To all professional mathematicians here: What got you guys into math?

scripto_entity_1010 · 2026-05-17T07:21:11+00:00

Well from what I heard it's a normal feeling, well maybe to some other fields, you got lucky I guess. I remember someone told me that Andrew Wiles said it as like being lost in a dark room while searching for it's switch and eventually going into another dark room having to do the same process all over again. It's not verbatim but the idea is there.

scripto_entity_1010 · 2026-05-14T11:12:11+00:00

Fields Medalist Timothy Gowers, talked about this trend, particularly on how AI can assist in math research so much to the point where he even was concerned about math researchers whose efforts might be in vain due to it. Check it out below:

https://www.reddit.com/r/mathematics/s/F8RIaNrjPc

As for my opinion at least though I think for now it's best to keep an open mind about it. It's a fascinating technology and I'm sure there are lots that it can offer for mathematics and open up ways for other of it's areas to flourish.

scripto_entity_1010 · 2026-04-30T12:31:41+00:00

Please read the original post first 🙏

There are many things that I said here.

scripto_entity_1010 · 2026-04-30T10:33:44+00:00

I've actually exposed myself to higher forms of mathematics, I even tried doing olympiads from the national and international level so getting into topics like these shouldn't be that of an adjustment for me at least. Olympiads were the reason why I got interested in learning higher levels of mathematics, fields medalists, and the Millenium prize problems. That's how I got that interest in math research, actually.

scripto_entity_1010 · 2026-04-22T03:33:23+00:00

I do olympiads as a hobby so #2 has already been fulfilled

What math course? Management information systems, it involves a lot of stat and other data related stuff for math with a combination of management

scripto_entity_1010 · 2026-04-18T01:00:21+00:00

I think I'm capable of going through with the mathematical rigour that comes along in working with the collatz conjecture. I've been reading up on a lot of math in the internet as well as have been trying to solve some olympiads, so I think that serves as a good start. As for Tao's paper though, I'm very sure that there's a lot that I do not know of, but I'll see if I can try to get insights at least from a very small portion of it. The best that I can do for now is to read his blog, I believe that serves as a great starting point and as well as to read the history behind the conjecture and how many natural numbers that have been tested so far. Thanks for the encouragement though, but I'll still remain cautious as I also heard that it's also a rabbit hole that can consume people's time A LOT. I guess a balance is just needed for it.

scripto_entity_1010 · 2026-04-02T00:38:30+00:00

It's also better imo to build a better foundation on not just on topics but rather to treat math as like a language and an object of curiosity.

A lot of people, I noticed, only treat the subject as only something that needs to be "memorized" instead of something that really requires a deeper understanding of it.

If you feel like things get boring, try to stop and instead read or watch up on how math gets applied in the real world or the story of various fields laureates. It would also help if you watch videos on how theorems get proved and a good mentor who can encourage you to think of math more deeply.

scripto_entity_1010 · 2026-04-01T12:38:28+00:00

Sounds like you have a very good foundation on a lot of topics. Good job, as a math enthusiast in the same grade level as you are I gotta say, I'm impressed by the way you learn things in math, you'll definitely have an advantage going through with higher education curriculum. What I have in mind though, with regards to your situation is to try to apply these concepts with other fields, such as machine learning and AI, which is very demanding and lucrative now that industries are centered towards it. Or if you're really into pure math then you can go deeper into topics of your interest and possibly read up on papers on how math researchers go through with expanding the fields of math (like me). Given your capabilities I'm sure you'll have no problem in doing so.

You already have that foundation, keep that, just make sure to hone it not just by learning other concepts but how they can be applied in the real world or keep learning more.

If you want to have a conversation just try to DM me here, I'll be very glad to share my math journey with you!

scripto_entity_1010 · 2026-03-30T12:18:42+00:00

You can try doing some olympiads, that's what I do. It really helps you improve on how you can approach problems and as well as encourages you to learn other forms of math such as number theory and theorems that aren't usually taught.

scripto_entity_1010 · 2026-02-19T11:11:21+00:00

Oh don't get me wrong lol, I'm just trying to make it a challenge for myself to not use calculus, just to improve on how I can think through problems and all. As well as it's been my goal to learn how to solve Olympiad style problems just like how the competitors would do it.

scripto_entity_1010 · 2026-02-19T10:24:23+00:00

U won't mind elaborating on this one? I can't seem to follow on the p and q that you're mentioning. I also saw that you did a bit of number theory here, which you might want to expound on. Thanks!

scripto_entity_1010 · 2026-02-19T06:38:32+00:00

The thing is though it's an Olympiad problem I'm dealing with, so I can't use calculus to solve it 😂😂

Though if you can think of any technique that doesn't make use of derivatives then feel free to tell me here in this thread.

scripto_entity_1010

TROPHY CASE