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Math is still catching up to the genius of Ramanujan
231–240 of 447 posts
Re: Math is still catching up to the genius of Ramanujan
#232Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's weird to say that about English when good communication is essential for success in any engineering field. Even if all English does is force you to read more, it's probably a win in this regard.
> It's weird to say that about English when good communication is essential for success in any engineering field Some of what's taught in English classes is about clear communication, and some of it isn't. I think learning the 5 paragraph essay structure was very useful. But that's maybe 3 months worth of learning. The rest was English major stuff. Which is fine, but please don't pretend that it has a lot to do with…
This is a very immature take.
Of course you can BELIEVE that English classes didn't help you learn how to read and write more effectively or how to better understand what was left unsaid or unwritten, but believing something doesn't make it so.
And yes, as a student reading the classics often sucks. After all, you're not reading them for pleasure - you're reading them to learn how to identify and discuss their themes. But more than that, you see how themes are repeated throughout history, and how the author's experiences changed how they illustrated those themes. English classes taught you plenty of history - not so much in rote facts, but rather by illustrating parts of the cultural zeitgeist of different eras and how authors reinforced, protested, or recorded what was happening at the time.
I doubt many children appreciate education while they're learning, but adults certainly can be thankful that they weren't left in the dark.
Re: Math is still catching up to the genius of Ramanujan
#233Earlier quoted context omitted.
Starting from the basics, Ramanujan was known to spend huge amounts of time in the library pouring over mathematical texts. He was also personally and spiritually obsessed with mathematics, thinking it was an expression of divinity. So its quite probable a significant chunk of his memories were already mathematical and random accesses to it were the same.
This is the thing. You think about something with compulsion for long enough, it shows up in your dreams.
People are impressed by the seemingly spontaneous origin of genius ideas, but forget all the analytical labor that went into preparing the mind for conceiving such thoughts. Genius doesn't come out of nowhere. The 'stroke of the genius' required a lot of hard work and experience.
And, it works the same with us 'normal' people, even though the results are less spectacular. Want to have a good idea? You need to feed your brain everything you can and obsess over it, then let it stew for a bit. Again, and again. Only then do you stand a chance for a really good idea to just pop out.
Re: Math is still catching up to the genius of Ramanujan
#234That was a fun read. What really stuck out to me was how R failed in a bunch of other subjects except math because he wasn’t interested in them. I know society and norms expect students to learn all these other subjects. But what if those just aren’t interesting to someone? I wonder how many geniuses we skip on because doing the chores of homework and getting through boring classes is busywork and memorization for th…
Well, my solution would be this: Instead of giving kids grades with a ceiling, each subject would have (unlimited number of) levels of proficiency, and to attain a level, kids would have to pass a test (demonstrate certain skill). The choice of subjects and levels to attain would be up to each kid, but they would have to choose to do something (working at getting next level of something would be mandatory). (Although…
>Also, I would group kids by subject, and not by age.
I would be cautious with this, they may have the same academic ability but a large gap in social skills.
Re: Math is still catching up to the genius of Ramanujan
#235Earlier quoted context omitted.
You're right, some Indians don't have the recognition they deserve, but if it makes you feel better, few "western" mathematicians or scientists are household names either.
However, pretty much all of the ones who are household names, are western. Well, at least to western people. Are Indians more familiar with Indian scientists?
Household names (in the west) are maybe Aristotle, Galileo, Newton and Einstein. If you are lucky. For a lot of people it is just Einstein, that's it.
Re: Math is still catching up to the genius of Ramanujan
#236That was a fun read. What really stuck out to me was how R failed in a bunch of other subjects except math because he wasn’t interested in them. I know society and norms expect students to learn all these other subjects. But what if those just aren’t interesting to someone? I wonder how many geniuses we skip on because doing the chores of homework and getting through boring classes is busywork and memorization for th…
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Re: Math is still catching up to the genius of Ramanujan
#237The 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…
Starting from the basics, Ramanujan was known to spend huge amounts of time in the library pouring over mathematical texts. He was also personally and spiritually obsessed with mathematics, thinking it was an expression of divinity. So its quite probable a significant chunk of his memories were already mathematical and random accesses to it were the same.
Please forgive, it's *poring
Re: Math is still catching up to the genius of Ramanujan
#238Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
I mean, just as a counter-note: I utterly hated every second of a multitude of subjects, and indeed now I am 37 and I never needed them and was entirely correct about what I would require later.
Personally I loved history, social science and geography, but none of that has been useful in working life. Being good at mathematics is prerequisite for nearly all well-paying jobs, humanities are not of much use except for being able to write and read well.
Re: Math is still catching up to the genius of Ramanujan
#239The 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…
I am also intrigued by this question: What was different for guys like Ramanujan, and how were they able to tap in to this hidden reservoir of knowledge. And how can we replicate it One guy able to tap into this knowledge in dreams is an indication that it is possible. Now, how do we make this the default for everyone is the question I wonder about The way we found one variant of wheat in Mexico that was resistant to…
how do we make this the default for everyone is the question I wonder about
You delete stupid prejudices from society, then it allows itself to do that. One group of people forcibly practicing it for idiotic reasons now plagued the whole field with its label, amplified by religious ideas. The irony is, it’s that same limitation that disallows to address itself and continues to propagate.
Re: Math is still catching up to the genius of Ramanujan
#240Earlier quoted context omitted.
IMO, you're thinking about this backwards. It's good that public school exposes children to many subjects - hopefully most of them. So that they can discover if they click with one of them. The real danger is that someone never gets exposed to a subject at all. College is the place to specialize in a subject.
To quote an artist friend: exposure is good until you die from it. Being forced to do subjects that you hate is not exposure, it is being forced to do things which you are completely unsuited for. I would go so far as saying that being forced to take music until 7th grade put me off any musical pursuits for the next 20 years. The less said about the torture disguised as education that is PE the better.
Yeah that's a common result of forced learning by lets be polite mediocre folks. Utter hate of the whole topic for easily 2 decades too. Then finding slowly my own personal way back to them, despite school.
If anything, current (and this is valid globally) school system is not designed at excellence at its core, its about raising an army of obedient but not too stupid citizens. And its not missed expectation, just look at what type of work they expect to fill in. Don't expect massive changes unless society changes itself.
Some narrow excellence is not what our society at large values, those few that made it through made it despite their environment.