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This article does a much better job than many explaining what math research is actually like. I particularly like the "chess with the devil" metaphor: The
by davmre 11y ago
This article does a much better job than many explaining what math research is actually like. I particularly like the "chess with the devil" metaphor:
The steady state of mathematical research is to be
completely stuck. It is a process that Charles
Fefferman of Princeton, himself a onetime math prodigy
turned Fields medalist, likens to "playing chess with
the devil." The rules of the devil’s game are special,
though: The devil is vastly superior at chess, but,
Fefferman explained, you may take back as many moves as
you like, and the devil may not. You play a first game,
and, of course, "he crushes you." So you take back
moves and try something different, and he crushes you
again, "in much the same way." If you are sufficiently
wily, you will eventually discover a move that forces the
devil to shift strategy; you still lose, but — aha! — you
have your first clue.
That said, the article does still have a hint of genius worship about it. Tao himself has a good blog post
"Does one have to be a genius to do maths?"
(https://terrytao.wordpress.com/career-advice/does-one-have-to-be-a-genius-to-do-maths/ https://terrytao.wordpress.com/career-advice/does-one-have-t...) pushing back on this sort of thing.
Another perspective I really like on genius in mathematics is (the late) Bill Thurston's response to the Math Overflow post "What's a mathematician to do?", asking how a non-genius can contribute to mathematics:
It's not mathematics that you need to contribute to.
It's deeper than that: how might you contribute to
humanity, and even deeper, to the well-being of the
world, by pursuing mathematics? ... The real
satisfaction from mathematics is in learning from
others and sharing with others. All of us have clear
understanding of a few things and murky concepts of
many more. There is no way to run out of ideas in need
of clarification...
(http://mathoverflow.net/questions/43690/whats-a-mathematician-to-do/44213 http://mathoverflow.net/questions/43690/whats-a-mathematicia...)
- agumonkey 11y agoI had a less dark version, saying nature is a fair bitch. You'll fail but everything was under your nose from day one. You just had to explore the black space of ignorance, lighting it spark after spark.
- gohrt 11y agoTo be clear, Tao doesn't say that he is not a genius. Tao was known as a once-in-a-generation mathematical genius before he was 10 years old. (There was a magazine article about him and super-gifted education in Australia.) Both of Tao's brothers have extremely high IQ (>150). Tao claims that you can contribute nonzero progress to mathematics without being a genius, but even so, the requirements he lays out aren't requirements that anyone with a childhood <120IQ has ever done. What is blog post is saying is that math is not magic -- it takes brilliance AND hard work, not just brilliance.
- mikeyouse 11y agoCompletely off-topic ethical prompt; Should society fund the harvesting of eggs / sperm from his parents to serve as a genius bank for surrogate parents? Could 1,000 children with equal capabilities dramatically alter the course of humanity?
- copperx 11y agoI would venture to say 'yes', assuming that top-notch resources are given to the children. Also, there seems to be a precedent: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repository_for_Germinal_Choice https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repository_for_Germinal_Choice
- davmre 11y agoIt's not clear the genetic component is what matters here; you could equally well suggest that Tao's parents should adopt and raise lots of other smart kids. Though cloning 1000 Terry Taos would certainly be an interesting investigation into nature/nature. In any case IQ >150 is not that rare; there are hundreds of thousands of such people alive right now even just in the US. Clearly there are other qualifications to be a mathematical genius. It'd be a wonderful thing if we could reproduce those qualities, but I don't think we know enough right now to say that genetic cloning is the appropriate path.