For the last three years I’ve been obsessed with this idea of bringing more philosophy into classrooms (all of them, really). It’s never not been valuable (even as philosophy as a field and as a concern has slowly dwindled), but AI has created a crisis of meaning that presses the issue. Now, philosophy, the very thing that has been sidelined in favor of more quantifiable and profitable academic concerns, is the most vital of all.
This obsession of mine was reignited after listening to Steven Strogatz on NYT’s The Daily. The episode is called “When A.I. Comes for Your Purpose in Life.” Strogatz is a math professor at Cornell and makes the case that mathematics, historically one of the most lucrative and venerated fields, is now in full-blown crisis in light of OpenAI solving complex problems – and even doing so somewhat elegantly (and vexingly).
Strogatz finds himself turning to the ancient wisdom of the Book of Ecclesiastes (by way of The Byrds’ “Turn! Turn! Turn!”) as he tries to figure out what life means now that math’s meaning has changed and its future (and his) is uncertain.
His line of questioning, and the discussions and exploration that result, is exactly what should be happening in math classrooms. In fact, I’d argue, it should be a core concern of every subject area. This goes beyond answering the “what am I gonna do with this?” type questions (which itself takes on a new character in light of AI). I think we’re long overdue in providing useful answers to the bigger question: “why do anything at all?”
For anyone paying attention, there’s a very present and growing threat of nihilism among young people and us all, really. (And by us I mean people who have to work.) There’s a sense, and for increasingly many a crushing reality, that life is getting worse. Meanwhile, the one thing that’s booming is wholly dependent on the idea of seizing things from us we love and find meaning in (like pure mathematics or maybe even your job). This isn’t going away soon, and it is, and will continue to, weigh the most heavily on young people and the most economically vulnerable.
If schools are to accomplish anything of use, they should be preparing students to ponder life, humanity, existence, and why we do anything at all. I know this might sound a bit silly, but I’m completely earnest. Hopefully in that pursuit, students then discover why they should keep tinkering with mathematical puzzles, paint, garden, build, or write (and so on). Even better, if the job’s done right, they might also make the choice to do some things themselves in total. Just humans being human. For the meaning of it and for us all.
Originally published on LinkedIn on October 16, 2026.