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But did he win the Putman?
by imron 8y ago
But did he win the Putman?
- ColinWright 8y agoIt seems to me that doing well in competitions is a separate question from going on to do amazing research. There are plenty of people who did phenomenally well in competitions and then went on to be successful being mathematicians in other fields, working at Big Co, or starting up their own company, but most of the really, really top mathematicians that I know didn't go in for competitions. There are exceptions, but it's almost like being a top research mathematician is independent (in the technical sense) of doing well in competitions.
- thanatropism 8y agoI've had a couple of experiences with math olympians. They were both very bright (I don't know how they're not followed by throngs of beautiful ${people who are attracted to men} -- solving compass-and-straightedge problems can be as performative and awe-inspiring as an impressive guitar solo), but they lacked in other hard-to-define areas. They had thin skins for criticism (people like me who have failed in competitions and gotten low grades etc. have a lot more emotional scar tissue) and tended to overestimate themselves. Interestingly, they were never arrogant, they just overpromised a little. They were still valuable workers, but took a strange onboarding process compared to regular dummies (like me) who just want to be the best they possibly can under skull constraints.
- Koshkin 8y ago> women Or men, for that matter.
- thanatropism 8y agoFair enough. Fixed!
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- gjm11 8y agoI'm pretty sure the comment you're replying to wasn't so much a serious question as a reference to this little incident on HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35079 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35079
- ColinWright 8y agoIndeed, but I like to play with a straight bat, and I think the point was worth making regardless.
- imron 8y agoIndeed. I'm glad at least one person got the joke.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]