6 ms·

I had a math teacher in primary school who used to shout with an exaggerated accent, "simple is not the same as easy!" She really wanted to drill the idea into

I had a math teacher in primary school who used to shout with an exaggerated accent, "simple is not the same as easy!" She really wanted to drill the idea into our heads that just because you know exactly how to do something, doesn't mean that it will be quick or easy to accomplish. Like, for a schoolchild, long division. The rules are simple, but given big enough numbers you'll probably mess up at least once. And then the same thing turns out to be true with algebra, geometry, derivation/integration, and on. It's not a bad mantra.

Ma8ee 7y ago
"It is straightforward to show that..." means that you could probably do it with your current knowledge, but it will take 6 dense pages, four false starts and about a week of focused work.
- bitwize 7y ago
  I used to joke that when a solution was known to exist the problem was "trivial"; when a solution was not known to exist it was "nontrivial". A problem that's bloody well impossible is "decidedly nontrivial".
- andreareina 7y ago
  If you were Feynman you'd even call it "elementary" https://mavenroundtable.io/originalpath/path-helpers/feynman-s-lost-lecture-W1juMFAHE0ycVFiybjO8KA/ https://mavenroundtable.io/originalpath/path-helpers/feynman...
- hinkley 7y ago
  'You' being personified here, rather than the general you. Straightforward tends to suggest we don't have to have a bunch of meetings about it, because the right person either has the knowledge or we know precisely where to get it.
  - Ma8ee 7y ago
    It depends on the context. I had the math professor lecturing her students in mind.
- MaxBarraclough 7y ago
  Like the joke about writing math textbooks. Forgotten the proof? Not a problem. The proof of this is elementary and is left as an exercise for the reader.
mumblemumble 7y ago
> I had a math teacher in primary school who used to shout with an exaggerated accent, "simple is not the same as easy!" I can imagine no more poetic description of the experience of reading Wolfram's A New Kind of Science.
- paggle 7y ago
  Can you elaborate?
amboo7 7y ago
https://arxiv.org/abs/0707.4166 https://arxiv.org/abs/0707.4166 is nice

Ma8ee 7y ago

"It is straightforward to show that..." means that you could probably do it with your current knowledge, but it will take 6 dense pages, four false starts and about a week of focused work.

bitwize 7y ago
I used to joke that when a solution was known to exist the problem was "trivial"; when a solution was not known to exist it was "nontrivial". A problem that's bloody well impossible is "decidedly nontrivial".
andreareina 7y ago
If you were Feynman you'd even call it "elementary" https://mavenroundtable.io/originalpath/path-helpers/feynman-s-lost-lecture-W1juMFAHE0ycVFiybjO8KA/ https://mavenroundtable.io/originalpath/path-helpers/feynman...
hinkley 7y ago
'You' being personified here, rather than the general you. Straightforward tends to suggest we don't have to have a bunch of meetings about it, because the right person either has the knowledge or we know precisely where to get it.
- Ma8ee 7y ago
  It depends on the context. I had the math professor lecturing her students in mind.
MaxBarraclough 7y ago
Like the joke about writing math textbooks. Forgotten the proof? Not a problem. The proof of this is elementary and is left as an exercise for the reader.

mumblemumble 7y ago

> I had a math teacher in primary school who used to shout with an exaggerated accent, "simple is not the same as easy!" I can imagine no more poetic description of the experience of reading Wolfram's A New Kind of Science.

paggle 7y ago
Can you elaborate?

amboo7 7y ago

https://arxiv.org/abs/0707.4166 https://arxiv.org/abs/0707.4166 is nice