Tingly feeling in brain after solving hard problem?

[john562]

Do you guys ever get this tingly feeling in your brain after you spend a long time trying to figure out how to solve a problem (eg mathematical proof) and finally getting it?

 

[Pythagorean]

Endorphines?

 

[raam86]

I just think x is sexy :D

 

[lisab]

I just think x is sexy :D

I bet algebra was your favorite class .

 

[micromass]

Yes, then you get very happy. And the day after it appears that the solution doesn't work and we get depressed. That's the story of math...

 

[FlexGunship]

Do you guys ever get this tingly feeling in your brain after you spend a long time trying to figure out how to solve a problem (eg mathematical proof) and finally getting it?

Stroke?

 

[G01]

I just think x is sexy :D

I bet algebra was your favorite class .

I experimented with y's for a while, but that was just a phase...

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

I experimented with y's for a while, but that was just a phase...

For me it was $$\phi$$, also just a phase.
Once a professor asked the class how many Lebesgue measurable sets there were on the interval from 0 to 1. We just sat there thinking for about 5 minutes before finally, I blurted out "Oh!" and gave the answer. I was really proud of myself not only because I figured it out, but because I was easily the worst student in the room and yet figured that problem out faster than they did. It really did tingle. However, in the intervening years, I have come to the conclusion that the problem was a forced march in the sense that the only reasonable approach to the problem is the one that works. In a spare moment a few days earlier I had read a few pages from a book on set theory that explained cardinality. Probably the reason I got the answer quicker than the others is that this bit of extra-curricular reading was still fresh in my mind.

 

[Newai]

Nerdgasm.

I'm the kind that has lots of tiny ones instead of the big N.

 

[Togli]

I usually get it if I verify the derivation by a simulation on the computer. Until then, I can never believe I really did it. And if the simulation verifies, it is orgasmic, I jump from my chair, and once again believe in the power of the formulas, which becomes unbelievable quite soon.

 

[zif.]

Heh, yes... But only rarely.

Usually when I've been working on something really, really hard for a long time and I'm not getting it.

It's not working.

I cannot get it. I've stopped and come back, still nothing.

I'm getting really angry, I'm berating myself, I'm in the middle of my third cigarette...

And then it clicks.

 

[rhody]

Do you guys ever get this tingly feeling in your brain after you spend a long time trying to figure out how to solve a problem (eg mathematical proof) and finally getting it?

John,

I see from your post count you are rather new here, that said, I think you may be interested in this thread, https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=413657", started by Fuzzyfelt. There are some real interesting posts describing that "tingly feeling" you are referring to by many different PF members. Good hunting...

Rhody...

 

[fuzzyfelt]

Thanks for the mention, rhody.

 

[rhody]

Thanks for the mention, rhody.

Fuzzy,

You are welcome, there is a wealth of information to investigate and ponder here...
John, I think you will be amazed at the depth and breadth of the discussion here, very cool thread, IMHO. Hope you enjoy it.

Rhody...