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0 pointsheimatau9y ago0 comments

I agree with this sentiment. I'm currently pursuing a Bachelor's in Pure Mathematics (or called 'Theoretical Math', eventually I'd like to go far as a PhD in it). I think the ideas of Math could be taught in a condensed way. Maybe it's already done but...education needs to be disrupted in order to do this.

My current idea is that Math could be taught as a language and taught as a critical thinking class. A condensed class would like like 'this is an equation...here is what we can do with it (derivatives, areas/3D/4D, etc)...but...99.99% of you won't need to know it this way. You need to use math in a way that indirectly teaches you how to creatively look at problems in life.'

I'm not sure why everyone is forced to learn math without knowing WHY they are forced to know it. Creative problem solving is one of the best takeaways, imho, for the masses.

As for Adv. Math...I think it's not effective for most people's career paths and skillset they will require in the real world.

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mmarx9y ago

That might suffice for solving real-world problems, but not for doing mathematics itself: Intuition will get you a long way, but for working out some of the finer details, you'll have to resort to rigour. Furthermore, without having gone through the rigorous training, you might not even know when your intuition doesn't reach far enough.

Terence Tao[0] put it this way:

»The point of rigour is not to destroy all intuition; instead, it should be used to destroy bad intuition while clarifying and elevating good intuition. It is only with a combination of both rigorous formalism and good intuition that one can tackle complex mathematical problems; one needs the former to correctly deal with the fine details, and the latter to correctly deal with the big picture.«

[0] https://terrytao.wordpress.com/career-advice/there’s-more-to...

heimatauOP9y ago

I think it's pretty clear, in my reply, I'm talking about the masses need for Mathematics. Which is for 'solving real-world problems'.

I agree with Terence Tao's sentiments.

Math, for the masses, is a great way to abstractly teach the masses how to critically think about things. Math, for the masses, shouldn't get bogged down in the rigour. But if one were to go on to Adv Math, then yes, rigour is needed and demanded of the mathematician.

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