#mathposting

[hanavesinauttija]

[kupalinka6]

[mega-gaymer-party]

[zerenta-mrraow]

trying to rob a mathematician at gunpoint but they just go "actually let N be the amount of bullets loaded in your gun." and proceed to prove that there are 0 bullet in your gun despite there being bullets in your gun. when you then try to fire it, not only does the bullet deflect (because they are now bullet proof) but your gun explodes because it is proven that there are no bullets in your gun at the time before you fired it. however firing it proves the past tense existence of a bullet at the same time there is not a bullet. this is a contradiction, and P>(~P>Q)

[sybaritick]

student said "Imagine if you had those as tiles in your house" about some of the weirder-looking pentagon tilings and now i want this in my kitchen or bathroom someday SO badly

[cauchyfeelings]

All math jokes aside (for now), we're generally first taught to "solve" problems in math and I think that may be where math loses a lot of people because the intuition doesn't come easily. It's plug and chug and input and output and you don't really get to "understand" the nature of it.

As you continue (if you should choose to do so) math becomes more abstract because it's not necessarily about plugging and chugging and solving (although yes you do need to solve it lmao). It's more about how to visualize and see the "nature" of the problem, how to see the entire system as a whole. This is where representation and structure start to matter because now it's about perspective. Understanding the system through different lenses.

You intentionally have to choose a space, coordinate system, etc. to "uncover" the structure because different representations illustrate and emphasize different properties.

We must be intentional with how we choose to "manipulate" the system because we're not just trying to "solve" something we're trying to understand what's actually happening. And this is where you have to be patient because the math might not come out clean or sometimes it doesn't work out on the first try etc. It might be a bit frustrating but math requires patience because it reveals itself slowly.

And for me personally this is where I find the beauty in math.

Some might not have the patience and might get frustrated because what they tried didn't work out or it becomes too complicated or simply because it just takes too long (I know I still get frustrated as well). But if you look at math as a relationship you'd understand how patience and being intentional and looking at different perspectives is so valuable.

Understanding anything deeply whether it's math people relationships etc requires patience intention and openness. And it's in that understanding that makes it beautiful.

Heck to take it one step further I argue it's in the endurance and slowness that you start to fall in love with things. I believe this is why modern day hustle culture and grind and all that overlooks slowness because it wants what is quick hitting and dopamine inducing only to feel unresolved and on the search of "whats next" rather than staying long enough to uncover "whats deeper".

Sometimes love is just staying.

[bucketofcrows]

i love it when mathematicians use the word "invoke" to basically mean "use". like yes i am a wizard (mathematician) invoking powerful chain lightning spells (using fermat's little theorem) to cut down all who stand in my way (get rid of annoying exponents)

[real-real-numbers]

the first rule of fight club is that two fight clubs are equal if they have the same members