You're too much of a mathematician if

  • Thread starter Thread starter Edgardo
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Mathematician
AI Thread Summary
The discussion humorously explores the traits and behaviors that signify someone is "too much of a mathematician." Participants share amusing examples, such as finding humor in mathematical concepts like "epsilon < 0," using terms like "trivial" or "evident" excessively, and the ability to distinguish between a doughnut and a coffee mug. The conversation includes playful references to mathematical jargon infiltrating everyday language, such as starting arguments with "For all x such that..." and using precise mathematical terms where ordinary words fall short. The thread also touches on the quirks of mathematicians, such as their tendency to express complex ideas in simple terms, leading to misunderstandings. Overall, the thread is a light-hearted take on the idiosyncrasies of mathematicians and their unique way of thinking.
Edgardo
Messages
706
Reaction score
17
You're too much a mathematician if ...

Hi all,

I thought it would be funny to open a thread like this.
So feel free to post!


You're too much of a mathematician if ...

... if you think that "epsilon < 0" is funny.
 
Last edited:
Physics news on Phys.org
IF you think? It is funny. :biggrin:
 
omg I didn't understand it, thank God..!
 
...if you think that the x-component of the vector formed by your instructors mustache is at its largest value at \cos \theta = 1
 
... if you think the reason the downtown area is called the center is because everyone commutes there.
 
.. you can (finally) tell a doughnut from a coffee mug.
 
Thrice said:
.. you can (finally) tell a doughnut from a coffee mug.

Wouldn't you be a normal person if you can do that? :rolleyes:
 
Oblef said:
omg I didn't understand it, thank God..!
lol, i didn't understand the first one either

but the others are pretty funny so far
 
neutrino said:
Wouldn't you be a normal person if you can do that? :rolleyes:
The "finally" is important.

...if you deny that there can be such a thing as "too much of a mathematician"... and subsequently disappear in a puff of logic.
 
  • #10
Maybe it should've been:

...if you can't tell a doughnut from a coffee mug.
 
  • #11
...if you use the word "trivial" or "evident" more than once a day
 
  • #12
...if you think .999999999=1:-p

<runs and hides>
 
  • #13
Lisa! said:
...if you think .999999999=1:-p

<runs and hides>

You see, now that would be an engineer/physicist.

I presume you meant 0.9999999... = 1. :wink:
 
  • #14
neutrino said:
You see, now that would be an engineer/physicist.

I presume you meant 0.9999999... = 1. :wink:
Oops...no , now that's a real mathematician considring this 1:

You are a mathematician if you say 'A', write 'B' but mean 'C':biggrin:
 
  • #15
If you begin a day to day argument: " For all x such that..."
 
  • #16
Lisa! said:
Oops...no , now that's a real mathematician considring this 1:

You are a mathematician if you say 'A', write 'B' but mean 'C':biggrin:

that one is good
 
  • #17
TeTeC said:
...if you use the word "trivial" or "evident" more than once a day
I would add "there exists" to that list!

My favorite one so far is jimmysnyder's. :approve:
 
  • #18
Lisa! said:
Oops...no , now that's a real mathematician considring this 1:

You are a mathematician if you say 'A', write 'B' but mean 'C':biggrin:

The professors dilemma: He says 'A', he writes 'B', he means 'C', but it should really be 'D'.

Comes from Polya's How to Solve It
 
  • #19
TeTeC said:
...if you use the word "trivial" or "evident" more than once a day
I can't remember it off hand, but there is at least one mathematical term that I use in everyday conversation, because there isn't an 'ordinary' English word that carries precisely the meaning I intend.
 
  • #20
ZioX said:
The professors dilemma: He says 'A', he writes 'B', he means 'C', but it should really be 'D'.

Comes from Polya's How to Solve It
:smile:
Thanks!

I can't remember it off hand, but there is at least one mathematical term that I use in everyday conversation, because there isn't an 'ordinary' English word that carries precisely the meaning I intend.

Great! You're a real mathematician:approve:
 
Last edited:
  • #21
libelous contumely! all of it. and i can prove it.
 
  • #22
When you and your friends sit around trying to think about whether there are any foods whose boundary is a surface of genus two.
 
  • #23
Hurkyl said:
I can't remember it off hand, but there is at least one mathematical term that I use in everyday conversation, because there isn't an 'ordinary' English word that carries precisely the meaning I intend.

I use the word "clearly" quite often-- a word I rarely used before studying maths!
 
  • #24
qspeechc said:
If you begin a day to day argument: " For all x such that..."

:smile: no! save me! It's not just in arguments either; non-mathematical language is just so clunky when one is trying to be precise. I mean, what's the english equivalent of (A+B+C)-(A+B)=(A+C)-(A)=C? The only thing I could come up with was "B cancels" :rolleyes:
 
  • #25
When you begin to define everyone you know in terms of matrices representing their characteristics.
 
  • #26
... if the following happens:

At the question period after a Dirac lecture at the University of Toronto, somebody in the audience remarked: "Professor Dirac, I do not understand how you derived the formula on the top left side of the blackboard."
"This is not a question," snapped Dirac, "it is a statement. Next question, please."
 
  • #27
Edgardo said:
... if the following happens:

At the question period after a Dirac lecture at the University of Toronto, somebody in the audience remarked: "Professor Dirac, I do not understand how you derived the formula on the top left side of the blackboard."
"This is not a question," snapped Dirac, "it is a statement. Next question, please."
Alex Trebek is too much of a mathematician?
 
  • #28
BobG said:
Alex Trebek is too much of a mathematician?

Yes, he is :biggrin:
 
  • #29
  • #30
Hurkyl said:
I can't remember it off hand, but there is at least one mathematical term that I use in everyday conversation, because there isn't an 'ordinary' English word that carries precisely the meaning I intend.


I find I use "if and only if"
 
  • #31
if you don't think of ice cream anymore when you hear someone say, "(a variable) over pi"
 
  • #32
write pi as a infinite series...
 
  • #33
Lisa! said:
Oops...no , now that's a real mathematician considring this 1:

You are a mathematician if you say 'A', write 'B' but mean 'C':biggrin:


What if I say 'A', write 'B' but mean 'A', then I'm too much of a ...?
 

Similar threads

Replies
86
Views
6K
Replies
12
Views
2K
Replies
3
Views
160
Replies
6
Views
3K
Replies
2
Views
1K
Back
Top