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by sapsucker 1588 days ago
I 100% agree that some people are innately superior at math, the mental arithmetic abilities (at a very young age) of human calculators like Von Neumann are proof enough of that.

But I also agree with the other poster that it's kind of dangerous/distasteful to imply that mathematical ability is something that is not necessary to cultivate, or at least not worthwhile unless you're the next Galois.

A lot of students are already lacking in grit and give up on difficult subjects, not realizing that areas like math require a lot of discipline, struggle, and engagement to cultivate. This hierarchical nonsense about it only being worthwhile for the "chosen few" NBA superstars is not productive, especially with Ameria trailing most developed nations in mathematical and scientific literacy (which has real societal consequences, IMO).
1 comments
wolverine876 1588 days ago
I saw a study from long ago, maybe the 1980s, which researched US and Chinese high school education. As I recall, people in the US high schools mostly thought that success in education was due to natural talent, while people in the high schools in China thought it was overwhelmingly due to hard work. The kids in the Chinese schools did much better on the tests.

> This hierarchical nonsense about it only being worthwhile for the "chosen few" NBA superstars is not productive

Agreed. It also takes away the dreams of and opportunities from a lot of people.

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xyzzyz 1588 days ago
The point here is that while it is perfectly reasonable and probably desirable to encourage people to become proficient in mathematics, there is an enormous chasm from there to most modern research mathematics. The sports analogy is that while it is good idea to encourage people to be physically active, for example by playing recreational basketball, it would be completely ridiculous to expect even a strong amateur basketball player to be able to hold his own in the actual NBA.
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wolverine876 1588 days ago
I understand. I think math research is much more in reach than the NBA, and thus is a bad analogy that discourages people, etc.
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