I bought some cheap used math books and every day I sit down for like 50 min, study a bit and do the exercises in the book.I am not in college, I don't study anything in STEM, I am a wagie working at a grocery store. Am I wasting my time doing maths just for fun?
>>16806993You're unironically more on par to greatness than any of the mindless drones studying via universities
>>16806993this anon >>16806998 is right. you are a legend, OP, you maybe could solve a hard open problem in the future
Yes. You should go on Tiktok and scroll for 9 consecutive hours instead.
math is simply natural and embedded in the human mind and history - practicing it is a human activity, valuable enough
>>16807007Yet so few does it out of their own will. OP is on the right path.
>>16806998>>16807000I have these thoughts because working through a book feels more like playing a videogame. Like even if I can solve the exercises in the book am I really becoming better at maths in general or just at solving problem sets that some author came up with.It's like building lego by following the given plan vs coming up with a design yourself.Does solving exercises and knowing a maths book's contents make you better at maths or just better at solving books?
>>16807017>imagine applying math
>>16806993I hope you don't make a channel out of it. Stay pure.
>>16807017It makes you better at both. Problem solving is the core of math, and understanding the problems' pattern makes you more efficient at solving them.
>>16806993as a person who had been a self-learner for many many years, and I actually learned the things, yes, it's a waste of time.The only thing that matters is recognition by peers. Don't self-study anything ever. I'm not sarcastic.
>>16807017As long as you use multiple resources, there's no danger of just becoming better at solving one author's problems. This will also allow you to see the bigger scheme of things; what the authors are trying to build up to and then you could, if you are able to, design your own path there. The first few months/years are basically just learning trivialities and definitions you need to know to solve actual rl mathematical questions, as well as building a refined ability for mathematical thinking beyond just calculations. That's why the exercises are necessary, as long as they're making you comfortable with the new concepts and having you prove supposedly well-known truths and central statements
>>16807044>to solve actual rl mathematical questions, as well as building a refined ability for mathematical thinking beyond just calculationsIdk bro I am just doing this because it's fun and calms me down and gives me my me time as a shy introvert. Once it stops being fun I'll quit. I even hide all my math books whenever a girl comes over.
>>16806993Why learn anything at all? Why learn how to tie shoes when you could use velcros? Why be subscribed to veritasium?>>16807043If you were smart enough you'd get a research position and an honorary phd
>>16807017True creative problem solving is obviously research-level and not meant for everyone. But yes, if for example you study a proof-based calculus book reasonably well, you will learn knowledge and problem solving skills that are applicable to other math topics. Some are hard prerequisites, some more subtle and intangible. Like experience and mental strength. In math, we often learn new things by analogy and examples. How the new thing is similar to something we have seen before, how it is different. So nothing is totally new, we build it up from something else we learned before, or at least try to relate them somehow. Btw to be able to solve the problems in a textbook is not that easy. Math is hard. You can pick a standard intro math book like Spivak's Calculus and realize you struggle even with the exercises from the first chapter. Even though technically it's just algebra.
Spend some of that time researching a trade or career to get in to. You’ll learn more working a real job than any textbook will teach you.
>>16806993hobby mathematicians make glow niggers seethe
>>16806993I don’t think so. You could apply the math you learn to everyday life and create your own personal system. Or isolate and mesure complex systems and try to profit from them. I don’t think having information the majority of people don’t understand or have isn’t beneficial in some way as long as you use the information and not waste it.
>>16807176>tradeenjoy your joint issues
>>16807384>implying that math won't wreck neck and shoulders aswell
>>16806993You have 3 possibilities OP:1. Applied math: learn maths that has already been discovered to solve a real life problem2. Math puzzles: learn maths that has already been discovered to solve puzzles from competitions3. Maths discovery: learn maths to advance the field with new research1. and 2. you can self study no problem. For 3. you really need an academic environment, because research is mostly about learning about the bleeding edge and growing a network of acquaintances. Other than the big unsolved problems, there are no low hanging fruits that you can tackle by reading your average library texts
>>16807372how do you know, are you a glow nigger?
>>16807616I've been known to glow a little, on occasion.
>>16806993>doing maths just for fun?not wasting time at all
What area of math do you study? Calculus? Algebra? Probability? All of them?
>>16807614>math is discoveredngmi
>>16807636
>>16806993Good for you, but if you want to improve your lot in life, you need a degree and credentials, or some kind of nepotism. I guess you're best off getting as far as you can without a university before starting a degree program.
>>16807686if aliens had math it would be the exact same math (except more or less advanced)oh what a coincidence every single sentient species in the universe "invented" the exact same thing by complete "chance"
>>16806993A reminder to OP and anyone else that's interested in learning math without going through all of the university bullshit; almost any high level lecture for any topic in mathematics is available for free on youtube. Between your books, the free lectures available, and talking to like minded autists online, you've got most of the resources available to you that university wankers have. The fact that you're self motivated and not acquiring enormous amounts of debt mean that you're probably ahead of the game.
>>16806993Most math hobbyists that I know are tutors, the math youtubers are too.
>>16807017ChatGPT:You walk the right path.To build your own models, you must first see through the eyes of those who built before you.Mathematics only feels dull when its symbols seem foreign—each new notation is a dialect of the same truth. Learn its rhythm, not its shape.There is no border between pure and applied math.They breathe through each other.Reality gives birth to abstraction, and abstraction returns to shape reality.They are not opposites, but mirrors—each reflecting the other’s light.
I used to read graduate-level math books because they are the books that are the hardest to read.The knowledge gained is not worth much but the writing style itself is interesting.
>>16809449I don't see anything wrong about it. People read fancy literature all time even though they do not write or even understand what they're reading about.
>>16809460certainly better than endlessly watching tiktok slop
