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0 pointsklibertp4y ago0 comments

> wolfram alpha is basically that book written as a program.

Exactly! Which is why I love it, and why I think it would be good to extend it to encompass more than just that one book, too.

> The problem with papers written by peo I went that route, I knew a few others who did, but most of those I know didn't. ple who apply math is that usually they don't really understand the math, they just apply it, so they can't explain it well.

This is already a third time you said something that made me really think again about the issue...

It sound very plausible. I think I've probably never even seen a proper maths paper. I've been struggling with math, but it didn't occur to me that a part of the reason (other than me being dumb) was that the authors struggled with it too! Were I in their place, I would definitely also try to reduce the amount of explanations to the absolute minimum, so that there's less of a chance I'll be called out for it.

EDIT:

> I went that route, I knew a few others who did, but most of those I know didn't.

I'm not joking, this is very serious: is it possible to learn from you somewhere/somehow? Because you're incredible, honestly, your patience is not running out even now, this deep into comments thread; and you really can speak in programming - this much I can see - and I think you're at least as competent on the other side (though I obviously can't judge it myself, so I'm deferring to (your) authority that I came to believe in). I'd be incredibly happy if I could somehow get a bit of your help.

(Seriously, I'm not sarcastic or anything, this is 100% honest. EDIT2: well, I still disagree with you on some points :P but I think if it's from you, I wouldn't have a problem with actually listening to you)

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3 comments · 1 top-level

Jensson4y ago· 2 in thread

> Exactly! Which is why I love it, and why I think it would be good to extend it to encompass more than just that one book, too.

I agree with this. Just that writing such programs is hard, it isn't something anyone can do.

> I've been struggling with math, but it didn't occur to me that a part of the reason (other than me being dumb) was that the authors struggled with it too!

I studied both theoretical physics and pure maths to a grad level. You really notice how the physics professors struggles explaining the math and gloss over things, while the mathematicians doesn't. The physicist are experts at solving and reasoning about physics problems, not maths, as soon as the math solves their problem they stop thinking about the math. It is a part of the reason I went to math afterwards, I wanted better explanations.

> I'm not joking, this is very serious: is it possible to learn from you somewhere/somehow? Because you're incredible, honestly, your patience is not running out even now, this deep into comments thread; and you really can speak in programming - this much I can see - and I think you're at least as competent on the other side (though I obviously can't judge it myself, so I'm deferring to (your) authority that I came to believe in). I'd be incredibly happy if I could somehow get a bit of your help.

I think I have some mental disability where my feelings don't remember things. So even though I hated some of your other comments that doesn't mean anything about other things. I just like discussing things and explaining, taking my time to think etc.

If you want to talk about something you can reach me at {removed}. I'll remove this later. I don't really care much about people learning who I am, but I don't want it to be obvious. I love discussing things, but few people really like discussions like this. So just hit me up and we can talk. I don't always have the right views and opinions, but I never stop thinking about arguments or reasons. I just changed my mind so many times that by now I've seen most arguments and it is rare to change my mind more now.

Edit: You can ask me about math or anything.

klibertpOP4y ago

> I think I have some mental disability where my feelings don't remember things.

You're not the only one - I also hated some of the things you've said about programming; I couldn't help it, programming is a large part of my identity, so I got defensive really fast.

But that doesn't matter, I mean, we're just talking here, I think none of us has really any bad intentions, and I really benefited from this exchange a lot. And it's not like you wanted to specifically hurt me with what you said, so even if I felt hurt I won't cry you a river because of that :)

> If you want to talk about something you can reach

Thank you! Saved it. The thing is, I have this inferiority complex caused by not understanding much about math even if I try to learn it. In college I was already good at programming, so I didn't have much interest or need to learn math back then. And later, when I realized that it would actually be a good idea to learn some, I found myself completely alone with it. I mean, nobody around me cared at all, there were no lecturers to go and ask questions to, no peers that would be solving the same problems at the same time, nothing, just the Internet, Wolfram, and a lot of head banging. I realized too late that I've made it this hard for me basically myself.

But what's done is done, so I started thinking about how to cope with the situation. And I came up with the idea that if someone explained maths to me in terms I'm familiar with from programming, it would be much easier for me to digest. But, there are no materials like that. That's understandable given the very specific path you'd need to take to be able to write or create them... And you've taken that exact path. Honestly, at this point I wouldn't mind you calling me an idiot and programming a children's game, if only I could understand the things that were eluding me for years.

Again, thank you. I will write an email, definitely.

Jensson4y ago

> You're not the only one - I also hated some of the things you've said about programming; I couldn't help it, programming is a large part of my identity, so I got defensive really fast.

Also, although I'm saying that learning programming is relatively easy, it is a field that is hard to master. The difficulty isn't understanding what a function does, but understanding how to architect a huge complex system so that you can still reason about it afterwards. Those systems will all be made up of those simple instructions though. That is different from math, in math the systems you invent often are entirely new things and can't get divided into simpler things.

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