Re:To Live Your Best Life, Do Mathematics
by jerf on Thursday February 02, 2017 @04:26PM
(#13554803)
There isn't a world where you can just go do sports and exercise as long as you want, regardless of how well you do it. Eventually you're going to have to eat something.
I'm speaking in a context where we're talking about academic life and academic life being harder than it needs to be. I think that's the only way to read this context, because nobody is making self-study "harder than it needs to be", so reading this thread as being about "life in general" doesn't make any sense to me.
Re:To Live Your Best Life, Do Mathematics
by FabHK on Thursday February 02, 2017 @04:38PM
(#13554928)
When you have a decent work-life balance, you can certainly engage in sport and exercise, even if it is not jour job.
I think the article is precisely not about professional mathematicians in academia. To quote: "If mathematics is a medium for human flourishing, it stands to reason that everyone should have a chance to participate in it." (my emphasis).
I solve Project Euler problems for fun. The article presents an argument that more people should do something similar, and more mathematicians and maths teachers should support it.
"There is really no point in doing any exercise unless you're aiming for Olympics level performance. Yes, it's somewhat harsh and intimidating. But there is no world where whoever just wants to can just go do sports and exercise what they want as long as they want, regardless of how well they do it."
I think that was the point of the article - doing maths as a way of life (like exercise), not just for your career with the aspiration of being the best.