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Everyone is capable of, and can benefit from, mathematical thinking

(www.quantamagazine.org)
155 points sonabinu | 1 comments | 21 Nov 24 01:45 UTC | HN request time: 0.415s | source
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tkgally ◴[21 Nov 24 04:23 UTC] No.42201098[source]▶
I studied math hard for several years in college and graduate school—purely out of interest and enjoyment, not for any practical purpose. That was more than forty years ago, but Bessis's description of the role of intuition in learning and doing math matches my recollection of my subjective experience of it.

Whether that youthful immersion in math in fact benefitted me in later life and whether that kind of thinking is actually desirable for everyone as he seems to suggest—I don't know. But it is a thought-provoking interview.

replies(2): >>42201518 #>>42201676 #
1. plsbenice34 ◴[21 Nov 24 06:26 UTC] No.42201676[source]▶
I also studied it and got several degrees, but I don't think that it actually benefited me. I think high school math is incredibly important to be able to think clearly in a quantitative way, and one university-level statistics course, but all the other university math... I dont think it helped me at all. I am disappointed by it because I feel that I was misled to believe that it would be useful and helpful.