Comment by data_maan

13 hours ago

It always amazes me how a random dump of someone who read the first 40 pages of PM attracts dozens comments on HN.

This really must be a very math-starved community of people who wanted to learn math but never quite could.

6 comments

data_maan

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laichzeit0  13 hours ago

Two thoughts on someone who went out of their way to learn math:

1. If you can already program, the worst thing you can do is think of mathematics as learning a programming language. It is not, and you will waste your time being frustrated with things like syntax and notation. You get “used to” mathematics by doing it, and it’s something on its own. Just go with it. It’s ok to be confused.

2. Do the exercises, and stop asking for “solution manuals”, the point is to get you thinking and the struggle is most important part, not whether you got it “right”. Again, I think this is a programmer centric way of looking at things: “how do I know it’s right if I can’t compile it”.

Maybe that’s why programmers like the foundations of mathematics. Like if somehow they could just go to the bottom of things, the assembler/machine code of sorts, the whole enterprise would make sense. Counterintuitively, the really great mathematicians of yore, did mathematics before it was anywhere close to formalized.

  • firmretention  7 hours ago

    >Again, I think this is a programmer centric way of looking at things: “how do I know it’s right if I can’t compile it”.

    I would argue this would only be true for those without formal education. Writing your code on paper is very common in CS courses. You get used to not being able to compile it.