Why Learning Babylonian Math May Matter More Than Ever in the Age of AI
Research taste in history: the importance of learning Babylonian math
As AI reshapes research and education, historian Benjamin Breen argues that language models excel at memorization and brute-force archival work but remain stuck in a median, clichéd perspective—lacking the "research taste" that humanistic inquiry demands. He recalls Allan Chapman, his Oxford tutor, who insisted he learn Sumerian-Babylonian base-60 arithmetic and dwell inside alien epistemologies. Such useless knowledge, Breen contends, is the foundation of genuine historical insight.
The history of science only makes sense if we focus with all of our hearts and minds on understanding useless things, alien epistemologies, and outmoded ideas.