It is so easy for people to see how arts programs can be creative. Why is it that when I talk about mathematics being creative, people not in mathematics just give me a blank stare?
Though a bit unrelated, I remember once posting that I hated counting. Of course, someone from my high school commented immediately, "Don't be silly, you love math". My response - *sigh*. For those of you in mathematics, you know that there are so many different areas of study and interest in mathematics. For those of you who know me, you know how much I hate counting =P
But anyways, back to my original point. Creativity in mathematics. I'm currently taking a Pure Math Course in Analysis. Actually, more to the point, I am majoring in an area of pure math for my degree. The problem is, I have this love - hate relationship with pure math. After my 8 month stint working, all these feelings are being renewed and my dilemma has resurfaced.
The main problem? I'm not creative enough for pure math. Try as I might, I can spend hours trying to come up with clever bijections or injections and not be able to see anything, till someone pointedly tells me to think about binary or something like that. When I do get things, they are typically really cute - but how on earth do people get to that point themselves? *sigh*
I'd like to think that others have more practice, but I know for a fact that is not true. Maybe I just need to get into the right mindset, and I haven't found out how to do that or what this mindset is. On the other hand...maybe I should consider another major LOL.
Also - math can be confusing =P Without thinking of the proper definition, the concept of something being 'countably infinite' is a paradox isn't it? Hehehe.
- S
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That's pretty much how I feel about pure math. I can understand the concepts and everything, but my mathematical creativity is pretty low.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that I'm not the only one that feels that way...it can be extremely frustrating after a few hours of looking at an assignment!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I hate the widespread opinion that math is all about number-crunching... but I guess what can you expect if the usual high-school curriculum is all about memorizing formulas?
ReplyDeleteIn these cases, I like to mention to people that my math courses don't require a calculator :)... that gets them thinking.