[oofnik]

One of my most memorable courses in undergraduate was taught by a spritely lecturer who must've been in his 80s. He'd make a statement or proposition, write it on the board, then quickly turn around, point at a student somewhere in the classroom with an open palm, and shout, "do you believe this?"

It was partly theatrical, but it seemed genuine. It was very engaging and it really prodded me to consider whether what he was telling us was true. It piqued my curiosity and motivated me to do my homework to watch someone so filled with energy trying to get a bunch of undergrads excited about multivariate calculus, especially at his age.

I think I speak for many here when I say that I'm more motivated to learn stuff when I can clearly articulate what benefit I will derive from having mastered the material. "Because it's going to be on the exam" never cut it for me. Unfortunately, I found that I was in a tiny minority of intellectually engaged students for the majority of my undergraduate years; the rest of my peers were much more interested in all-night cramming for the exam followed by a weekend of binge-drinking.

I don't know how well the approach in this essay would work for the general population, but it certainly sounds much more interesting to people who actually find studying mathematics enjoyable.

[throw_pm23]

Interesting perspective. Why someone would downvote it is beyond me.

[dizhn]

I just got voting powers and did not downvote parent but the icons are tiny on mobile and they give no indication of which you click after the fact. I have no idea which took when I click the icon.

[zmgsabst]

The undo button varies:

“unvote” vs “undown”

[dizhn]

Oh that is good to know. So vote is always a positive. Got it. Thanks.

[KineticLensman]

I sometimes zoom in on mobile so that I don't mis-tap the wrong button.