Is Being a Math Major Really That Difficult?

[jedishrfu]

An interesting take on being a math major:

http://theodysseyonline.com/adrian-college/20-signs-math-major/328623

Though some are dumbed down.

Over to @micromass for verification.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Can anyone add more?

 

[mfb]

I'm not a math major, but some points still apply.

(4b) you fit multiple pages worth of calculations/proofs on a single page to save the trees.

(6+7) Numbers are something for engineers.

 

[jedishrfu]

The introverted mathematician looks at his shoes as he/she walks.

The extroverted mathematician looks at other people's shoes.

 

[collinsmark]

The introverted mathematician looks at his shoes as he/she walks.

The extroverted mathematician looks at other people's shoes.

 

[PeroK]

Pk1. When asked to relate maths to the real world you explain how something can be vacuously true.

Pk2. You find Mr Spock terribly illogical.

 

[micromass]

1. Your non-math/science major friends don't understand the fact that you have classes on Friday when they never do.

I don't get this one.

2. Because of this, their regular Wednesday complaints about how they wish they didn't have their one Thursday class get old really fast, especially when you are trying to study for the three exams you have Friday. After a while, this is your response to them:

Nor this one​

3. If you tutor another student, you spend most of the time tutoring thinking to yourself about how much you wish math was still this simple.

Not really. I usually get excited linking advanced math concepts to simple stuff like solving quadratic equations.

4. Thanks to math problems that take multiple pages, you go through at least a tree's worth of paper each week.

5. You know the above statement is not an exaggeration (OK maybe it is, but not by much!).

Yeah, definitely

6. You solve problems with more letters than numbers in them.

7. In fact, you sometimes solve problems where numbers don't even exist.

Yep.

8. This hyperbolic maze will drive you crazy, and you'll quickly become addicted (and frustrated) with it.

It's cute, but not addicting.

9. You question your sanity.

10. You are intrigued by the Poincaré disk model and other non-Euclidean geometries.

Seems right.

11. Most non-math majors mistakenly think you can do math without it hurting your brain.
12. In reality, this is how you feel during every math class:
13. And you consider it a miracle if you make it through a long day of math classes and homework without feeling like your brain exploded.

Yep.

14. You've learned not to (or at least you try not to) overthink things because you know it usually makes assignments more difficult.

No, I think that's wrong. There is no such thing as overthinking. Thinking very deeply about foundations and stuff is very valuable.

15. You own multiple calculators.

I don't own ANY calculator.

17. Proofs -- the reason you unofficially have a minor in writing and another reason why you indirectly kill a tree each week.

Yep.

18. The math problems you have to solve are so complicated, your professor rarely gets through more than two examples in class.

True, except for the very trivial examples which they focus on over the harder useful examples.

19. You question how the math geniuses that have gone before you came up with these crazy-looking formulas.

Definitely. It's always fun searching how they did it too.

20. You enjoy clever things like this limerick:

Meh.

 

[PeroK]

Pk3.. You believe, to the consternation of others, that $0.999 \dots = 1$

 

[jedishrfu]

You play with origami all day long and when people ask you what you're doing you say you're solving the Delian problem or trisecting an angle.

https://plus.maths.org/content/power-origami-0

https://plus.maths.org/content/power-origami-1

and they think you're really folding cranes but don't know how.

 

[jedishrfu]

You laugh when you see the Scarecrow on the Wizard of Oz misquote the Pythagorean theorem and applaud when you Klaatu solve a celestial mechanics problem for Dr Barnhard using separation of variables.

You smile at the Numbers TV show because they introduce so many math ideas to criminology even though the principal actor sucked at math and there's a real math PhD consultant behind the scenes writing down the equations on the chalk boards that are littered everywhere on the show (see the garage setup quaint but awesome). Also the use of clear blackboards during FBI scenes like who really uses those things its too hard to read what you wrote unless of course you wanted see someone trying to prank you and then there's the computer skills but I digress...



where he uses the Prisoners dilemma to get one suspect to crack based on how much they will lose.

You cringe when you see Matt Damon solve a trivial graph theory problem and be hailed a math genius:

http://functionspace.com/topic/71/What-was-the-math-problem-in--Good-Will-Hunting-

or Russell Crowe misapply the Nash Equilibrium idea when he and his classmates meet the blonde and her four brunette girlfriends:



(no wonder he didn't really get a date that night)

and will cheer when the Ramanujan movie comes out on April 29, 2016 in theaters (theatres) everywhere:



because what's cooler than see that great actor of Slumdog Millioaire, DevPatel play Ramanujan.

 

[mfb]

21. You are missing the dx here
22. You need several follow-up posts in the thread to realize how to read the equation.