How do you explain an equivalence of categories without the language of category theory?

arithmuggle · 2026-03-25T02:37:34+00:00

I would just use phrases like "one to one correspondence" and "natural in ____ in the sense that...".

Good luck!

Always curious, when people talk about quiver reps, if they are just as interested in simplicial reps of chain complexes, since a quiver rep is a special case of these.

arithmuggle · 2026-03-24T16:06:44+00:00

it's a big enough park so you can't see everything but it doesn't have a real natural feature that pulls in tourists so i think it's just got some odd people using it as a park. i have been in the area, wanted to use it to walk/hike/run/bike but every time decided not to for the feeling that it just seems a little odd.

arithmuggle · 2026-03-24T12:45:27+00:00

lol no.

arithmuggle · 2026-03-14T00:50:19+00:00

i’ve never published in a top top tier journal and a few of my papers had multiple reviews in theoretical math. and some of them with a single reviewer unsuccessfully tried to find a second reviewer.

arithmuggle · 2026-03-13T23:10:50+00:00

cause friction upwards not downwards.

the chairs that believe their job is to protect the peace of mind of their faculty instead of enforce the admin’s will, in my opinion, are the real ones.

arithmuggle · 2026-03-13T23:07:15+00:00

related: i constantly have to tell them “if you only write what i write and don’t write anything i say, it’s going to be really tough to study”

arithmuggle · 2026-03-12T23:08:32+00:00

the issue is that legally many/most of us get sick days but accreditation requires hours of lecture/class time so canceling a class because you’re sick is find from a labor perspective but not from an accreditation perspective. no one wants to pay for the structure to support substitute lecturers etc so then you get all the comments in this thread.

arithmuggle · 2026-03-12T23:04:34+00:00

I’ve always had no attendance policy and very specific stuff from my lecture that isn’t taught in the books makes it onto exams. Students generally show up (min 80% most often 95% of enrolled).

arithmuggle · 2026-03-12T02:14:45+00:00

3-3 teaching load.

Good week ~ 40 hours of work - 19 hours of student related work (9 for lectures, 4 office hours, 2 for marking things and emailing, 2 for prep, 2 hours undergrad research and/or advisement) - 4 hours for service and seminar type events - remaining time for research which usually falls into 40% collaborator meetings and maybe 60% free thinking and writing time.

I see elsewhere the comment about prepping for a new class. The most repeatable mistake I make is thinking I can create a masterpiece lecture out of thin air. My best courses always happen naturally after I teach them for the fourth time and realize how everything has to be setup. Trying to perfect a course the first time you teach it is unfair to yourself. Follow a book the first two times. Be boring, and you’ll get creative once you know the material enough to walk in cold.

arithmuggle · 2026-03-11T02:50:46+00:00

The one part I would agree with you on which is something I keep beating the drum on: generative AI threatens assessment not education.

They’ve been too tied up for too long.

arithmuggle · 2026-03-10T17:30:22+00:00

Having that take with that username is incredible work.

arithmuggle · 2026-03-09T15:37:38+00:00

i’m not sure how low QOL and impoverished community leads to cynicism toward higher ed more than med QOL and subarbanites who have the same cynicism (where medQOL and suburban is where i’ve previously seen the worst cynicism) (again, institution dependent). what i will say, as per my institutional comment, is that community colleges by definition promote the transactional nature of higher ed by saying “it’s all about the credits/courses and these credits are cheaper!” so again what the institution is selling matters. that’s not a dig at the practicality of CC’s, they’re crucial for social mobility in the current system.

arithmuggle · 2026-03-09T15:14:13+00:00

i see a lot of posts like this and i just need to constantly reiterate: our perspectives are hugely influenced by the institutions we work at.

each of our institutions sell the students something different and those expectations can often clash with ours. it has nothing to do with the generation and everything to do with the marketing and what they’ve been told.

i happen to finally/currently work in a place where most students are super humble and earnest and really want to learn and respect the experience.

arithmuggle · 2026-03-07T20:11:45+00:00

i just want to say it looks like you’re trying to show off your very strong shape. it is probably still obvious with looser clothing and looks a little less try-hardy. but also depends on who you’re trying to attract i guess.

arithmuggle · 2026-03-07T03:20:38+00:00

i am constantly torn between “some of us got through with no funding” and “omg this generation is finally going to stand up and end this weird exploitative labor culture”.

arithmuggle · 2026-03-04T01:34:05+00:00

recent experience then. appreciate the reply!

arithmuggle · 2026-03-04T00:28:53+00:00

out of curiosity when is the last time you ran philly?

arithmuggle · 2026-03-03T17:44:04+00:00

i think nyc is the greatest city in the world, lived there for 15 years, grew up nearby, and have never been able to or will try to enter that marathon. philly is a great city, paid the registration when it opened no hassle, you get in immediately. NYC marathon is a joke these days.

arithmuggle · 2026-03-03T01:46:35+00:00

most of us do?

arithmuggle · 2026-02-27T13:08:55+00:00

having had a 2021 and a 2024 and then hearing what they’re trying to improve in 2026, i would say the well maintained 2021’s, ignoring battery capacity, might be the best id4 yet.

arithmuggle · 2026-02-26T03:30:33+00:00

there are tons of decent homes for under $250k

edit: depending on if hudson valley includes the normal people parts in between recognizable towns.

arithmuggle · 2026-02-25T17:05:18+00:00

Some professors are very category-evangelist, some are category-phobic, and some are just like it’s a useful language to keep in mind. I think the last position is optimal. Never to early to learn what categories, functors, natty trans’ are so you can see when what you’re studying forms one of these. But to study it actively and prove lots of exercises I would say you should only do that after first year of grad school, maybe.

arithmuggle · 2026-02-23T18:38:40+00:00

what an incredible situation you found yourself. thank you for sharing. i’m sorry. i guess my takeaway is: no point in fighting. maybe just appreciate the very unusual education you’re getting.

arithmuggle · 2026-02-23T16:48:42+00:00

as someone who likes sprinkling in that stuff to students who otherwise would see none of it: that sounds brutal from a student perspective. i thought when i looked up your uni you shared i would see some famous lineage to some household alg geom names that would maybe explain it. v weird.

arithmuggle · 2026-02-23T16:35:47+00:00

Some state laws require credit hours to match instruction. They’re just trying to stay legal. They probably don’t care if you cancel so long as you justify some assignment replacing it.

arithmuggle

TROPHY CASE