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/sci/ - Science & Math

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7115975 No.7115975 [Reply] [Original]

So, I've been noticing that there are a lot of mathematic majors here. Just out of curiosity, I'd like to see the percentage a little better (or at least some nominal number of math majors here).

Here is the poll:
http://www.poll-maker.com/poll259287xcD774C16-10
Additional question: why mathematics? did you/do you participate or enjoy math olympiads/math olympiads kind of problems?

>> No.7115991

I am not in school though and have no training, this thread is racist.

>> No.7115994

Math because it's fun and intellectually rewarding.
>>7115975
>did you/do you participate or enjoy math olympiads/math olympiads kind of problems
The fuck is that high school tier question

>> No.7115995

I think your poll is going to end up skewed.

"Mathematician poll" is not likely to grab the attention of those not math inclined, especially when it's so dangerous to call yourself a mathematician on /sci/.

I started out as an engineering major, but I enjoyed how my math classes seemed to be developing my imagination and life philosophy, so I switched over to math.

I've never participated in competitive math. I'm the lowest rung on the math ladder: the high school teacher.

>> No.7116009

>>7115994
>High school
there are lots of university level olympiads. The problems are usually very hard. In my school, usually the people who end up being the top tier mathematicians are able to compete and do fairly well in those, but it's not for the average folk.

>> No.7116016

>>7115995
yeah...5 vs 0 right now. But at least it's a number to see how many of us are mathematicians. It's interesting because in a sense, mathematics is not a very rational decision for a major, it's low pay and high effort really. But we love it anyway.

>> No.7116024

>>7115975
The geographical breakdown is pretty sweet, one argentine,denmark, france, the US, canada...

>> No.7116026

>>7116009
>there are lots of university level olympiads
Didn't know that. We don't have that kind of stuff where I live. Are there actual rewards or is it just for giggles?

>> No.7116032

>>7116026
In my country, there's money. It's not A LOT, but it's something. 1st prize is like 500 hundred dollars.

>> No.7116034
File: 327 KB, 424x550, vuvuzlela.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
7116034

this poll gonna have responder bias out the ass btw

>> No.7116045

Math PhD student here, would you like fries with that?

>> No.7116075

Badly worded question, as to answer it I have to enter the thread:
I studied theoretical physics, including at least 20 pure math courses. I do math for one or two hours a day. I guess I know math as good as someone with a Masters in it. But no, I haven't "studied" it.

>> No.7116081

>>7116075
>I studied theoretical physics, including at least 20 pure math courses
>I haven't "studied" it
>inclusion doesn't mean it's part of what I studied

>> No.7116105

>>7116081
Yeah well, OP starts the thread with
>So, I've been noticing that there are a lot of mathematic majors here. Just out of curiosity, I'd like to see the percentage a little better

>> No.7116120

>>7115975
the sort of math you have on the OP pic totally my jam
too bad mathematicians do not consider it "real math"

>> No.7116126

>>7116120
You see these things in differential geometry. Although it's fugly it's proper math.

>> No.7116131

>>7116126
i worked with these in electromagnetism and quantum mechanics
since they had a use i had always assumed it was disowned by mathematicians

>> No.7116136

>19 mathematicians
>in this forum alone
Why? what purpose does it serve? you will never make a contribution, and even if you made one it would be trivial and without application, a far superior mind will come and discover a much better result. In the end, you will have contributed nothing, you will have a shit pay, a shit life overall and for what? because your wanted to mentally masturbate while you were in college. Master race my ass.

>> No.7116149

>>7116136
>being this butthurt he'll never attain enlightenment

>> No.7116156

>>7116136
as an engineer fag, i agree with you
I can do a well paying job and fund my interests
for math to be worth it, math has to be your interest so dominantly that you should want to do math even after your work is done or something

>> No.7116157

>>7116149
>Undergraduate mathematics or mathematics at all is enlightenment
Arbitrary symbol pushing to solve arbitrary problems that are growing in meaningless complexity for the sake of it. Enlightenment would be something closer to the natural sciences.

>> No.7116159

>>7116131
Well quantum physics notations are absolute dumbshit (lel my bra and my ket xDDDD) but the idea that mathematicians disown anything that finds applications is wrong. Else nobody would do anything since you can find applications for every field of math, including the fields reputed the purest such as homology theory (through image processing or computer vision) or Galois theory (cryptography and coding theory).

>> No.7116168

>>7116156
You can do the same with a math degree. Getting a well paid job in the industry is not hard.

>> No.7116204

>>7115975
>why mathematics?

Because I'm interested in it and I have a year to just figure out what I want to transition to. I'll probably change universities and continue studying math. But I'm also interesting in possibly adding economics to my major. I just feel that would be better suited to the workforce.

>did you/do participate or enjoy math olympiads/math olympiads kind of problems?

I didn't participate in any math olympiads because I thought they were for faggots who had nothing better to do with their youth, but then again if you enjoy for it go for it. Just wasn't for me. That's not to say I don't enjoy difficult questions.

>> No.7116237

>>7116156
If you do math, there is no "work is done". You don't call it quits at 17:30. I sometimes get out of bed at 2am because an idea crosses my mind and I do some back of the envelope computations to see if it makes sense.

>> No.7116238

>>7116168
That's absolutely not true.

>> No.7116244

37 mathfags so far, 37 people who will never contribute to society and will either be poor high school teachers or (if they are the 0.1% outliers) will be an insignicant leech of the corrupt academia system who will never contribute anything worth noting. COOL!

>> No.7116248

>>7116244
What if I take my actuarial exams?

>> No.7116252

>>7116248
You could have done an economics major instead. Which will give you a better resume.

>> No.7116253

>>7116244
I'm a software dev lol

>> No.7116255

>>7116252
You're probably right but I'm retarded and economics doesn't inspire the same burning need to git gud that math does.

>> No.7116258

>>7116168
cmon, it might be possible, certainly not easy
>>7116237
that is because that matters for what you do, you have to come up with such stuff
i really like being absolutely done with my shit once engineering shift ends

>> No.7116265

>>7116252

Yes, but what if you are naturally repulsed by economics and other humanities like women's studies?

>> No.7116267

>>7116265
you cant really compare economics with women studies, any humanities really

>> No.7116270
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7116270

>>7116267

k

>> No.7116273

>>7116265
Economics is the only humanities that has developed in interesting directions because: if there's money involved, people will get it right.

>> No.7116274

>>7116009
They're usually a waste of time imo. If I wanted to memorize solutions to certain types of problems in order to show off and show how much of a "creative" thinker I was I would become an applied mathematician.

>> No.7116276

>>7116034
It still gives a lower bound on the number of math people, since few would take the time to lie about doing math.

>> No.7116277

>>7116274
btfo

>> No.7116288

>>7115975
Not sure how to answer the poll. I was an engineer in college and took various math courses (calc, diff qs, complex analysis and what not) but you seem to be looking for people who were specifically math majors.

>> No.7116294

>>7116288
>I was an engineer in college
im sorry to hear, what happened once you graduated?

>> No.7116296

>>7116274
It certainly helps to know certain strategies, but that's not all...you need a lot of ingenuity and being a good, organized and fast thinker to go anywhere. It's basically the same as your usual math, you can know all the technicalities but all unless you are doing a routine exercise, there's always creativity and trial and error involved.

>> No.7116303

>>7116294
I went and got a job afterwards. Uh... were you expecting something different?...

>> No.7116350

Two majors in Chemical Engineering and Applied Math. "More like pleb math lolol" yeah, whatever, it compliments engineering and is interesting to me.

>> No.7116361

>>7116244
Most mathematicians in academia do contribute though. It's not always about the one big flashy result but often about the hundreds of minor papers which slowly reshape and develop our notions of a field. Why are you so butthurt that a tiny fraction of the population studies mathematics.

>> No.7116363

>>7116361
That tiny fraction is much more than all the mathematicians needed in the world. It pains me to see the wasted potential, people waste their lives pursuing the mental masturbation of (most) modern mathematics.

>> No.7116369

>>7116363
Why don't you tell us specifically what you think is mental masturbation. I'm curious.

>> No.7116379

>>7116369

He cannot do math, and is frustrated. Do not feed him validation by engaging him.

>> No.7116380

>>7116369
Every subfield of mathematics that has more than 2 words. "Homological Etale sub riemannian algebras of lie of dimension 3-stable teichmuller" Just cut the crap.

>> No.7116391

>>7116380
Many of those fields do find application though. Furthermore I don't think they even need to in order to have merit. I think it's the duty of human civilization to push the boundaries of human knowledge whether or not that knowledge immediately benefits society. You talk of wasted potential when there are far more useless jobs than being a mathematician and far more people working at them.

>> No.7116392

>>7116380

Sorry math is so hard, bro.

>> No.7116527

>>7116032

>500 hundred dollars
>500 * $100
>$50,000 for math contest

Based country

>> No.7116551

>why mathematics?

Like most others will say; I find it interesting. I'm not entirely sure why, but I will say that I enjoy the rush of solving problems, and I like making an art of writing out math symbols on paper; also no labs.

>did you/do you participate or enjoy math olympiads/math olympiads kind of problems?

No, but I enjoy doing Putnam problems for fun.

>> No.7116683

>>7115975
I wasn't a math major, but half the course load I've done is pretty much pure math.
Now that I'm in graduate school in condensed matter, math is getting pushed aside as a passtime. I still enjoy it, but I don't have as much time to polish my skills as I did in the past.

>> No.7116708

>>7116016
>high effort

top pleb

>> No.7117295

>>7116016
I dont understand how math majors think of their jobs as low pay. The math majors from my university with high GPAs got their pick of jobs -- mostly things that had nothing to do with math. I myself applied to PhD programs as well as jobs. Got interviews from every bank I applied to, and got offers from 4 of them. Would have had 100k+ starting salary out of college. Went to PhD anyway because I like math and I'm fortunate enough that I don't have to really worry about money (I;m rather frugal and live comfortably on my graduate stipend).

>> No.7117298

>>7116276
>few would take the time to lie about doing math.
Do you know where you are

>> No.7117306

>>7116274
>needing to memorize solutions
I think you missed the point.
You probably wouldn't even make a decent applied mathematician.

>> No.7117398

>>7116238
>>7116258
It was for me, and I was nowhere the top.

>> No.7117417

>>7115975
>The epitome of Autism the Major
jk, I'm math/comp sci.
Interest: You feel like you're actually accomplishing something. Especially in proof based courses.

>> No.7117923

well not math major, math minor. I'm only doing it because i like it. that and it will almost guarantee me a job in teaching high school if i fuck up my career in engineering really bad.

so basically as a safety blanket. if i fuck over my finances i won't be homeless.

>> No.7118900

>>7115975
>Additional question: why mathematics?
I'm concerned with the rigorous pursuit of truth.
>did you/do you participate or enjoy math olympiads/math olympiads kind of problems?
No, those are for pop-math kids.

>> No.7118904

>>7116267
>implying economics isn't as hand wavy and full of bullshit as every other social science.

>> No.7118929

>>7115975
I'm in math because it's always interested me. I'm now more interested in physics (mainly because it's a really cool application of math).
I did math club senior year of high school, but sucked at it. I think the questions for those competitions, like for the Putnam, are more about knowing how to answer obscure shit than being good at math. But maybe that's what being good at math is? Whatever, either way I'm shit at those competitions.

>> No.7118974

>>7118900
Have you ever solved an Olympiads problem? you are full of shit, some exercises are much harder than your average exercise you will encounter in your math major.

>> No.7119049
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7119049

>>7116527
3/10 made me giggle

>> No.7119189

>>7116136
And some people like to paint, write poetry, write stories, woodworking, crafting etc. Most people do nothing special with their lives no matter what they study. It may as well be nothing special in something you enjoy having knowledge in.

>> No.7119195

>>7116156
My interests are simple and cheap. Don't try to understand people with such an extreme of different values that you. I don't understand you. Also, the job prospects I have seen for math majors have always been as good as any other major including engineering. At least for Canada anyway. Other countries are irrelevant to me.

>> No.7119210

>>7119195
the unemployment rate for any degree holder is less than 3%. NEETs like to lie, and autists who can't interview like to complain about the job situation.

>> No.7119216

>>7115975
>132 mathfags
Aren't you afraid of all that competition? being that there aren't many jobs as it is.

>> No.7119223

>>7115975
Your results will be heavily skewed because mostly math fags will be interested in your thread
>So, I've been noticing that there are a lot of mathematic majors here.
>>Hmm, that's me, let's keep reading
>Here is the poll:
>>OK I'll click

And to answer your questions. I began studying it for the intellectual challenge and for the oppertunity to understand science more thoroughly and hence 'life, the uniberse, and everything mang'. I'm continuing it because I really enjoy the activity.

>> No.7119315

>>7119210
>unemployment rate
well does that include people working in shit jobs that have nothing to do with their degree?

>> No.7119369

>>7118974
That's one of the big pitfalls of mathematics. You get these students who are good at finding tricks and being really fast at computations on old standard problems so they go into pure mathematics thinking it's a good indicator of success. Then halfway into the major they realize that to actually do work in mathematics you instead actually have to read a shitload of stuff and find new interesting concepts and questions to work on. Even when handed these questions on a silver platter it becomes immediately obvious that none of those cookie cutter tricks will be applicable to the problem (if they were then someone else would've worked it out by then).

It's one thing to practice mathematics and another thing altogether to create mathematics.

>> No.7119471

>>7119369
don't feel such contempt
highschool math (engineering math) is like solving sudoku, it is fun, sometimes questions have a meaning
i though i liked math in highschool, but nothing i liked about math is considered "real math"

>> No.7120327

>>7119471
Not the guy you responded to but it's interesting because I'm the exact opposite. I found highschool math dull. In fact, I never really enjoyed math until first year uni when I started looking into math theorems/proving shit and actual mathematical theories beyond problem solving. That's the kind of shit I love. Don't get me wrong though, I do like solving math problems, it's just, not what I like math for.

>> No.7120342

>>7119315
The state of the economy is a big factor as well as the abilities of the individual. Some people have no skills at all. Some people only perform in school and then they are the people with actual talent who can learn their shit and know how to land a job and be productive.

>> No.7120513

>>7119369
That's not true. First of all those "tricks" are pretty general for mathematics as a whole, observing patterns, wishful thinking, symmetry, creative thought in general are integral to mathematics. Is there specific knowledge that will let you solve a problem more efficiently? there's some, but it's very basic stuff. In olympiads you have to use your creative, there are cookie cutter problems but the BEST problems are far from that. Require an incredible amount of ingenuity.

>> No.7120803

>>7116258

>i really like being absolutely done with my shit once engineering shift ends

Sounds like you just became an engineer to make some easy money. Sad you don't have a passion in your work.

>> No.7120812

>>7120803
theres a difference between being passionate about your job and being a workaholic. you got to turn it off at some point, especially if you have a family.

>> No.7120813

>>7116303
Do you happen to work while being filmed? And perhaps without pants?

>> No.7120817

>>7115975
>did you/do you participate or enjoy math olympiads/math olympiads kind of problems?
Ya, when I was in high school. I was good at it too, competing in a few multinational competition for my country, most notably the International Mathematical Olympiad.

I think that's what got me into this.

>> No.7120822

>>7116380
You're right, 'tensor analysis on Riemannian manifolds' never got us anywhere.

/s

>> No.7120837

>>7120803
invalid
i do not have passion for any "job"
i wouldn't have chosen physics if it paid well, or math or anything else
i felt as though doing engineering work would make me the least miserable

the length people go for the love of servitude...

>> No.7120848

I'm studying math and physics. I enjoy learning about the concepts which actually govern our universe. The 'why' and 'how' behind the engineer's device.

Unfortunately, the exposure to math of so many on this board is limited to that required by engineering disciplines - a semester of linear algebra, differential equations, and multivariate calculus.

Too few have seen actual math - real and complex analysis, topology, differential geometry, and the likes. To them, these fields of 'pure math' are useless and without any application. They're wrong, of course, as these fields of math find their way into applicable physics and engineering CONSTANTLY, but whatever. Remember, even the most applied math of today had no applications when they were first discovered and being put to use.

To most, math is just a logical method of symbol manipulation, that they've been taught since childhood is just a 'necessary evil'.

It's sad

>> No.7120890

>>7120848
>actual math - real and complex analysis, topology, differential geometry, and the likes
real and complex analysis are very different things as far as i know
real analysis is symbol jerking and proof pooping, while complex analysis deals with, well, useful things for an engineer
as an electrical engineer, i have also studied differential geometry (useful for electromagnetism)

>The 'why' and 'how' behind the engineer's device
science never deals with "why"s, only "how"s

>> No.7120915

>>7120890
>real analysis is symbol jerking and proof pooping
>unironically being an engineer
>any year
>any place

why is it that all engineers and all computer scientists are retarded?
like the moron I quoted, there doesn't seem to be an engineer alive who could walk and talk at the same time

>> No.7120928

>>7120915
why is it so difficult for mathematicians to understand that most people do not enjoy proofs

>> No.7121444

>>7120837
Not the same guy but I just wanted to point out that I like your point. I notice that people get so caught up in their ways that they fail to accept the fact other people have entirely different modes of coping with life. He and actually myself have completely missed the fact that maybe you'd have no passion for any job. Your values are elsewhere.

>> No.7121453

>>7120928
That really didn't seem to be the problem. He's having an issue about the nature of two different courses. Either way, there're way too many assumptions being made for me care.

I think it might be a thing of passion. Mathematicians like proofs because that is what mathematicians work with. It's exactly similar to an aerospace engineer being in love with planes because that is what he builds and works with. With that being said, I would say us math people understand other people don't like math. That's why we try so hard to glorify it. We gotta share the beauty we see!