Mathematically Ethical - by Amy Fan - Reboot

Last month, Caroline Ellison was sentenced to two years in prison for her role in the FTX/Alameda collapse in 2022—the latest sentencing in a legal saga that is still ongoing. Ellison’s crimes at Alameda have often been attributed to her EA sensibilities (and, according to her defense, manipulation by her boss and former partner)—but maybe there’s more to the story. In this essay, Amy Fan unpacks the culture of competitive math where she and Ellison found a love of math at a young age, and cautions us all against its potential downstream dangers. — Shira Abramovich, Reboot Editorial Board By Amy Fan In eighth grade, I qualified for the final round of a citywide math competition: a public buzzer contest where contestants faced down one-on-one until a final champion was crowned. My heart pounded. My competition came from the backgrounds that I had feared—the wealthy suburban schools, the private schools, the schools with the dedicated preparation programs, even the one with a nationally

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