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I think it is good for math students to have a cognitive psychology course. Foreign languages are often required. If a student knows how his mind works he would use it more efficiently. Insight, for example, occurs after a burst of gamma waves followed by alpha waves. In layman terms this means that a person stuck on a math problem usually gets an aha moment when he is relaxing. Opinions?

Edit. For example, I see many students now live-TeXing notes. That is a very inefficient way of learning.

Robb
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    This is certainly not a math question. I would close this as off-topic. – Mariano Suárez-Álvarez Nov 05 '12 at 16:39
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    Plenty of mathematicians are quite successful without any self-awareness at all. Clearly not a requirement for the job. :) – Thomas Andrews Nov 05 '12 at 16:40
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    In the same vein one could ask why there are usually no courses on making good coffee or indian food... – Mariano Suárez-Álvarez Nov 05 '12 at 16:40
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    @ThomasAndrews: But they would do better if they were are of it. – Robb Nov 05 '12 at 16:44
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    Sorry, but I see no evidence of that. That's purely assertion. Quite a few of the most highly functioning adults are people who have no understanding of congnition. Can you give us any study that indicates that studying cognition improves their functioning? – Thomas Andrews Nov 05 '12 at 16:45
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    Everyone should learn about cognitive psychology, but this doesn't make it on-topic. Your claim about gamma and alpha waves is not very convincing. – Phira Nov 05 '12 at 16:50
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    Note, you are also not really intending this as a question, but rather making a suggesting and attempting to start a debate. That is not the intent of this site. – Thomas Andrews Nov 05 '12 at 16:53
  • I think the opposite is more relevant: why so many [not just cognitive] psychologists can't handle anything more sophisticated than a TV program – Alex Nov 06 '12 at 01:08

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Because it's not mathematics...

Alfred Bratterud
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Cognitive science is not of benefit only or mostly to mathematics, nor is it so critical that one cannot do without it. Therefore, it might be a general knowledge requirement, but would not be appropriate for a requirement for math.

Rex Kerr
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