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> Is no noteworthy mathematics being done at less prestigious institutions? People with high-potential are detected early on and can choose to work in the most

> Is no noteworthy mathematics being done at less prestigious institutions? People with high-potential are detected early on and can choose to work in the most prestigious institutions. It's like a pro-athlete. You don't expect Michael Jordan to be playing with a small local team.

opportune 9y ago
I think people are psychologically averse to acknowledging this level of "filtering" even though it's mostly true, because it suggests an uncomfortable level of inequality. However I do think that there might be just a little too much focus on contest-math when it comes to identifying the country's best mathematicians. It's easily seen that the best contest mathematicians usually become the best professional mathematicians. In aggregate, though, most contest-math participants come from a very particular demographic (i.e. they live in big cities in wealthy areas, have very supportive/tiger parents (this is the key), go to magnet schools, obviously practice a lot, etc.). These people are still probably much more likely than average to become professionals, but it filters out a lot of bright people from less wealthy families or areas, or in regions where culturally math competitions are barely even a thing.
- wbl 9y ago
  That's not that true. Plenty of non IMO/Putnam people have won Fields Medals.
  - opportune 9y ago
    I think you may have misinterpreted my comment, because I'm really in agreement with what you just said: placing near the top in prestigious math contests indicates that you'll probably be a good professional mathematician, but not having top contest-math scores does not preclude you from being a good professional mathematician. In general I think placement into top math undergrad/PhD programs (e.g. Harvard) should be less focused on contest math.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
rxhernandez 9y ago
> It's like a pro-athlete. You don't expect Michael Jordan to be playing with a small local team. See Srinivasa Ramanujan for reference.
- govg 9y ago
  But how many other examples do we have? It's a rarity to see such an occurrence. That's why Yitang Zhang's work was such a surprise.
  - rxhernandez 9y ago
    That's like saying how many examples of great black American presidents do we have? If these people are systemically barred from these communities then it should be no wonder why we have so few.

opportune 9y ago

I think people are psychologically averse to acknowledging this level of "filtering" even though it's mostly true, because it suggests an uncomfortable level of inequality. However I do think that there might be just a little too much focus on contest-math when it comes to identifying the country's best mathematicians. It's easily seen that the best contest mathematicians usually become the best professional mathematicians. In aggregate, though, most contest-math participants come from a very particular demographic (i.e. they live in big cities in wealthy areas, have very supportive/tiger parents (this is the key), go to magnet schools, obviously practice a lot, etc.). These people are still probably much more likely than average to become professionals, but it filters out a lot of bright people from less wealthy families or areas, or in regions where culturally math competitions are barely even a thing.

wbl 9y ago
That's not that true. Plenty of non IMO/Putnam people have won Fields Medals.
- opportune 9y ago
  I think you may have misinterpreted my comment, because I'm really in agreement with what you just said: placing near the top in prestigious math contests indicates that you'll probably be a good professional mathematician, but not having top contest-math scores does not preclude you from being a good professional mathematician. In general I think placement into top math undergrad/PhD programs (e.g. Harvard) should be less focused on contest math.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

rxhernandez 9y ago

> It's like a pro-athlete. You don't expect Michael Jordan to be playing with a small local team. See Srinivasa Ramanujan for reference.

govg 9y ago
But how many other examples do we have? It's a rarity to see such an occurrence. That's why Yitang Zhang's work was such a surprise.
- rxhernandez 9y ago
  That's like saying how many examples of great black American presidents do we have? If these people are systemically barred from these communities then it should be no wonder why we have so few.