JSH: Math society against amateurs

jstevh_at_msn.com
Date: 01/18/05 

Date: 18 Jan 2005 04:23:00 -0800

My latest research is on factoring integers.

But if you do much of an Internet search you will be told that I am a
math crank claiming to have proven Fermat's Last Theorem.

Also, consider that as of now I have a paper, and a really basic Java
program implementing my factoring research showing that it DOES factor,
though at this point my program doesn't factor everything, and I don't
know exactly why.

Basic research is needed.

Now what do you think the reaction of math society will be?

My guess is, quiet. While you'll see a few people on sci.math who will
berate my research or me, and act like it's all just crap.

And, oh yeah, the webpages will just keep saying I'm a math crank who
claims to have proven Fermat's Last Theorem!!!

Math society cheats. Some of you may believe that it's just me. You
may rationalize that mathematicians don't like me because of nasty
things I've said about them and their society, like in this post, so
they ignore me for that reason and it's my fault.

But I've checked. Most mathematicians haven't even heard of me. Or
couldn't care less about what I say on Usenet. They just don't keep up
with sci.math, as it's not like they think much of Usenet or this
newsgroup.

They ignore my research when I send it to them, just the same. I'll
get a polite reply, or maybe an offer of help, and then quiet.

That's easy to explain with ideas that have no practical value, but
here we're talking about factoring.

Supposedly, mathematicians care about factoring, and you should if you
have any sense as THEY claim it's such a hard problem to factor large
numbers that the world's security can be built on it, but THEY also
claim to value pure and basic research, but if you'll look around you
can't find a single amateur mathematician being noted.

The professional mathematicians claim that's because there are none
worth noting.

They claim that all the mathematics reachable by an amateur has been
found and that only the professionals can now make major results.

It's very convenient for them, now isn't it?

You believe in them, so if professional mathematicians ignore a result,
and some guy whining about it is labeled a "crank", "kook" or
"crackpot" you just chuckle to yourself about the nut, if anything, and
go on your way, confident in your faith in the real geniuses...the
professional mathematicians.

But I have an idea I call surrogate factoring which you won't find in a
textbook. It mostly uses basic algebra, and I have a program that at
least it does at times work:

See http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sufactor/

Notice that I make claims with proof: a math paper outlining a theory,
and a program with a quick implementation of it to check that theory.

If you are naive you will still believe that mathematicians would
welcome an amateur with interesting discoveries, but notice what
happens here.

Discoveries from amateurs threaten the professionals, so they ignore
them, no matter what they may be, unless they can downplay them as
hardly worth mentioning.

Professional mathematicians protect their long and arduous system for
getting a math Ph.D, by asserting that only people who go through it
can make math discoveries of note, and then they simply squash any
results that disprove their assertion, while continuing to take public
funds.

It's about the money. Professional mathematicians for the most part
LIVE off public funds, while quite a few do work at private companies,
but they are usually there primarly because of their degrees.

Amateurs able to make major discoveries, add to the body of mathematics
at a basic level, without those degrees, are a threat, and their
research is ignored.

Time will tell here with this research as factoring IS a major area.

But I want you to see how math society behaves, as my guess is that
they will be dragged kicking and screaming--at the end as for now they
are doing their passive-aggressive stay quiet routine--into
acknowledging ANY math research by a modern amateur mathematician,
including mine.

Leaving me stuck with those who think it fun to kick at me in posts or
on webpages, which will claim that I'm pestering the sci.math newsgroup
about, you gueesed it, Fermat's Last Theorem.

These people aren't even trying, but you people BELIEVE in
mathematicians.

You are true believers so they keep getting away with it.
And we all pay the price.

James Harris

Relevant Pages

  • Re: JSH: Your funeral
    ... at a factoring algorithm (or a short proof of FLT, ... article is mostly made of examples) is of mathematicians ... Just math. ... by finding some convincing math and telling us all about it ...
    (sci.math)
  • Re: Math society, weird behavior
    ... You say you have *solved* the factoring problem ... > Yes I do get quite happy about my discoveries and that mixed with my ... > growing disdain for math society means that I probably sound really ... > Professional mathematicians push the idea that no amateur ...
    (sci.crypt)
  • Re: A hyperbolic solution
    ... so you have the hyperbloid, ... That may sound like nothing you've ever heard of for factoring ... They like to make things personal on Usenet in the math and sciences ... So--mainstream mathematicians care about the source and you know and I ...
    (sci.crypt)
  • Re: Math society against amateurs
    ... > math crank claiming to have proven Fermat's Last Theorem. ... Most mathematicians haven't even heard of me. ... > can't find a single amateur mathematician being noted. ... > You believe in them, so if professional mathematicians ignore a result, ...
    (sci.math)
  • Re: JSH: Contradictory behavior, issue of math fraud
    ... In its current version surrogate factoring is too slow to be ... TWICE AS SLOW AS RANDOM GUESSING. ... If practicality is all that matters then acknowledge that "pure math" ... But mathematicians have said it's not important, ...
    (sci.math)