Skip to main content
Search type Search syntax
Tags [tag]
Exact "words here"
Author user:1234
user:me (yours)
Score score:3 (3+)
score:0 (none)
Answers answers:3 (3+)
answers:0 (none)
isaccepted:yes
hasaccepted:no
inquestion:1234
Views views:250
Code code:"if (foo != bar)"
Sections title:apples
body:"apples oranges"
URL url:"*.example.com"
Saves in:saves
Status closed:yes
duplicate:no
migrated:no
wiki:no
Types is:question
is:answer
Exclude -[tag]
-apples
For more details on advanced search visit our help page
Results tagged with
Search options not deleted user 1384

Questions asking for the intuition behind some definition, conjecture, proof etc. In other words, questions designed to improve or to acquire understanding on a conceptual or intuitive level, as opposed to on a technical or formal level. When asking such a question it can be helpful to include a rough description of ones understanding of the subject at hand (on a technical level).

31 votes

Most 'unintuitive' application of the Axiom of Choice?

The fact that there exist non-measurable sets is highly counter-intuitive; the reason we don't find it so is that we've all been conditioned from day 1 to do measure theory very carefully, and define …
François G. Dorais's user avatar
31 votes

Intuition behind the Eichler-Shimura relation?

Let me highlight some issues that Emerton doesn't: 1) you seem to hint that you don't know that modular forms can be viewed as a product of a bunch of local terms. So there is an adelic story, where …
Kevin Buzzard's user avatar
3 votes

Examples and intuition for arithmetic schemes

I think that checking these statements formally gave me some sort of intuition as to what was going on at the time. …
Ilya Nikokoshev's user avatar
24 votes

Intuition for the last step in Serre's proof of the three-squares theorem

I have never understood this proof either. What in my mind makes it very odd is that a very similar argument can sometimes be used to prove in some sense the exact opposite---that certain equations ha …
Kevin Buzzard's user avatar