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Math is still catching up to the genius of Ramanujan

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Re: Math is still catching up to the genius of Ramanujan

#221

Post by uncharted9 »

kumarm wrote: post #159
profsummergig wrote: post #35

In the Ramanujan story, a true MVP is G.H. Hardy. He read letters from some random unknown guy (a savage "native" no less!) half the world away, and took them seriously. And then organized resources to have that guy travel to England. A true MVP. All the others Ramanujan wrote to ignored him (understandably so). Such a tragedy that he died so young.

If you want to understand how human potential was wasted in old world, Ramanujan belongs to a caste in India that is only caste that is supposed to be educated (Representing probably Ramanujan short life itself is a loss to the world, Imagine how many Ramanujan's were ignored where there is no G.H. Hardy and what about Ramanujans in the other 95%?

This is such a common and dangerous rhetoric, which has been repeated millions of times in India today, that people are willing to believe that one community has wickedly tried to subjugate everyone by denying them the right to education. But this is completely false. The early government records of British India themselves attempt to record detailed demographic records of the communities that studied in the early 'modern' schools. And no, the Brahmins didn't have a monopoly.

This is similar to another popular narrative that no girl received an education until some sympathetic Englishman in partnership with a local woman allowed girls to go to school. What a load of BS.

Re: Math is still catching up to the genius of Ramanujan

#222

Post by dagw »

ChadNauseam wrote: post #105
jojobas wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So in grade 5 you maths is A++++ (like college entry level), you're excused from English, Civics and what not, and when by the time of graduation you've fizzled out (which most prodigies do) you're just an unemployable nerd. School education standards are the barest minimum and anyone of IQ > 85 can make them.

Personally I can’t say I learned anything professionally useful in english or civics. An actually decent math class in just one of my years of k-12 would have been much more useful.

I learned anything professionally useful in English

Even as someone who went full 'STEM' for both my education and career, English is probably among the most professionally useful courses I did in high school. A surprisingly large part of my job involves reading things, understanding them, and then writing a clear and reasoned response to them, all skills I first learned and really got to practice in English class.

Re: Math is still catching up to the genius of Ramanujan

#223

Post by ndsipa_pomu »

hshshshshsh wrote: post #203
chandureddyvari wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There’s a relevant quote from Swami Vivekananda on this From Karma Yoga, Chapter: I, Karma in its effect on character— What we say a man “knows”, should, in strict psychological language, be what he “discovers” or “unveils”; what a man “learns” is really what he “discovers”, by taking the cover off his own soul, which is a mine of infinite knowledge. We say Newton discovered gravitation. Was it sitting anywhere in a…

Stupid question but why didn't Newton come up with Relativity instead?

Likely because it's far more complicated than Newtonian gravity and he wouldn't have been aware of the shortcomings of his theory e.g. Mercury's orbit. Also, the study of light was only just beginning in Newton's era - Ole Rømer's measurement of the speed of light was in 1676, but Maxwell's theories didn't come out until 1865.

Re: Math is still catching up to the genius of Ramanujan

#224

Post by dagw »

ckcheng wrote: post #137
jyunwai wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A mathematics-focused student in Ontario could take Calculus & Vectors, Advanced Functions [1], Computer Science, and Physics—the first two courses should be straightforward for this student. Though Computer Science and Physics are distinctly different from the mathematics courses, these are still directly useful for a mathematics student to learn—the problem-solving skills should also carry over. Key mathematical di…

> then in Grade 12, there's Advanced (!) Functions." Then in university, there’s Elementary Functional Analysis!

The first math course as math major in university involved proving that a+b=b+a and that a+(b+c)=(a+b)+c. It's quite fun to go from 'advanced' calculus during the final classes of high school, to "OK, let's consider the expression 1+1=2. What does it actually mean and why is it true?"

Re: Math is still catching up to the genius of Ramanujan

#225

Post by abhaynayar »

IAmGraydon wrote: post #75

The stories of mathematicians like Srinivasa Ramanujan, who claimed to have derived complex partitions and identities in dreams, have always captivated me. It's as if their minds were tapping into some hidden reservoir of knowledge. I'm curious what drives these intuitive leaps. Was Ramanujan's brain quietly processing patterns during sleep, leveraging its default mode network in ways we're still struggling to unders…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_works_based_on_dreams

Re: Math is still catching up to the genius of Ramanujan

#226

Post by Cthulhu_ »

graemep wrote: post #210
seiferteric wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exposure is good, but success in school requires you to be successful in these subjects as well. I have had similar thoughts recently as OP thinking about what I want for my young kids and what my experiences in school were. Being _really_ good in one thing should allow you to make up for being subpar in other areas, but it doesn't. You can only get an A (or A+) in math for example, even if your a genius. But maybe y…

That is an advantage of the British system. You have a wide education until 16 and sit a broad range of exams at that age (GCSEs) and then specialise in a few (most often three) subjects from 16 to 18. You usually need to pass English and maths GCSEs, but universities mostly care about the subjects you do in the last two years (except for very competitive courses). This can be a problem for those who want to keep opt…

Same in the Netherlands, it's become more flexible even since I went through school. It sucks until about age 16 (or 17/18 if you take a higher level education that includes e.g. Latin / Greek), then you get to go to vocational education and either do a work/school combo (1 day a week of school), or continue fulltime school for 3-10 years (3 years for most associate's degrees, 4 for bachelor's, more for a master's, and often you can go from the one to a higher level if you choose to).

But yeah, until that age it sucks and a lot of people struggle because they have to do classes they aren't at all interested in.

Re: Math is still catching up to the genius of Ramanujan

#227

Post by ponector »

ImHereToVote wrote: post #201
aguaviva wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unsuprisingly, avowed Nazis like this ... like in Ukraine are great friends of the Western establishment. Who are you referring to, specifically?

https://www.defenddemocracy.press/ukraines-nazis-who-are-the...

What a piece of Russian-funded propaganda.

That is funny how russians claim everyone of their enemy is a Nazi.

While real white supremacists with swastika tattoos are fighting in the Russian side, just to have an opportunity to make money while doing atrocities.

Re: Math is still catching up to the genius of Ramanujan

#228

Post by Cthulhu_ »

kumarm wrote: post #159
profsummergig wrote: post #35

In the Ramanujan story, a true MVP is G.H. Hardy. He read letters from some random unknown guy (a savage "native" no less!) half the world away, and took them seriously. And then organized resources to have that guy travel to England. A true MVP. All the others Ramanujan wrote to ignored him (understandably so). Such a tragedy that he died so young.

If you want to understand how human potential was wasted in old world, Ramanujan belongs to a caste in India that is only caste that is supposed to be educated (Representing probably Ramanujan short life itself is a loss to the world, Imagine how many Ramanujan's were ignored where there is no G.H. Hardy and what about Ramanujans in the other 95%?

This is why education and opportunities should be available for all, regardless of social / economic status. I reaped the benefits from that in the Netherlands where the government paid for most of my education (bachelor equivalent) and consequent professional life (white collar / middle class), instead of staying in my parents' / ancestors' "class" (blue collar / working class).

But people in the upper classes don't like that, so they're telling working class people that people even worse off are after their jobs.

Re: Math is still catching up to the genius of Ramanujan

#229

Post by ykrishnan »

kumarm wrote: post #159
profsummergig wrote: post #35

In the Ramanujan story, a true MVP is G.H. Hardy. He read letters from some random unknown guy (a savage "native" no less!) half the world away, and took them seriously. And then organized resources to have that guy travel to England. A true MVP. All the others Ramanujan wrote to ignored him (understandably so). Such a tragedy that he died so young.

If you want to understand how human potential was wasted in old world, Ramanujan belongs to a caste in India that is only caste that is supposed to be educated (Representing probably Ramanujan short life itself is a loss to the world, Imagine how many Ramanujan's were ignored where there is no G.H. Hardy and what about Ramanujans in the other 95%?

> ...only caste that is supposed to be educated...

Tall claim.

Re: Math is still catching up to the genius of Ramanujan

#230

Post by CM30 »

atoav wrote: post #176
seiferteric wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exposure is good, but success in school requires you to be successful in these subjects as well. I have had similar thoughts recently as OP thinking about what I want for my young kids and what my experiences in school were. Being _really_ good in one thing should allow you to make up for being subpar in other areas, but it doesn't. You can only get an A (or A+) in math for example, even if your a genius. But maybe y…

A few points on this: - How and when would you know a subject doesn't click? In my case German (my first language) and English sucked for roughly 8 years. I ended school with A in both and was the only student in my school without a single mistake in my exam. - School gives you good grades if you managed to learn the topics at hand. Being able to learn what is needed or what you are bad at — not what you want and are…

Yeah, these are definitely points worth noting. Especially as in many cases, the way something is taught can have a huge effect on how well you do in it/understand it, and students will end up not liking subjects that they could have liked in university or the workplace.

So you also have to wonder how many potential math prodigies we've missed out on, simply because they had a bad maths education at school.

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