Mathematics Stack Exchange
Mathematics Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [soft-question]

For questions whose answers can't be objectively evaluated as correct or incorrect, but which are still relevant to this site. Please be specific about what you are after.

For questions whose answers cannot be objectively evaluated as correct or incorrect, but which are still relevant to mathematics.se.

12079 questions
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Highest gain mathematical activity

I have this odd dream that online resources like this can serve as a virtual thesis advisor for future mathematicians who are teaching themselves. Here's another question along these lines. You can do a lot of different things with your day as a…
Jon Bannon
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What are the possibilities of an average mathematician?

I recently started my studies of mathematics at university. During my high school years, I did a lot of maths, because I was really fascinated of it and wanted to learn more. I even participated, quite successfully, at our national mathematical…
Redundant Aunt
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What category of math do "theoretical" jigsaws fall into?

Imagine if like to investigate the structure of solutions made from various puzzle pieces. What area of math is this? A good analogy is how Rubix cube solutions are related to group theory.
Zach466920
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Proofs by analysing games

I recently read the following article giving a novel proof of the uncountability of $\mathbb{R}$ by analysing a particular game, amongst other results. http://people.math.gatech.edu/~mbaker/pdf/realgame.pdf I'm aware that given a proof (or…
Rhys Steele
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Fruitful advice to get back to study Mathematics again?

I have completed masters in Pure Mathematics a year back.I was preparing for an exam for pursuing a PhD program in the same .The results came out in this year in the month of April and found that I have failed to clear it. Most of my friends have…
Learnmore
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Is it common to decide not to go to graduate school after extensive undergraduate research experience?

At the beginning of my undergraduate career, I was almost sure I would want to apply to graduate programs in pure mathematics. Is it common to make such drastic change at the end of one's undergraduate career?
user167023
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How do I explain Complex Analysis to my grandma?

After I got selected to the university, one day I visited my grandma. She asked me what my favorite subject was. I said, "My favorite subject is Complex Analysis". Then she said "what is this, Complex Analysis?". She never studied Complex Analysis…
ASB
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Pure Mathematics vs Mathematical Statistics

I see that these majors are usually offered separately at universities. 1) Does Pure Math not cover ALL math including statistics? 2) If you choose Pure Math - will there be things you will NOT LEARN in pure math that you are able to learn in…
avkaapstad
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Squaring the Circle

Is squaring the circle possible in any sort of metric at all? It's known that within the Euclidean metric it is impossible, but does there exist some world or space where it is possible? Much like how $x^2+1$ has no solutions in the real field, but…
Trogdor
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How to read this in English?

I am a teacher of English for IT. Please, help me! I do not know how to read $s(n), y(n), e(n)$ in English. We are studying signal processing and the way a filter operates. The sentence is: The incoming signal $s(n)$ is filtered or weighted in a…
Юля Николаева
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Humor in Math Textbooks

So, I was looking though a problem section in Dummit and Foote, and found this amusing "definition." I actually tried googling it, but I can't find any reference to these associated primes being called "assassins," so I guess it's there just for the…
Nishant
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Most dificult concepts in mathematics

(Sorry, last soft question!) Borwien, in The Riemann Hypothesis: A Resource for the Afficionado and Virtuoso Alike, (probably quite rightly) says of the Riemann Hypothesis, that No layman has ever been able to understand it and no mathematician has…
martin
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Why the $\zeta$ letter is like this?

How to write the sixth letter of the Greek alphabet $\zeta$ by hand? I cannot do it. Thanks.
Jika
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What is the optimal strategy for increasing my 'mathematical maturity'? Depth or breadth? Number theory or measure theory?

My apologies for such a general question, but as a 'math enthusiast', I've often wondered what the optimal strategy is to increase my mathematical maturity. Broadly, should I aim to hunker down & study one topic in detail (measure theory/analysis,…
Tejus
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Gain confidence in maths.

I am a maths student and I really want to stand out in maths, to be good at it because I like it. But the transition from high school's computation-based maths to uni's concept-based maths made me lose my self-confidence and I feel like I am just…
user142205
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