Strogatz Endorses K2 Mountaineering Analogy for the Navier-Stokes OpenAI Drama
stevenstrogatz · x · 2026-09-10
Mathematician Steven Strogatz shared and praised Nasir Afaf's Substack piece for clearly untangling who did what in the recent Navier-Stokes–OpenAI controversy.
The essay draws an analogy with K2's Abruzzi route: in 1909 the Duke of Abruzzi's expedition fell short at 6,250m but meticulously mapped the southeastern ridge that later carried roughly three-quarters of all successful summits; Lacedelli and Compagnoni used it for the 1954 first ascent. The analogy frames the dispute over pioneers versus those who ultimately 'summited' in mathematical exploration.
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