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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Soft Question: Struggling at Elementary Set Theory $\rightarrow$ Shouldn't Study Pure Math?

Does being bad at elementary set theory, mean someone will be bad at proofs in upper level courses like real analysis, topology, algebra? I can't write Cantor's diagonalization argument as a non-proof by contradiction because I don't understand it…
user420360
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Why isn't cognitive psychology part of a math undergrad/grad program?

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…
Robb
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tic-tac-toe QUESTION

Two players play tic-tac-toe (also known as noughts and crosses, or Xs and Os) on a board which is an infinite row of squares. The first player on each of his turns marks one of the squares with a cross, and the second player marks 1000 squares with…
YUVAL MIZRAHI
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What is the difference between elementary and advanced math?

In any problem solving situation, if the solution doesn't come to mind, one wonders if it is even possible to use the methods in mind, and if it is something you haven't learned yet, or never have been invented yet. So my question is: How can one…
Logan Luther
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How many professional mathematicians in the world?

What is the statistics of people who professionally use mathematics at work? How many mathematician scientists?
amuliar
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Map (graph) of unsolved problems in different fields of mathematics

This is very much a soft question, and rather a general, quite fuzzy (and perhaps nonsense and/or impossible), idea I have. I have looked around as well as I can, and mostly I found some books with traditional lists and this site. Q.) Does anyone…
Christopher.L
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Solving a equation for the $t $ variable

I want to solve the next equation for the value of $t$ given the parameters $R=7.5$ $\lambda=1.07\times10^{-2}$ Equation is $0.8R=R(1-e^{\lambda t})$ What I wonder, is that I was told this $t$ is 150, but what I…
riccs_0x
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Should I drop a course to prioritize self-studying out of class with the risk of having taken too few courses for grad school

This may be an unusual question: I have soft question on how to finalize my course plan in my senior year. Here's a brief background: I am an Economics and a Mathematics major who has been taking a number of physics courses, and I wish to attend…
Junaid Aftab
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What does 'Int'l Ed' stand for?

We say that you would like to buy either Principles of Mathematical Analysis (Int'l Ed) or Principles of Mathematical Analysis. Principles of Mathematical Analysis (Int'l Ed) costs nearly half as much as Principles of Mathematical Analysis. I…
Andreas
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Prerequisites for High Dimensional Geometry

I found the follwing (below) PDFs and was wondering what I need to know (other than Linear Algebra and Probability) before reading them. Usually when I need to quicky learn about a subject I go to Amazon and check out the TOC of relevant books, but…
Roy Rogers McFreely
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Phd field of expertise

I'm not seeking personal advice but a field (to do a Phd in) in which you work with the following: (1) Probability Theory in general and specifically stochastic processes (2) Measure Theory (3) Functional Analysis (4) Numerics (5) Topology (6) No…
MisterWalter
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What are certain facts about our current formulation of mathematics that make us question, whether a better formulation exists?

About a year ago, I asked a question in StackExchange Physics, Can a perfectly mathematically describable universe exist in a multiverse?. It yielded some insightful answers. However, one struck a particular question in mind: You are going to have…
Vatsal Manot
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Sudoku Puzzle Lexicographic Ordering

I am looking for a way to put standard $9\times9$ Sudoku problems into a standard form by renaming the numbers ($9!$ possibilities), permuting the rows $6^4$ possibilities, and permuting the columns $6^4$ possibilities. This will be a tool to find…
richard1941
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Open courseware for Linear Algebra

I want to self study LA and I have 2 options for open courseware: MIT and khanacademy. Which one do you guys think is more thorough and would you recommend for a beginner? Of course, I also have books on the subject but I want to use one of these 2…
JohnPhteven
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What sums should everyone know?

Well, everyone is an overstatement. Qualifying it: I'm interested in algorithms (complexity) and probabilistic processes/models and I often see sums converge to a certain value in the books I'm reading (algorithm iterations and finite and infinite…
Wuschelbeutel Kartoffelhuhn
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