"What a Single Act of Mayhem Can Do:
The brazen murder of a CEO in Midtown Manhattan—and the cheering reaction to his execution—amounts to a blinking-and-blaring warning signal for a society that has become already too inured to bloodshed."
Thank you for taking the time to share this -- such a fascinating turn of events. I'll be keeping your story in mind for future reference. Happy New Year!
This is my perspective as well. I'm not confident I could use math to make myself a lot of money, more that I can use the style of thinking to pin down how my experiences and actions effect my habits for example.
I'm a big fan of the Soviet-era books, though they often require a degree of independence to fully appreciate. Perhaps schools should focus more on developing students' ability to self-teach.
Thank you for a great response! I agree with you on communication-styles. Math education could definitely use some more clarity in exposition of procedures and notation. With regards to reason 3, this is true for me at least! Much of my learning during and after bachelors was self study.
Thank you for this much needed perspective. I do agree that tools shouldn't take precedence over the problems they're used to solve (like you say, unless you're a mathematician). If you're willing to spare more time, which central ideas do you think researchers should orient towards?
Definitely agree! When reviewing papers I've come across bad (incorrect) mathematics and unnecessary posturing. I guess I'm seeing controls for what it is at it's best. Any thoughts on geometric control theory (in the vein of Jurdjevic, Sachkov)? I like the differential-geometry viewpoint. How about sum-of-squares/algebraic geometric results?
Great point! I'm thinking of analysis courses that begin with measure theory, also differential geometry and calculus on manifolds (though those definitely can be undergraduate). Some graduate level math-in-engineering topics are things like linear systems theory, convex analysis and optimization, nonlinear systems, etc.
How come you think discrete math is too hard to teach? Calculus has definitely been useful to me for understanding how rates and totals relate to eachother, which shows up everywhere -- and also understanding volumes and shapes! It's also the basis of differential equations which underpin all physical processes
Thanks for your response! I do actually suffer from ADHD, though I'm (and was) intentionally unmedicated. Really had to develop my discipline and internal motivation before I could give a good try to math, so I definitely get what you mean. You make a great point about customized education -- I definitely think it would have helped me as an easily-distractable student who struggled to build my mathematical foundation.