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They aren’t because latex has non local syntax rules - figuring out why it is saying missing $ inserted instead of showing you the equation is rather damning to
by lanstin 3y ago
They aren’t because latex has non local syntax rules - figuring out why it is saying missing $ inserted instead of showing you the equation is rather damning to the free flow of thought. And when you are solving a problem, your thoughts are likely to be quite wrong, where you think a thing is an X but it is a finitely blah blah blah X’ which is totally different for the thing you want to calculate/prove.
I will often generate ten pages of scribbled on paper to come up with one page of LaTeX homework. And the I joyfully crumple up the ten pages and recycle them.
- nomilk 3y agoThanks for explaining - makes a lot of sense. If using vim/LaTex takes away even a small % of attention from the actual math problem it becomes a hindrance relative to pen/paper.
- abdullahkhalids 3y agoIn both Physics undergrad and grad school, I did a lot of assignments (probably 50-100) all directly in latex. I don't make a lot of mistakes in the math syntax, I can comfortably read the source, and if I do encounter a compiler error I usually know where I made the mistake. I never found it difficult. Later, when I become a prof, I had a few students who were the same. Assignments done directly in latex. So I am by no means unique.
- lanstin 3y agoMore proof that physicists are smarter than mathematicians!