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Mathematical genius is fragile

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Re: Mathematical genius is fragile

#31

Post by throwaway5752 »

ZeroFries wrote: post #3
malanj wrote: post #2

The author lost me at "Mathematical genius resides within every one of us — most people just don’t know it yet." The movie Ratatouille captured the sentiment much better, "a great chef can be anyone". Which is not the same as "anyone can be a great chef". It seems the author is mixing up those two. I fully agree that gender, background, schooling, etc is not the key determination of genius. However, saying anyone cou…

A 7ft tall pro basketball player resides within every one of us.

Not every 7' tall person is a great basketball player, and not every great basketball player is 7' tall.

With all due respect, what you say is a consummate example of "dangerously bad idea that makes a good sound bite". Most mathematicians out there are not Hilbert, Gauss, Riemann, or Euler. They are reasonably smart people that work hard over long periods of time to learn their craft and their field, and make incremental progress in the niches they specialize in.

Most people can be productive mathematicians, they just don't believe in themselves.

Re: Mathematical genius is fragile

#33

Post by 0xFFC »

deepnotderp wrote: post #27

I'd just like to note that math in early years is taught as rote memorization problems and doing things over and over again like memorization. Contrast this with higher level math which is highly creative...

This is my exact problem. For my whole life i was afraid of math, after i (i had to took it, it was not my choice) took real Analysis class and watched Francis Su Real Analysis videos, I realized i like math more than CS (and cs was my only love in my entire life.). Right now i am starting abstract Algebra and i have plan to took probability and number theory after that.

I am literally in love with math. It does feelit is the only reason i was born in the first place. I sometimes think i have to change my career to math.

And something i am really feel is brain plasticity. It may not have proven.But i can feel in my self, as much as i go deeper into math, i do realize it makes more sense, i can feel its effect on my day to day life, the way i think, the more effective way I Analysis circumstances.

Re: Mathematical genius is fragile

#34

Post by Godel_unicode »

stale2002 wrote: post #8
watwut wrote: post #7

The thing about first example is that the speed of brain development in child and adulthood geniality/iq/whatever are only loosely related. It is perfectly possible for a child to be bad in math in first few grades and good later on. It did not had to be test, it is perfectly possible for him to be slower at that age or him having lower attention span. (That assumes school systems that wont give up on such child as b…

It is better for women now than it was before, but it is still far from perfect. Just look at the turn over rate and exit rate of women in these fields. Even the women who objectively "make it" are being driven out of the industry in droves.

Could you please post some data about those rates? I'm working on a visualization project and that would be perfect. I've only been able to find college-level data, professional mathematician data has been elusive so far.

Re: Mathematical genius is fragile

#35

Post by deepnotderp »

0xFFC wrote: post #33
deepnotderp wrote: post #27

I'd just like to note that math in early years is taught as rote memorization problems and doing things over and over again like memorization. Contrast this with higher level math which is highly creative...

This is my exact problem. For my whole life i was afraid of math, after i (i had to took it, it was not my choice) took real Analysis class and watched Francis Su Real Analysis videos, I realized i like math more than CS (and cs was my only love in my entire life.). Right now i am starting abstract Algebra and i have plan to took probability and number theory after that. I am literally in love with math. It does feel…

Haha, that's great, good job :)

Side note: Su's real analysis videos are great aren't they?

Re: Mathematical genius is fragile

#36

Post by 0xFFC »

deepnotderp wrote: post #35
0xFFC wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is my exact problem. For my whole life i was afraid of math, after i (i had to took it, it was not my choice) took real Analysis class and watched Francis Su Real Analysis videos, I realized i like math more than CS (and cs was my only love in my entire life.). Right now i am starting abstract Algebra and i have plan to took probability and number theory after that. I am literally in love with math. It does feel…

Haha, that's great, good job :) Side note: Su's real analysis videos are great aren't they?

They are excellent, literally.

I start to love math after I understand math, and he was the one showed me how to understand math. Every one of those proofs was enjoyable, more than anything i have ever done.

P.S. if he was accessible for me , I would go to every class he goes, every office hour he has. I would just stick to the guy until I can find my way in mathematics.

Re: Mathematical genius is fragile

#37

Post by madgar »

throwaway5752 wrote: post #31
ZeroFries wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A 7ft tall pro basketball player resides within every one of us.

Not every 7' tall person is a great basketball player, and not every great basketball player is 7' tall. With all due respect, what you say is a consummate example of "dangerously bad idea that makes a good sound bite". Most mathematicians out there are not Hilbert, Gauss, Riemann, or Euler. They are reasonably smart people that work hard over long periods of time to learn their craft and their field, and make increm…

You are conflating genius with productivity. In so doing you are missing the point of both your parent and grandparent poster.

Re: Mathematical genius is fragile

#38

Post by 0xFFC »

deepnotderp wrote: post #35
0xFFC wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is my exact problem. For my whole life i was afraid of math, after i (i had to took it, it was not my choice) took real Analysis class and watched Francis Su Real Analysis videos, I realized i like math more than CS (and cs was my only love in my entire life.). Right now i am starting abstract Algebra and i have plan to took probability and number theory after that. I am literally in love with math. It does feel…

Haha, that's great, good job :) Side note: Su's real analysis videos are great aren't they?

The only problem i have across is speed of my brain, i want to understand faster, for example i want to complete a whole material of abstract algebra (for 2,3 year ungradate math students) in one week or less. But my brains says nah.

I keep pushing it, but after 7,8 hour a day, its performance hits a block and i have to play game or talk to a friend to start again.

Re: Mathematical genius is fragile

#39

Post by hyperpape »

Moshe_Silnorin wrote: post #18
malanj wrote: post #2

The author lost me at "Mathematical genius resides within every one of us — most people just don’t know it yet." The movie Ratatouille captured the sentiment much better, "a great chef can be anyone". Which is not the same as "anyone can be a great chef". It seems the author is mixing up those two. I fully agree that gender, background, schooling, etc is not the key determination of genius. However, saying anyone cou…

Math is a high IQ game. Anyone who tells you otherwise is kidding themselves.

Since mathematical skills (broadly defined) are a component of IQ, this is dangerously close to "Basketball is a getting the ball in the hoop game. Anyone who tells you otherwise is kidding themselves." True, but less informative than you might think...

(This is not to comment on the underlying question of whether everyone has the potential to be a great mathematician, just a particular type of reasoning).

Re: Mathematical genius is fragile

#40

Post by jimhefferon »

jessaustin wrote: post #23
carsongross wrote: post #15

With common core, math is mostly now word problems, which makes them as much reading comprehension as abstract mathematical problems. This is going to be especially brutal for boys, who typically trail girls in reading skills early on. I expect in a decade the current 2-1 female-male ratio in higher education is going to reach such crisis levels that even our media will be unable to ignore it, as they do currently.

It will be shocking if there's a 2:1 female:male ratio at the bleeding edge of math anytime in the next century, even if word problems are required at lower levels. As for the rest of the fields, I suspect the media as currently constituted to celebrate rather than lament, when they can no longer ignore the situation entirely. [EDIT:] 'HeavenBanned's sibling comment should be restored; it's a good point that is seldo…

At the (not-BE) college college where I teach, the math majors who are female significantly outnumber those who are male. We don't have any program or special selection. We just find that the students who succeed at math are female, in the great majority.
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