Re: JSH: Big collapse on surrogate factoring

From: David C. Ullrich (ullrich_at_math.okstate.edu)
Date: 03/10/05 

Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 08:39:27 -0600

On 10 Mar 2005 03:58:55 -0800, jstevh@msn.com wrote:

>As far as I'm concerned I've just had a massive collapse in terms of
>getting surrogate factoring working, with a recent result that
>indicates you kind of need to know the factors of M ahead of time to
>guarantee a factorization.
>
>Yuck.
>
>But it happens.
>
>Part of the fun of problem solving is knowing that at the end of the
>process you may just fail.
>
>Ok, yeah, who am I kidding?
>
>Total failure is awful. It hurts in the gut, and you feel like just
>crawling into a hole...for a while.

You could avoid this awful feeling by taking a more rational
approach to things. That would include details like testing
solutions more carefully _before_ deciding/announcing that they
were correct, also paying more attention when people explained
why things didn't work.

>And then the feeling goes away.
>
>I learned that years ago when I had FLT "Proofs" that I'd championed
>for months, only to finally accept that the arguments were flawed and
>what I had were not proofs.
>
>I felt terrible. I felt awful. I berated myself for daring to presume
>to have solved the great problem.
>
>And then the bad feelings went away and I felt fine.
>
>In life we don't get to solve all the problems in front of us. If
>anybody did, then they wouldn't die, or their family members wouldn't
>die, or even their favorite dog wouldn't die.
>
>But we all die.
>
>I'll try my best while I'm here to solve a few problems before I keel
>over, and along the way I'm sure I'll have more spectacular failures,
>as though I already have some behind me, there's no reason given my
>pattern to think there aren't more ahead.
>
>Like I feel kind of bad now about surrogate factoring, but you know?
>
>I'm already feeling a little better...
>
>
>James Harris

************************

David C. Ullrich

Relevant Pages

  • JSH: Big collapse on surrogate factoring
    ... Total failure is awful. ... die, or even their favorite dog wouldn't die. ... Like I feel kind of bad now about surrogate factoring, ... I'm already feeling a little better... ...
    (sci.math)
  • Re: JSH: Big collapse on surrogate factoring
    ... > die, or even their favorite dog wouldn't die. ... > Like I feel kind of bad now about surrogate factoring, ... > I'm already feeling a little better... ... > James Harris ...
    (sci.math)
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