4 ms·

> They see these weird characters and it looks like gibberish and they assume that the people who understand this gibberish are somehow on another level of inte

by q-big 4y ago

> They see these weird characters and it looks like gibberish and they assume that the people who understand this gibberish are somehow on another level of intelligence. Honestly: if you come to such a (dubious) conclusion, the conclusion is actually likely true (with respect to you), because if you were smarter, you would sooner or later realize the mistake in this flow of thoughts.

stirfish 4y ago
Can you help me be smarter?
- q-big 4y ago
  > Can you help me be smarter? If you want to become smarter in math: Plan to understand work that some Fields medalists of your choice produced. If available, get a modern textbook treatment of their work (these, in most cases, are better for understandable than their original papers). Of course, you won't understand much at the beginning. So you know in what areas on mathematics you have deep knowledge deficits. So get some good textbooks on these topics to fill these knowledge deficits. Iterate. - If you want to become smarter in physics (the following advice is what a good friend of me gave who I really trust regarding this): Start with the 10 books of "Course of Theoretical Physics" by Lev Landau and Evgeny Lifshitz. > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Course_of_Theoretical_Physics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Course_of_Theoretical_Physics Having read these books should (according to him) give you at least some very basic foundation of physics on which you can then, as a next step, build by reading much more advanced textbooks.
danielvaughn 4y ago
I myself had that perception before I learned how to code. I even still have that perception when it comes to math. Every single time I hear mathematicians talk on HN I feel like I hear a whole new set of words I've never heard before, and looking at math diagrams makes my brain hurt. It makes you feel stupid, but it's just an illusion.
- q-big 4y ago
  > It makes you feel stupid, but it's just an illusion. You realized where the mistake in your flow of thoughts is. This is, as I wrote, a good sign.

by q-big 4y ago

stirfish 4y ago

Can you help me be smarter?

q-big 4y ago
> Can you help me be smarter? If you want to become smarter in math: Plan to understand work that some Fields medalists of your choice produced. If available, get a modern textbook treatment of their work (these, in most cases, are better for understandable than their original papers). Of course, you won't understand much at the beginning. So you know in what areas on mathematics you have deep knowledge deficits. So get some good textbooks on these topics to fill these knowledge deficits. Iterate. - If you want to become smarter in physics (the following advice is what a good friend of me gave who I really trust regarding this): Start with the 10 books of "Course of Theoretical Physics" by Lev Landau and Evgeny Lifshitz. > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Course_of_Theoretical_Physics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Course_of_Theoretical_Physics Having read these books should (according to him) give you at least some very basic foundation of physics on which you can then, as a next step, build by reading much more advanced textbooks.

danielvaughn 4y ago

I myself had that perception before I learned how to code. I even still have that perception when it comes to math. Every single time I hear mathematicians talk on HN I feel like I hear a whole new set of words I've never heard before, and looking at math diagrams makes my brain hurt. It makes you feel stupid, but it's just an illusion.

q-big 4y ago
> It makes you feel stupid, but it's just an illusion. You realized where the mistake in your flow of thoughts is. This is, as I wrote, a good sign.