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Teenager solves stubborn riddle about prime number look-alikes

quantamagazine.org

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Re: Teenager solves stubborn riddle about prime number look-alikes

#31

Post by Vt71fcAqt7 »

strikelaserclaw wrote: post #10
kevinventullo wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean it sounds like he has already received the equivalent of an undergraduate education.

thats exactly what i mean, they made it sound like this kid was some average guy who at the age of 15 went to the public library, read books and solved some hard math problem. I bet this kid had an advanced math education and math immersion since he was a toddler.

The article mentions him discussing infinity with his mother at three. It does not try to hide his background.

Also, being "privileged" in this way isn't a bad thing (not that you have said otherwsie).

Re: Teenager solves stubborn riddle about prime number look-alikes

#32

Post by vorticalbox »

renewiltord wrote: post #22

Summary: 1. Fermat's Little Theorem: if p is prime, then b^p = b (mod p) for all integers b. i.e. b^p - b is always a multiple of p. 8^3-8 = 512-8 = 504 = 168 x 3. 2. Is the inverse true? Does b^n - b = 0 (mod n) mean that n is prime? No. Sometimes n is non-prime (like n=561, divisible by 3). We call these n, Carmichael numbers. 3. Okay, so these numbers exist. How common are they? For primes we know they're common.…

Thanks for this. I find articles like this super hard to read due to the mixing of the topic and all the "back ground".

It does sometimes feel like it's only there to bulk out the article.

Re: Teenager solves stubborn riddle about prime number look-alikes

#33

Post by dQw4w9WgXcQ »

4gotunameagain wrote: post #19

Getting older, sometimes it can be so tough to accept the fact that people a fraction of your age achieve things you never will. Given the extreme connectivity of the present, we are also exposed to brilliant minds with incredible capabilities, making us (me at least) feel even more incapable.. I guess it is a lesson for humility. Good job Daniel, you show us !

The set of things you will never achieve is infinite compared to the set of things you will, best to stay focused on the latter and enjoy your life. Unless of course you prefer drinking from an infinite well-spring of misery.

Re: Teenager solves stubborn riddle about prime number look-alikes

#34

Post by paulpauper »

strikelaserclaw wrote: post #10
kevinventullo wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean it sounds like he has already received the equivalent of an undergraduate education.

thats exactly what i mean, they made it sound like this kid was some average guy who at the age of 15 went to the public library, read books and solved some hard math problem. I bet this kid had an advanced math education and math immersion since he was a toddler.

Think of all the millions of dollars spent on immersion and tutoring by rich parents. How many of their kids produce anything of noteworthiness at any age, let alone so young as he did? This is 99% the product of IQ/talent. It's a huuuge leap to go from merely having an advanced math education to actually solving or proving important stuff. This is mathematician-caliber work, not just someone who took advanced courses at a university or had parent's help.

Re: Teenager solves stubborn riddle about prime number look-alikes

#35

Post by paulpauper »

Vt71fcAqt7 wrote: post #31
strikelaserclaw wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

thats exactly what i mean, they made it sound like this kid was some average guy who at the age of 15 went to the public library, read books and solved some hard math problem. I bet this kid had an advanced math education and math immersion since he was a toddler.

The article mentions him discussing infinity with his mother at three. It does not try to hide his background. Also, being "privileged" in this way isn't a bad thing (not that you have said otherwsie).

we're talking even greater than Terrance Tao level of IQ. No amount of parent's help can instill that kind of talent.

Re: Teenager solves stubborn riddle about prime number look-alikes

#36

Post by 363849473754 »

4gotunameagain wrote: post #19

Getting older, sometimes it can be so tough to accept the fact that people a fraction of your age achieve things you never will. Given the extreme connectivity of the present, we are also exposed to brilliant minds with incredible capabilities, making us (me at least) feel even more incapable.. I guess it is a lesson for humility. Good job Daniel, you show us !

Not to downplay any of Daniel’s accomplishment but sometimes it isn’t a “fair” comparison when others started younger with more resources. His father is a distinguished professor of mathematics and his mother is a professor of mathematics. When you have that sort of resources available at a young age and advanced training you’ll probably accomplish more sooner than someone of similar IQ without those resources who started later

Re: Teenager solves stubborn riddle about prime number look-alikes

#37

Post by bumby »

MikePlacid wrote: post #15
strikelaserclaw wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

thats exactly what i mean, they made it sound like this kid was some average guy who at the age of 15 went to the public library, read books and solved some hard math problem. I bet this kid had an advanced math education and math immersion since he was a toddler.

Dunno. My granddad was a mathematician and my mother was a mathematician (and my father was a mathematician and a computer scientist, but they divorced). Still the only “math immersion” I got was Perelman books, scattered around our apartment, like Physics for Entertainment and Algebra for Fun: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AYakov+Perelm... They are both challenging and entertaining and very simple -…

>I would rather guess that it is some genetic defect in the brain causing a person to prefer playing with abstract problems to booze

They may not be as mutually exclusive as you think. I remember reading some research years ago that investigated the positive correlation between alcohol abuse and IQ. Their theory was that high IQ personalities seek novelty and that can manifest in chasing novel mental states.

Re: Teenager solves stubborn riddle about prime number look-alikes

#38

Post by munk-a »

4gotunameagain wrote: post #19

Getting older, sometimes it can be so tough to accept the fact that people a fraction of your age achieve things you never will. Given the extreme connectivity of the present, we are also exposed to brilliant minds with incredible capabilities, making us (me at least) feel even more incapable.. I guess it is a lesson for humility. Good job Daniel, you show us !

I celebrate people who achieve memorable milestones like this or build something that revolutionizes the world - but there are a plethora of different ways to live life. For me, as long as you're happy and you're putting more happiness out into the world than you're consuming then you're achieving a pretty damn good life. We're not all responsible for the entire world - as long as you're leaving your little corner of it better than you found it then good on you.

Re: Teenager solves stubborn riddle about prime number look-alikes

#39

Post by paulpauper »

4gotunameagain wrote: post #19

Getting older, sometimes it can be so tough to accept the fact that people a fraction of your age achieve things you never will. Given the extreme connectivity of the present, we are also exposed to brilliant minds with incredible capabilities, making us (me at least) feel even more incapable.. I guess it is a lesson for humility. Good job Daniel, you show us !

it's not like everyone can win the IQ lottery. Superior ability is unequally distributed.

Re: Teenager solves stubborn riddle about prime number look-alikes

#40

Post by munk-a »

bluGill wrote: post #30
dylan604 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I have no problem admitting that there are people much smarter, more talented, better looking, etc than I am. The day that I assume I'm the top of whatever category is a sad sad day, as I must be the only one left.

Either that or you have narrowed the field so much that you are the only one even doing what you do. (you might sometimes have a junior to help you, who then becomes the second best in the world)

Personally, I can claim, without a doubt, to be the world champion at writing this comment.
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