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The emoji problem (2022)

artofproblemsolving.com

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Re: The emoji problem (2022)

#3

Post by gcanyon »

Once upon a time I was good at math -- like, win state-wide competitions, get a scholarship good. It's sad that I can easily follow the path laid out here, but I am nowhere close to being able to lay out this course on my own.

Re: The emoji problem (2022)

#6

Post by dmurray »

gcanyon wrote: post #3

Once upon a time I was good at math -- like, win state-wide competitions, get a scholarship good. It's sad that I can easily follow the path laid out here, but I am nowhere close to being able to lay out this course on my own.

Nobody can do this on their own. You don't get to do this by having a great aptitude for high school maths and then being exposed to one or two more concepts that just intuitively click - which is enough to be competitive at the level you describe, though not enough to make the US Olympiad team.

You get the level of understanding necessary to create this blog post by already having worked through several textbooks and papers on number theory, elliptic curves, etc. So you don't do it on your own, you do it with help from Poincaré and Euler and Diophantes and whoever else.

Based on your description, you absolutely have the aptitude to do this if you pursued maths further academically. And also by having great teaching and explaining skills - that part might be harder to learn.

Re: The emoji problem (2022)

#7

Post by ysofunny »

dmurray wrote: post #6
gcanyon wrote: post #3

Once upon a time I was good at math -- like, win state-wide competitions, get a scholarship good. It's sad that I can easily follow the path laid out here, but I am nowhere close to being able to lay out this course on my own.

Nobody can do this on their own. You don't get to do this by having a great aptitude for high school maths and then being exposed to one or two more concepts that just intuitively click - which is enough to be competitive at the level you describe, though not enough to make the US Olympiad team. You get the level of understanding necessary to create this blog post by already having worked through several textbooks an…

you seem to be missing this idea that mathematics must be doable alone, individually

this appears to be what sets mathematics appart from science? I mean, it's not like Euler, or Poincaré, and so on, are really there with you when "doing math"

point being, mathematics is not a team game. but everything else is??

Re: The emoji problem (2022)

#8

Post by mcphage »

ysofunny wrote: post #7
dmurray wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nobody can do this on their own. You don't get to do this by having a great aptitude for high school maths and then being exposed to one or two more concepts that just intuitively click - which is enough to be competitive at the level you describe, though not enough to make the US Olympiad team. You get the level of understanding necessary to create this blog post by already having worked through several textbooks an…

you seem to be missing this idea that mathematics must be doable alone, individually this appears to be what sets mathematics appart from science? I mean, it's not like Euler, or Poincaré, and so on, are really there with you when "doing math" point being, mathematics is not a team game. but everything else is??

> point being, mathematics is not a team game. but everything else is??

Sorry, it’s early, and I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic. I hope you are? Mathematics is very much a team game.

Re: The emoji problem (2022)

#9

Post by yorwba »

raverbashing wrote: post #5

So the meme was a crap-post and never "supposed" to be solved anyway (in human terms?)

At least it was a problem with a known solution obtainable by a standard procedure in not too many steps. Could've also picked a deceptively simple Diophantine equation where it is unknown whether it even has any solutions or not: https://thehighergeometer.wordpress.com/2021/07/27/diophanti...
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