The title of this post may not be words you are used to seeing together. Sure, you might think that mathematics is powerful, but does anyone actually do mathematics just because they enjoy it? If you ask someone other than a mathematician, you might expect the answer to be “no”. If you ask someone if they enjoy mathematics, there tend to be two possible answers that are given. The least common answer is, “Yes, I’m…

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It’s tempting to imagine that if you see something, everyone else does too. After all, in our interconnected world, we tend to be reminded every day just how good other people are. This makes it easy to imagine that any supposed “insight” you may have has already been thought of before. Without the right mindset, this can create a situation in which you do almost no creative work, since you’re worried about wasting time on…

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Staying there isn’t easy. It’s not that the back of the treadmill is any different from the front. It’s the same spinning belt, going the same speed as the front. And yet, there’s something else about the back of the treadmill. The difference is psychological, because you know that you’re almost out of room. One wrong or slow step, and you will come crashing down. Suffice to say, the end of the treadmill is not…

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I think a lot about the process of learning, both in my experience and when I am teaching others. I find learning to be a fascinating topic, because it’s what lets us improve and become better at a variety of tasks, skills, and subjects. I’m also interested in the difficulties that are present when learning. In particular, are there things we should do or avoid while trying to learn? One of the most frustrating things…

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