Chapter 12 - Humanity's Intellect
Chapter 12 - Humanity's Intellect
The lights in the MIT President's office didn't turn off even after dawn, and two documents lay on the table.
[Hodge Conjecture Verification Complete] and [Official Announcement Plan]
The President read the first document again.
Even though he had read the sentences many times, his fingertips felt heavier each time he looked at them.
The Clay Mathematics Institute review team, Princeton, Harvard, Caltech, Stanford, the University of Chicago, and the internal MIT verification team had all reached the same conclusion.
[No Counterarguments]
That short sentence was preparing to turn the world upside down.
The President looked at Jonathan.
"We must announce it."
Jonathan nodded with a tired face.
"We can't delay it any longer."
David Lowell, the head of the Clay review team, also said.
"Private verification is finished, and the official document is ready."
The President asked.
"What about the academic community's reaction?"
Harold Grant answered in a low voice.
"It'll explode."
"And the press?"
"Already on the verge of exploding."
"CNN, The New York Times, The Washington Post, FOX, ABC, they're all waiting."
The President closed his eyes and opened them again.
"Before the reporters find out, notify the family first."
Hyejin woke up in surprise at the phone call that came in at dawn, and Taesik also jumped up from the bed.
"Hello?"
Jonathan's voice was heard.
"I apologize for calling at dawn."
"I had to contact you early."
Hyejin's face stiffened.
"Is something wrong?"
"The verification is finished."
Hyejin couldn't answer right away, and Taesik asked in a low voice from the side.
"What are they saying?"
Hyejin covered the receiver with her hand.
"The verification is done."
"Then..."
Jonathan's voice was heard again.
"We plan to announce it today."
"The conclusion is that Siwoo's proof is valid."
Hyejin looked back toward the bed, and there, Siwoo was sleeping while hugging his blanket.
Content that would turn the world upside down was being heard over the phone, but the child was sleeping as usual.
"I will tell Siwoo."
"Understood. I don't want to burden him."
"The family can decide whether to attend the announcement."
Hyejin thought for a moment.
"If Siwoo wants to, we'll go."
After hanging up the phone, the room was quiet, and Taesik couldn't say anything for a while.
"Honey."
"Yeah?"
"Did our Siwoo really solve it?"
Hyejin didn't answer. She still couldn't feel it either.
Hodge Conjecture, Millennium Prize Problem, the greatest challenge in mathematics—such words kept being heard, but to Hyejin, Siwoo was still just a son who would get scolded if he skipped a meal.
A moment later, Siwoo opened his eyes.
"Mom."
Hyejin sat by the bed.
"Yeah."
"Is something wrong?"
Taesik laughed awkwardly.
"There is."
"What is it?"
Hyejin stroked Siwoo's hair.
"The verification is finished."
"What verification?"
Taesik let out a dry laugh.
"Hey. Are you still half-asleep?"
Siwoo thought for a moment and then said.
"The Hodge Conjecture?"
"Yeah."
"No errors?"
"None so far."
Siwoo stared at the ceiling for a long time and then said quietly.
"That's a shame."
Taesik opened his eyes wide.
"What is?"
"If there were errors, I could look at it more..."
Taesik covered his face.
"You really are..."
MIT Auditorium, before the afternoon, reporters flocked in, and cameras lined up.
CNN live broadcast vehicles, FOX News, ABC, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, and even math-specialized media were all gathered, and the reporters whispered to each other.
"Is it really the Hodge Conjecture?"
"They say MIT is announcing it themselves."
"I heard Clay is coming out too."
"Then it's not a joke."
"He's 8 years old, does that make sense?"
"We'll see if it makes sense today."
The auditorium was already full, and mathematicians sat in the front row.
Harold Grant, Eleanor Shaw, Marcus Levin, Daniel Ortega, Lewis Han, and the Clay Mathematics Institute review team—their expressions were heavy.
Because they knew better than anyone what the content to be announced today meant.
Siwoo entered through the back door with his parents, and security personnel blocked the path.
Hyejin was holding Siwoo's hand tightly, and Taesik muttered in a low voice while looking at the surrounding cameras.
"Wow... there are so many."
"Do I explain the equations here?"
Hyejin said immediately.
"No."
"Then?"
Taesik laughed.
"Today is the day people say you're amazing."
"Why do they do that here?"
"Even Dad doesn't know that."
When it was time for the announcement, the auditorium lights dimmed slightly, and the MIT President went up to the podium.
Camera lights turned on at the same time, and the reporters' hands went onto their keyboards.
The President looked at the auditorium for a moment and slowly opened his mouth.
"Today, MIT announces research results that will remain in the history of mathematics."
"The research has undergone internal MIT verification, external mathematician review, and private verification by the Clay Mathematics Institute review team."
The screen turned on.
[Hodge Conjecture]
The reporters' expressions changed.
Someone held their breath, and someone started typing the breaking news sentence right away.
"Verification result..."
"Yoon Siwoo's proof has passed all counterarguments raised so far and is recognized as a valid proof for the Hodge Conjecture."
For a moment, there was a short silence, and then the auditorium seemed to explode.
Reporters stood up at the same time, and camera shutters poured out.
Someone ran outside holding a phone, and the mathematicians couldn't move from their seats.
Taesik was looking at the screen with a dazed face, and Siwoo asked quietly.
"Is it over?"
Hyejin couldn't answer, and Taesik barely said.
"I guess so."
Siwoo nodded.
"Then can I go eat?"
Andrew, who was right next to him, couldn't hold back his laughter, and the air that had been frozen with tension loosened a little.
But the world was already going crazy.
CNN Breaking News
[8-year-old Korean Yoon Siwoo, proves Hodge Conjecture]
FOX News
[MIT and Clay recognize Hodge Conjecture proof]
The New York Times
[One of the greatest challenges in mathematics solved by the hands of an eight-year-old boy]
The Washington Post
[Yoon Siwoo, opens a new chapter in the history of mathematics]
The Boston Globe
[The child MIT tried to hide, changes the world]
The internet was turned upside down in an instant.
Wait, what?
8 years old?
Hodge Conjecture?
Is this for real?
MIT and Clay acknowledged it?
It's really over.
The math world is in chaos.
Crazy.
"Genius" isn't enough for this.
Math forums were the same.
Saw the announcement.
Clay review team name confirmed.
Harold Grant attended.
This is no joke.
Watching math history in real-time.
When is the proof detail released?
Can't believe it.
Translated articles were also uploaded to Korean communities.
[Korean 8-year-old boy Yoon Siwoo, proves Hodge Conjecture]
Comments were posted in an instant.
What is this?
He's Korean?
8 years old?
MIT?
What is the Hodge Conjecture?
It's a Millennium Prize Problem.
Don't you get a million dollars for solving that?
It's not about the money.
Crazy genius.
No, "genius" isn't enough.
In Japanese communities, European math forums, and Chinese portals, the name Yoon Siwoo began to rise.
It was a name difficult to pronounce, but no one could just pass it by.
CNN Studio
The anchor was holding a script in front of the emergency broadcast screen, and a mathematician panelist was sitting next to him.
"Professor, how should we view this event?"
The panelist was silent for a long time.
And then he said quietly.
"The word 'genius' is not enough."
"Is it to that extent?"
"This is not the story of a gifted child that we usually talk about."
"It is an event that makes us question the history of mathematics and the limits of human intellect."
"Today, the world might not be witnessing just one genius, but the intellect of humanity."
That sentence spread before the broadcast even ended.
Humanity's Intellect.
At first, it was one professor's expression, but that expression went up on Twitter, and a few minutes later, it was shared thousands of times.
Someone wrote it on a math forum, and it was immediately translated to Korean communities as well.
Humanity's Intellect
This is acknowledged.
Much better than calling him a genius.
If he proved the Hodge Conjecture at 8, Humanity's Intellect is right.
Yoon Siwoo = Humanity's Intellect
The Boston Globe changed the title of their follow-up article.
[Humanity's Intellect, Yoon Siwoo]
The New York Times also prepared the next title.
[Humanity's Intellect: The Boy Who Changed Mathematics]
The MIT PR team became a battlefield again.
The phones rang so much they couldn't be counted anymore, and the mailbox was on the verge of exploding.
Interview requests, lecture requests, requests for appearances on broadcasts from various countries, university invitations, government inquiries, countless personal messages. One PR team staff member looked at the monitor and said.
"It's over."
The colleague next to him asked.
"What is?"
"The plan to protect him quietly."
The President was watching the CNN screen, and a new expression was already floating in the subtitles below the screen.
Humanity's Intellect
The President looked at Jonathan.
"Humanity's Intellect, huh..."
Jonathan answered with a tired face.
"It's too big a word."
Harold Grant said quietly.
"But today, people will want to call him that."
Andrew looked out the window.
Outside the MIT campus, more reporters were flocking.
At that time, Siwoo was in a small waiting room with his family.
Hyejin was listening to the noise outside the door, and Taesik was looking at his phone screen with a dazed face.
"Siwoo-ya."
"Yes."
"You got a nickname."
"A nickname?"
"They say it's Humanity's Intellect?"
"The nickname is too long."
Taesik burst into laughter.
"Is that the problem?"
"It's inconvenient to call."
Hyejin eventually burst into laughter too.
Outside, the world's media was shouting Yoon Siwoo's name, but Siwoo was complaining that the nickname was long.
Just then, Jonathan entered cautiously.
"Siwoo."
"Yes?"
"Are you okay?"
Siwoo thought for a moment.
"There are too many people."
"I imagine so."
"When does it end?"
Jonathan couldn't answer, and Siwoo looked at the waiting room door.
"Can I go home today?"
Hyejin said immediately.
"Let's go."
Taesik also nodded.
"Let's eat and go home."
Jonathan looked at the three people for a moment.
It was right after a historic announcement, and the whole world was watching Yoon Siwoo, but this family wanted only one thing.
To eat and go home.
Jonathan bowed his head.
"Understood. MIT will block the rest."
Hyejin said quietly.
"Please."
That night, MIT released an additional official statement.
[Requesting protection of Yoon Siwoo and his family's privacy]
But the world was already full of the name Yoon Siwoo.
News, newspapers, the internet, universities, the math world, government agencies—the same name was exchanged everywhere, and in a private meeting room of the US government, that name was also put on an official document.
[Subject: Yoon Siwoo]
[Classification Review Needed]
[Assessment of Potential as US Strategic Asset]