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Masterclass on mathematical thinking

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Re: Masterclass on mathematical thinking

#31

Post by klyrs »

paulpauper wrote: post #24
lordnacho wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure why you think the split is so tilted towards genetics. If TT had been born in some 3rd world country with poor nutrition and crappy education system, how would he be exposed to all the higher level math topics? It's clear you need that exposure, you aren't just going to know things about what mathematicians have thought about and consider important without coming into contact with some.

We have a sample size of 600 + million ppl between the US and Western Europe with full access to food, electricity, and other modern necessities, not third world countries. How many are as smart as him.

> How many are as smart as him.

I'll accept that nobody is, but his mom was a math teacher. Few of us get that kind of leg up, certainly not 600m+. When I was 5, "don't get shot" was already getting a significant share of my brain's power, and I had it better than most. Sure, he's got a brain like gasoline, but don't discount the spark and oxygen that allowed the genius to deflagrate. And don't just throw numbers around like that if you don't have proof. If you respect the mathematics, act like it.

Re: Masterclass on mathematical thinking

#32

Post by throwawaygh »

forgotmyoldacc wrote: post #10
Graffur wrote: post #7

My first reaction to this blog post was kind of negative because Master Class is not free. I watched the teaser video and it's actually pretty inspiring. As someone who has done undergraduate Computer Science level Math, but completely forgotten most things about Math except for simple Algebra, I am going to try this. The cost is €16/month which is cheaper than Netflix. I just cancelled my Spotify recently so this is…

Seems like motivation porn more than education. Not that there's anything wrong with that, just knowing which one is which is useful.

I think of it like "listen to an expert in X talk about why they love X" instead of "learn the basics of X". It's sort of more like an interview than a lecture.

Re: Masterclass on mathematical thinking

#33

Post by wging »

supernova87a wrote: post #12

Watching the trailer, makes me think that people who may enjoy this series will also enjoy a book called "Aha" by Martin Gardner (from probably 40 years ago)[0]. It has a lot of amusingly illustrated insight problems that show you how thinking about a problem differently simplifies getting to the answer a lot. It's probably aimed at advanced teenagers, but in fact the lessons there are some that even many adults prob…

Do you mean Aha! Insight? I don't see a book just labeled "Aha".

There is another Gardner book, Aha! Gotcha, which has a different emphasis than what I think you're talking about, but is excellent. I loved it as a kid. Gotcha is more about mathematical paradoxes and intuition-breaking concepts. Hotel Infinity, "who shaves the barber who does not shave himself?", the 'unexpected tiger', Zeno's paradox is included I think..., the difference between average and median, Newcomb's problem, etc...

(the unexpected tiger: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unexpected_hanging_paradox)

I'm going to have to check this out based on how good Gotcha was.

Re: Masterclass on mathematical thinking

#34

Post by ahahahahah »

Graffur wrote: post #7

My first reaction to this blog post was kind of negative because Master Class is not free. I watched the teaser video and it's actually pretty inspiring. As someone who has done undergraduate Computer Science level Math, but completely forgotten most things about Math except for simple Algebra, I am going to try this. The cost is €16/month which is cheaper than Netflix. I just cancelled my Spotify recently so this is…

There's some good comments on the blog post about why he thinks doing it through MasterClass brought a lot of value that wouldn't be there otherwise.

Re: Masterclass on mathematical thinking

#35

Post by raphlinus »

uoaei wrote: post #8
paulpauper wrote: post #3

probably helps also to have a 1 in 100 million IQ too, but sounds like fun anyway. I am not sure how some of thee masterclasses are useful. Like the one by the astronaut . I don't plan on going into space anytime soon. Maybe Elon Musk would enjoy that one. No amount of videos will make even a typical PhD in math even as close to as good as him. It's 90% genes , 10% other factors.

Is it really common opinion that TT is smart because of his genes? I would think having a helpful and engaged math-fluent father and lots of encouragement from an early age has way more to do with it. You can't seriously believe that an introduction into mathematical thinking from an early age and close advision from math-fluent parents is only 10% of the reason that TT is where he is today.

Unusually, we have pretty good documentation about Prof Tao's background, childhood, and mathematical education. I found this a good read.

http://math.fau.edu/yiu/Oldwebsites/MPS2010/TerenceTao1984.p...

My favorite part is when he was asked, at age 8 minus epsilon, whether addition distributes over multiplication (after having established that multiplication distributing over addition is an example of a distributive law), and he said, "only for Boolean algebras."

(Disclosure: I was also a child prodigy, so much of this story resonated with me. I'm now a research software engineer at Google, working on lots of mathematically intensive topics in 2D graphics, but obviously nowhere nearly as accomplished as Prof Tao)

Re: Masterclass on mathematical thinking

#36

Post by chubot »

Graffur wrote: post #7

My first reaction to this blog post was kind of negative because Master Class is not free. I watched the teaser video and it's actually pretty inspiring. As someone who has done undergraduate Computer Science level Math, but completely forgotten most things about Math except for simple Algebra, I am going to try this. The cost is €16/month which is cheaper than Netflix. I just cancelled my Spotify recently so this is…

On that note, I wonder if anyone has suggestions for paid video content that is good? That is, "non fiction" or educational stuff like this series is supposed to be. I feel like I spend too much time watching YouTube (mostly free) and Netflix (very cheap, quality varies).

This is a vague question but I'm interested in all kinds of suggestions... including meta suggestions to recommendation sites. I sometimes look at various subreddits like /r/netflix but I don't find much there.

Re: Masterclass on mathematical thinking

#37

Post by pedrosorio »

drexlspivey wrote: post #17
umvi wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the wiki: > Tao exhibited extraordinary mathematical abilities from an early age, attending university-level mathematics courses at the age of 9. He is one of only two children in the history of the Johns Hopkins' Study of Exceptional Talent program to have achieved a score of 700 or greater on the SAT math section while just eight years old; Tao scored a 760 I think genetics have more to do with this level of a…

> Tao has 2 brothers - why aren't they mathematical supergeniuses too? The previous sentence from the one you quoted states that “Tao also has two brothers, who are living in Australia. Both formerly represented the country at the International Mathematical Olympiad”

Very impressive no doubt, and again, they are brothers, so genetics plays a part. But their achievements aren't even close.

His (younger) brother, Nigel achieved two bronze medals (placing 132nd and 114th overall) at the age of 15 and 16 [0]. Quite good, specially at a younger age than most participants.

Terence [1] got a gold medal (13th place) right before completing 13 years of age. He achieved a similar feat (28th place) around his 12th birthday and a more humble performance (87th place, but still better than his brother's best) around his 11th birthday. At 11, better than 58% of his competition, some of the best 17 and 18 year olds at competitive math in the world.

He is cited as "the youngest bronze, silver, and gold medalist, respectively, in IMO history." [2]

These are entirely different levels.

[0] https://www.imo-official.org/participant_r.aspx?id=783

[1] https://www.imo-official.org/participant_r.aspx?id=1581

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_International_Mathemat...

Re: Masterclass on mathematical thinking

#38

Post by barry-cotter »

paulpauper wrote: post #22
NikolaeVarius wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Genes must have something to do with it. Take the case of Srinivasa Ramanujan No formal training in math. Made insane contributions to mathematics including solving "unsolvable" problems. > A child prodigy by age 11, he had exhausted the mathematical knowledge of two college students who were lodgers at his home. He was later lent a book written by S. L. Loney on advanced trigonometry.[18][19] He mastered this by the…

People will delay a dental procedure but they will not delay making their kids #1.

I wish I lived in a world where that was true.

Re: Masterclass on mathematical thinking

#39

Post by contravariant »

paulpauper wrote: post #24
lordnacho wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure why you think the split is so tilted towards genetics. If TT had been born in some 3rd world country with poor nutrition and crappy education system, how would he be exposed to all the higher level math topics? It's clear you need that exposure, you aren't just going to know things about what mathematicians have thought about and consider important without coming into contact with some.

We have a sample size of 600 + million ppl between the US and Western Europe with full access to food, electricity, and other modern necessities, not third world countries. How many are as smart as him.

Markedly fewer than people with similar genes I imagine.

Re: Masterclass on mathematical thinking

#40

Post by olegious »

mindcrime wrote: post #21

I've never seriously considered subscribing to Masterclass, but this has gotten the gears turning in my head a little. So I'm curious: does anyone here subscribe, and could you comment on whether or not you feel like it's worthwhile, given the available content?

I love their cooking content.
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