3 ms·
I'm pretty sure that's the point and it's not entirely a joke. Stating the problem to a succinct degree is the hardest part and normally reveals the other steps
by AnotherGoodName 3y ago
I'm pretty sure that's the point and it's not entirely a joke. Stating the problem to a succinct degree is the hardest part and normally reveals the other steps.
If your maths problem is actually a specific instance of a known broader problem then just stating that will point the way forward. In fact a proof that your problem is an instance of a broader problem can generally be a worthy paper in its own right.
- hyperthesis 3y agoThe most succinct or abstract is like a normal form, in that many different problems are reduced to one, combining the insights from those different problems, and combining all those researchers to create a larger community. One effect is like how Latin used to be the language of professionals, so you'd better learn Latin if you want to access the knowledge base.
- gms7777 3y agoI think it may also be missing a step 0, which is "Identify that there exists a problem". I find that this is often an entirely distinct step from Step 1, which is it's own hill to climb. I'm in CS research (with most of my work being applied to biological problems), so I'm a few steps removed from pure math, but I can completely related to this. It's why I find writing grants so difficult -- because they generally require you to identify and describe the problem and propose some potential solutions. But that's like 90% of the work for the whole thing!