Comment by schleck8
8 hours ago
To many professional mathematicians it's a form of art. But at the end of the day, it's a profession done for money, and even if they like doing it as a day to day job, they'd probably be doing something else if they had absolute freedom over their time. This is how I personally classify things as art or chore. If people continue doing something the same way when there is no financial motive, it's art in its pure form.
> even if they like doing it as a day to day job, they'd probably be doing something else if they had absolute freedom over their time.
Not the mathematicians I know. They’d happily drop the academic admin stuff, but they’d absolutely keep doing mathematics in much the same way.
Based on the research mathematicians I have known, I'd disagree with 'they'd probably be doing something else if they had absolute freedom over their time' for at least a large number of them, although it probably varies from individual to individual.
Some call that "entertainment", or "a hobby".