Every now and then I try to delve into the frightening world of math. Then I see something like this, and start to feel very tired.
Then I think, “My hair is already falling out. Do I need something like this to accelerate the process?”
Then I think, “My hair is already falling out. Do I need something like this to accelerate the process?”
> Every now and then I try to delve into the frightening world of math.
To want to understand is to be human. :)
Going into undergrad I was briefly discouraged from going into mathematics because this was the impression I got. They're interesting to think about, but I didn't want my future to be firmly situated in inapplicable theory.
I say this knowing there is plenty of work to be done in the applied mathematics, especially in trying to simplifying the understanding of complex problems. I'd like to see more of the glorification of moderately hard problems which take more time to explain but are well within the grasp of people who start working on it, than easy to explain problems which will likely never be in the grasp of anyone.
“Tinkering” with mathematical concepts is fundamentally different from the kind of tinkering I can do, but looking from the outside in.. I’ll probably pick up a calculus textbook one day :)
But there’s no way at all that “most mathematicians find the Riemann Hypothesis frightening” as you suggest.
So with respect to the original comment I was replying to, there are other areas of mathematics that one can study that are well understood and not so opaque as the Riemann hypothesis.