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
17
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2 answers

How much time does a great mathematician take to solve an extreme problem?

I really love math, and I can spend hours, days or even years to solve a really simple problem if I can't do it. However, there are certain problems, which I am not able to solve in an hour or so. It takes me a lot of time to even do half of the…
codetalker
  • 2,419
16
votes
5 answers

speaking about math

How should one vocalise difficult terms, which have no short names, in a talk? Have you other hints for talking about maths to other people? Do I need all to mention, what I write down on the blackboard? For example how should I say $\left(D +…
bjn
  • 923
16
votes
2 answers

What is the smallest constant that has explicitly appeared in a published paper?

You can read a lot about what large number in mathematics are, like Skewes' number, Moser's number or even Graham's number. So just for the sake of non-discrimination, I ask, what is the smallest constant $\epsilon$ that has explicitly appeared in…
draks ...
  • 18,449
16
votes
5 answers

How to study for a test and how to know if you're just not good at math?

Well it's the end of the exam season and I failed all four courses I took, that is the first semester in uni. Obviously I'm doing something wrong, so how do you prepare for a test ? Go over a section of the notes and try to answer questions from…
user128494
  • 161
16
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5 answers

Questions about Listening To Presented Material

I find that during seminars I attend, I often feel like the slowest person in the room. For example when seeing a technical theorem on the board, I often forget it by the time we are but a few lines into the proof. This is problematic because by…
roo
  • 5,598
16
votes
1 answer

Are there independent research groups?

I wanted to ask if someone knows how to find independent researchers or research groups. I mean, people interested in doing Math in a research level that are not related to universities neither investigation institutes, that freely choose and…
user55402
  • 169
16
votes
13 answers

Who are the most inspiring communicators of math for a general audience?

I have a podcast series (http://wildaboutmath.com/category/podcast/ and on Itunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/sol-ledermans-podcast/id588254197) where I interview people who have a passion for math and who have inspired others to take an…
Sol
  • 726
16
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5 answers

Continuing math on my own?

I am in 6th grade and neither of my parents are mathematicians. I feel that at school though my teacher is great, the stuff I am studying (Pre Algebra) is just a little too elementary. I often find myself browsing math forums getting into…
user169330
15
votes
0 answers

Writing Hard Problems

Having done a fair bit of contest- type math, I was interested in trying to write similar sorts of problems, only to find myself immediately stumped. How does one write "elegant problems" of the kind that are found in the IMO and comparable national…
David Pechersky
  • 494
15
votes
2 answers

Undergraduate mathematics programs

It has come time for me to decide where to pursue my undergraduate education. I plan to pursue a PhD in mathematics, so accordingly my primary concern is the mathematics programs at various institutions. While I realize that college selection is a…
Alex Becker
  • 60,569
15
votes
1 answer

How to start learning high level mathematics?

I was looking online for the best place to ask this question, as it seems there is no good answer anywhere. I am really sorry if this is not the right place to ask this, so if that's the case, I would appreciate if you could refer me to the right…
Vlad Oleksenko
  • 159
15
votes
3 answers

How important is it to remember computational tricks as a pure mathematician?

Basically my question is whether the typical mathematician would consider it important to remember purely computational tricks like "trig substitution" which only help one solve obscure integrals that don't ever seem to be of interest in pure math.…
AnalysisStudent
  • 1,025
15
votes
4 answers

Examples for Hilbert's Quote

Hilbert once said, “The art of doing mathematics consists in finding that special case which contains all the germs of generality.” What would be (relatively) simple examples?
blackened
  • 1,115
15
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2 answers

Knowing when to ask for help

I'm an undergrad with weekly problem sets due. Often if I begin the problem set early and think about it a bit each day, I can solve all of the problems. But other times it will quickly become apparent that one or two problems are going to be…
logert
  • 193
15
votes
4 answers

Books of interesting mathematics aimed at mathematicians

I'm currently in my third year of an undergraduate degree, mainly doing courses in abstract algebra. I'm enjoying my degree, but every so often when I'm swamped with difficult proofs, I feel like I need some extra inspiration to give myself more…
James
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