Timeline for Is physical stamina important for doing mathematics? [closed]
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
27 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Feb 1, 2021 at 3:45 | comment | added | Count Iblis | twitter.com/phalpern/status/1356072744379707393 "Brilliant mathematician Alan Turing was an excellent runner. He sometimes ran from Bletchley Park to London for meetings, a distance of around 40 miles, and showed up in his running outfit. His best marathon time came close to that of Olympic athletes: turing.org.uk/book/update/part6.html " | |
| Jan 31, 2021 at 11:36 | comment | added | user44143 | If you frame the question as “is this a true statement?”, then it hinges on what Weil meant by mathematics, and updating to say “I mean research mathematics” doesn’t help. So I would vote to reopen if the question is restricted to research mathematics, e.g. by asking “is research mathematics all about physical stamina?” | |
| Jan 31, 2021 at 5:01 | comment | added | Count Iblis | So, perhaps more people would have been good at math if everyone stuck to a healthy lifestyle. | |
| Jan 31, 2021 at 5:01 | comment | added | Count Iblis | The human body has evolved under the condition that demanded lots of physical exertion. The energy needs were then high and because energy-dense foods like butter, olive oil etc. were not available until very recently, we had to eat large volumes of food to meet our energy demands. Fiber intake used to be 100 grams a day, some indigenous populations still get that much fiber. The average US fiber intake is 15 grams per day. The human body can compensate for our modern unhealthy lifestyles, but how well it is able to do that will depend on your genes. | |
| Jan 31, 2021 at 3:25 | review | Reopen votes | |||
| Feb 1, 2021 at 0:39 | |||||
| Jan 31, 2021 at 3:14 | comment | added | LSpice | @GerryMyerson, re, I have been told that Weil also appreciated a good joke. The University of Chicago math grad students usually put on an annual revue called The Beer Skits. One year they planned not to, and Weil caught wind of this (dis)intention. I have been told that he climbed onto the massive table around which tea is held at UC, pounded on it until he had the grad students' attention, and announced severely "No Beer Skits—no degrees!" | |
| Jan 31, 2021 at 3:08 | history | edited | user676464327 | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
added 138 characters in body
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| Jan 31, 2021 at 1:27 | comment | added | user44143 | I would vote to reopen if the question is restricted to research mathematics. | |
| Jan 31, 2021 at 0:37 | history | closed |
Neil Strickland LSpice skupers abx Lucia |
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| Jan 30, 2021 at 23:52 | answer | added | fedja | timeline score: 4 | |
| Jan 30, 2021 at 23:37 | comment | added | Gerry Myerson | I think what the story demonstartes is that Weil could make a joke. | |
| Jan 30, 2021 at 22:28 | history | became hot network question | |||
| Jan 30, 2021 at 21:02 | history | made wiki | Post Made Community Wiki by Todd Trimble | ||
| Jan 30, 2021 at 19:35 | comment | added | Tim Campion | I find this question fun and I would like to see it remain open, even if mathematicians are unlikely to be equipped to really arrive at an authoritative answer. | |
| Jan 30, 2021 at 19:21 | answer | added | Tim Campion | timeline score: 2 | |
| Jan 30, 2021 at 17:55 | comment | added | LSpice | I think we fall into the classic trap here of flipping the wrong cards. If you want to confirm that math is all about physical stamina, then looking for mathematicians with ample physical stamina provides only weak confirming evidence; the real test is whether we can disprove it by finding mathematicians with normal or less than normal physical stamina. My suspicion is that there are plenty. | |
| Jan 30, 2021 at 17:17 | answer | added | Timothy Chow | timeline score: 5 | |
| Jan 30, 2021 at 17:10 | comment | added | user676464327 | @aglearner What is this about Beilinson? I cannot find anything on the web. | |
| Jan 30, 2021 at 16:06 | answer | added | Hailong Dao | timeline score: 16 | |
| Jan 30, 2021 at 15:26 | comment | added | aglearner | In fact, it is an interesting question, there are some other examples of mathematicians who liked extreme physical conditions, for example, V. Arnol'd, Beilinson, Hartshorne les-mathematiques.net/phorum/read.php?17,768889,844890 I wonder how common this for other "professions", say for novelists, or computer scientists | |
| Jan 30, 2021 at 15:21 | comment | added | Moishe Kohan | I think, it will be soon closed as "off topic" here. You can also take a look at this hsm.stackexchange question. | |
| Jan 30, 2021 at 15:10 | comment | added | Andy Putman | I think all the story demonstrates is that (some) mathematicians are extraordinarily competitive and driven to “win” in all things, not just in math. | |
| Jan 30, 2021 at 15:00 | comment | added | YCor | The title is quite confusing, and should rather refer to the main question, for which this anecdote is of minor relevance. About the quoted sentence itself ("it's all about..."), it's obviously not to be interpreted literally, I'm not sure discussing seriously about such a sentence can lead to more than idle banter. | |
| Jan 30, 2021 at 14:57 | history | edited | user676464327 | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
edited title
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| Jan 30, 2021 at 14:49 | review | Close votes | |||
| Jan 31, 2021 at 0:42 | |||||
| Jan 30, 2021 at 14:43 | comment | added | Gabe K | This is probably not the right forum for this question, but I think mathematicians are much like the general population. There are a few who are very serious athletes (Alan Turing for instance) but many others who are not athletic and have other interests. I think it's natural to find mathematical connections in your other hobbies, whatever they may be. | |
| Jan 30, 2021 at 14:26 | history | asked | user676464327 | CC BY-SA 4.0 |