Timeline for How and when do I learn so much mathematics?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
12 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 11, 2020 at 14:19 | vote | accept | sudolearn | ||
| Mar 10, 2020 at 16:04 | comment | added | sudolearn | @WillSawin, Thank you so much for your extremely detailed response. This gives me quite a bit of perspective into things. | |
| Mar 10, 2020 at 14:05 | comment | added | Will Sawin | @Kimball Yes, I completely agree. As you essentially point out, this almost always occurs as a kind of happenstance.The exception I know is where there are fields A and B where the fact that A has many applications to B is relatively common knowledge, but almost all practitioners of B find A too technical and difficult, and almost all practitioners of A find B too counter-intuitive or uninteresting. Then you can learn A and plan to prove theorems in B without learning (much of) the methods in B. But this is a rather specialized approach.., | |
| Mar 10, 2020 at 14:02 | comment | added | Will Sawin | @RHahn I may have worded this poorly. In any case, I think the impression you are drawing from it is wrong. Success doesn't come from knowing things that your competitors don't and keeping it secret to use as some kind of secret weapon. Success comes from knowing things that your competitors don't and explaining it to them. Your competitors for this purpose are also your top candidates for collaborators on papers, letter-writers, etc. | |
| S Mar 10, 2020 at 11:41 | history | suggested | CommunityBot | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Interesting (wording)
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| Mar 10, 2020 at 9:16 | review | Suggested edits | |||
| S Mar 10, 2020 at 11:41 | |||||
| Mar 10, 2020 at 6:28 | comment | added | R Hahn | "success as a mathematician by knowing at least a few things that your competitors don't" :-( I get it, but it still bums me out. | |
| Mar 10, 2020 at 3:32 | comment | added | Kimball | Well, I wasn't recommending actively trying to avoid it, just thinking about situations where you have a saw (from some other area), and realize you can use it to cut a branch that everyone nearby was trying to knock down with a hammer. | |
| Mar 10, 2020 at 1:41 | comment | added | Will Sawin | @Kimball Sure, but avoiding (1) is not what I would recommend. | |
| Mar 10, 2020 at 1:38 | comment | added | Kimball | Even (2) is not strictly necessary - Neither is (1)! | |
| S Mar 9, 2020 at 19:53 | history | answered | Will Sawin | CC BY-SA 4.0 | |
| S Mar 9, 2020 at 19:53 | history | made wiki | Post Made Community Wiki by Will Sawin |