Comment by pastrami_panda
1 day ago
Gauss's notes and margins is riddled with proofs he didn't bother to publish - he was wild.
Not sure if true, but allegedy he insisted his son not go into maths, as he would simply end up in his father's shadow as he deemed it utterly Impossible to surpass his brilliance in maths :'D
> as he would simply end up in his father's shadow as he deemed it utterly Impossible to surpass his brilliance in maths
Definitely true but also bad parenting. Gauss was somewhat of a freak of nature when it came to math. Him and Euler are two of the most unreasonably productive mathematicians of all time.
But what he deemed being posited as true, was this really bad parenting? It could be to head off competition or it could be brutal realism to head off future depression.
Nepotism existed since time immemorial but for a mathematical genius, what was the nepotistic deliverable for the child? A sinecure placement at university?
Not wanting your child to be permanently compared to you for their entire career is entirely understandable
> But what he deemed being posited as true
Implicit in the "correctness" of this motive is the idea that unless you're #1 in your field, you are nothing (depression implies strong feelings of worthlessness).
I don't know if you think that's a great lesson to teach your kids as a parent, but I don't.
1 reply →
It’s unusual to tell others not to do something because you’re projecting they’re secretly doing it to compete with you, or that they’ll be depressed when they don’t do what you did.
Doubly so when the rationale is “I’m so fucking awesome”
Triply so when it’s something you’re passionate about, presumably inherently.
Quadruply so when it’s your child. Its tough as a kid hearing your parents come up with elongated excuses why you can’t dream and work towards a future.
When you let people find their own way, you might even learn something from it (ex. 70 yo Gauss learns he didn’t need to tie his mental state to his work because his son doesn’t suddenly become depressed from not matching dads output)
Re: second half, sounds about right, confused at relevancy though (is the idea the child would only do it to pursue nepotistic spoils and an additional reason is the spoils aren’t even good?)
6 replies →