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What is a math whiz kid? I know there are a few professional mathematicians here -- professors, post-docs, etc. ...not a math forum like AoPS AoPS seems to b

What is a math whiz kid? I know there are a few professional mathematicians here -- professors, post-docs, etc. ...not a math forum like AoPS AoPS seems to be about math competitions. Math competitions have about as much in common with real math as the space marines from DOOM (demons, plasma guns) have in common with real marines (marching, painting stuff, acronyms). Real math is about building theories that are as general and powerful as possible, or making tools, or finding and solving interesting problems in the real world. Math competitions are about how many reductive insights you can come up with in two hours' time while sitting at a desk you're not allowed to leave except perhaps to go to the bathroom.

TriinT 17y ago
I agree with everything you wrote. However, it seems to me that AoPS is populated with math enthusiasts, while HN is populated with hackers. AoPS is indeed mostly about math competitions, and yes, math competitions have little to do with real math, but just count the number of great mathematicians who performed amazingly well in the IMO: Terry Tao, Misha Gromov, Grisha Perelman, etc. My point was not that AoPS is about real math, but rather that it's more likely to have math whiz kids than HN.
- carterschonwald 17y ago
  choose any difficult profession and any highschool or college level competition, you can exhibit people who did well in both, does that mean one is the predictor of the other? I don't think so.
  - TriinT 17y ago
    That's quite true. I try not to fall under the spell of the selectivity bias. I know a bunch of math grad students who competed in the IMO and the Putnam, and I know another (smaller) bunch of math grad students who despize math competitions. It's a matter of personality, I guess. Some are problem solvers, other are theory builders. We need both. All in all, the point was that math competitions, per se, attract math "whiz kids". Hence, AoPS should be populated by, at least some, math "whiz kids".

TriinT 17y ago

I agree with everything you wrote. However, it seems to me that AoPS is populated with math enthusiasts, while HN is populated with hackers. AoPS is indeed mostly about math competitions, and yes, math competitions have little to do with real math, but just count the number of great mathematicians who performed amazingly well in the IMO: Terry Tao, Misha Gromov, Grisha Perelman, etc. My point was not that AoPS is about real math, but rather that it's more likely to have math whiz kids than HN.

carterschonwald 17y ago
choose any difficult profession and any highschool or college level competition, you can exhibit people who did well in both, does that mean one is the predictor of the other? I don't think so.
- TriinT 17y ago
  That's quite true. I try not to fall under the spell of the selectivity bias. I know a bunch of math grad students who competed in the IMO and the Putnam, and I know another (smaller) bunch of math grad students who despize math competitions. It's a matter of personality, I guess. Some are problem solvers, other are theory builders. We need both. All in all, the point was that math competitions, per se, attract math "whiz kids". Hence, AoPS should be populated by, at least some, math "whiz kids".