what lies ahead, I leave them with a problem to solve:
The redeemer: Find all pairs (a,b) of integers $latex age 1, bge 1$ that satisfy the equation $latex a^{(b^2)}=b^a$.
If you can solve this problem, you can change the world. That’s a promise.
PS: Good luck.
