JSH: Tag along society

I doubt many of you with much mathematical training get lost on how you
can have non-trivial factors in rationals, and on why it doesn't make
sense mathematically to say that there are more trivial than
non-trivial factors in the set of rationals for any particular
composite.

But you will tag along with what you see as the direction the group is
going as I've seen over the years that math society is a conformist
society.

Like that story I keep mentioning of the math grad student from Cornell
who re-worked the simplified argument that forms the heart of a key
paper now at the Annals of Mathematics.

He offered to help me, possibly trusting in the Usenet crew here who
argue with me all the time and dramatically claim I'm wrong, so I sent
him a little math.

It took him months to go over it, as he dragged his feet, in my
opinion, but finally he'd covered it and seen that there weren't any
errors, so he made up something and ran off.

But what if? What if he'd jumped at the chance to be a revolutionary
in the field?

It might be over now and he could be set on the path to becoming one of
the greatest mathematicians of his time versus being a story I tell to
emphasize to you that you are part of a rigidly conformist group.

So why wouldn't he seize such an opportunity?

My take on it is that math students are taught to trust, and they are
taught that they build on the greats who came *before* them, who are
believed absolutely.

They follow their professors. They follow their textbooks. They
follow.

They do not lead.

They are even taught who can make a major mathematical discovery. No
fantasy there, no "Good Will Hunting" they're taught, as, you know,
math professors teach that math professors make the major mathematical
discoveries, right?

So it's like, you look at the person, and forget history.

People like me are high-strung, can be loud, or quiet, but often are
loud, challenging, and willing to push other people on what they know,
or think they know.

I fit the profile of a major discoverer.

I know I can make major discoveries, and I don't care what rules other
people toss up about who can or cannot or that many of you believe that
only established mathematicians who have gone through a particular
training can make.

You go through mind control training.

The way you're taught mathematics allows you to be easily controlled by
your society, so that even mathematical proof itself is not enough to
move many of you, as seen by that math grad student, still a grad
student, at Cornell.

Even now that mind control will tell you that there's no way this will
go the way it must go, as society will probably finally figure out some
of what's going on, and ostracize many in your society.

The teaching techniques that many of you go through will be abolished,
and math students will be pushed to be more creative, more open to new
ideas, and less trusting that there is an absolute canon of mathematics
that is absolutely perfect, never to be challenged.

But many of you will wait, holding on, believing when there is no
reason to believe it that I'm not one of the biggest figues to emerge
in mathematics in its history, but instead am just some nut mouthing
off on Usenet.

And for that you will find that you will probably end up out of
mathematics because it will no longer be the field for which you were
trained.

You were trained to follow.

I say, mathematicians are to be leaders.


James Harris

.

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