3 ms·

Care to explain how your long r/iamverysmart worthy intro about being a Math genius is relevant to the topic of discussion?

graycat 10y ago
I am not a math genius! E.g., in the eighth grade my math teacher gave me a D and fervently told me not to take anymore math! The role of the math is part of the story: No way did I go to Indiana University to learn violin! I went there, as I said, to get the math for physics. My interest was in physics and mostly still is. So, part of the story is the bumps and turns in the road that can lead one to something very different than the original goal. Part of the story is how I was well prepared for the math program but, still, didn't like it and, e.g., ended up in violin! Such things can happen. E.g., there are some Freeman Dyson remarks about why he hates Ph.D. programs and how dangerous they can be to a student's health. Dyson is correct. For one more, there is currently a story at the James Simons Quanta Magazine about a woman who got into looking for dark matter from flashes of light in liquid Zenon gas and early in her career, from the pressures, had to learn to make herself out of titanium, learn to dry the tears, etc. Well, I wasn't made of titanium: No way was I going to buckle down, nose to the grindstone, ear to the ground, shoulder to the wheel, make the best of the situation, etc. Heck no. I'll go start violin, get a job, and learn the math in evenings and weekends on my own -- for which I did make a lot of progress. And I met my future wife. So, part of the story is, to heck with the titanium, and don't let the dangers Dyson was concerned about take effect; in a bad grad program, give them the middle finger and do something else. Violin and the Bach Chaconne are a very long way from mathematical physics, but they did have a role. It was a story, as in communication, interpretation of human experience, emotion. It was an example that maybe others can understand, compare with, and maybe draw lessons from. A lesson: Can go for mathematical physics and end up starting violin! Can happen! The mention that I was well prepared for all three courses they put me in, two of them knew essentially all the material and in the third was way ahead in the first lectures on set theory, don't show that I'm smart but just the outrageous incompetence of some grad programs, and that's part of the story, that is, the outrageous, unexpected bumps in the road. For a little more, later I went to another grad program and did get a Ph.D., but this time I investigated grad programs before applying. There some data indicated that while I was at the Indiana University grad math department, only one entering grad student in 16 left with a Ph.D. Net, the place was a death march. Gee, IIRC in the Battle of Britain, of the fighter pilots, only one in six died. That, too, along with the Dyson remark and the titanium, could be valuable warnings for others. Or, on drop out rates, many Ph.D. programs make the Army Rangers and the Navy Seals look like "fuzzy, bunny play time". Dangers are part of story telling! Or, when see such dangers, don't go there; change course. If got caught in the danger zone, then back out.

graycat 10y ago

I am not a math genius! E.g., in the eighth grade my math teacher gave me a D and fervently told me not to take anymore math! The role of the math is part of the story: No way did I go to Indiana University to learn violin! I went there, as I said, to get the math for physics. My interest was in physics and mostly still is. So, part of the story is the bumps and turns in the road that can lead one to something very different than the original goal. Part of the story is how I was well prepared for the math program but, still, didn't like it and, e.g., ended up in violin! Such things can happen. E.g., there are some Freeman Dyson remarks about why he hates Ph.D. programs and how dangerous they can be to a student's health. Dyson is correct. For one more, there is currently a story at the James Simons Quanta Magazine about a woman who got into looking for dark matter from flashes of light in liquid Zenon gas and early in her career, from the pressures, had to learn to make herself out of titanium, learn to dry the tears, etc. Well, I wasn't made of titanium: No way was I going to buckle down, nose to the grindstone, ear to the ground, shoulder to the wheel, make the best of the situation, etc. Heck no. I'll go start violin, get a job, and learn the math in evenings and weekends on my own -- for which I did make a lot of progress. And I met my future wife. So, part of the story is, to heck with the titanium, and don't let the dangers Dyson was concerned about take effect; in a bad grad program, give them the middle finger and do something else. Violin and the Bach Chaconne are a very long way from mathematical physics, but they did have a role. It was a story, as in communication, interpretation of human experience, emotion. It was an example that maybe others can understand, compare with, and maybe draw lessons from. A lesson: Can go for mathematical physics and end up starting violin! Can happen! The mention that I was well prepared for all three courses they put me in, two of them knew essentially all the material and in the third was way ahead in the first lectures on set theory, don't show that I'm smart but just the outrageous incompetence of some grad programs, and that's part of the story, that is, the outrageous, unexpected bumps in the road. For a little more, later I went to another grad program and did get a Ph.D., but this time I investigated grad programs before applying. There some data indicated that while I was at the Indiana University grad math department, only one entering grad student in 16 left with a Ph.D. Net, the place was a death march. Gee, IIRC in the Battle of Britain, of the fighter pilots, only one in six died. That, too, along with the Dyson remark and the titanium, could be valuable warnings for others. Or, on drop out rates, many Ph.D. programs make the Army Rangers and the Navy Seals look like "fuzzy, bunny play time". Dangers are part of story telling! Or, when see such dangers, don't go there; change course. If got caught in the danger zone, then back out.