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A comment on No Country for Mediocre Mathematicians.

Re:No Country for Mediocre Mathematicians by ventana on Saturday August 29, 2026 @10:52PM (#49495262)
It's interesting that this piece stands well enough if you replace mathematics with probably any other intellectual profession, including software development or pretty much anything else.

  And, I lie to anyone who asks me why I’m a mathematician.
  It is much easier to claim “I love learning the laws of life,”
  while literally handwaving, than it is for me to flashback to
  the twenty or so pivotal moments that lead to me walking out
  of Gainesville with a PhD in Arithmetic Geometry.
Since “normal” people mostly don't understand what the software development job is about, handwaving in response to regular questions: “what do you do at work?”, “what do you like about your job?” – is pretty normal. I think that most of us have some prepared answers ready to use.

  Mathematics is the thing you try to understand, don’t,
  get frustrated about, and then do.
Just like the software development. I truly believe that the only people who can survive a software job are those who can tolerate the constant feeling of frustration caused by things not working or breaking for random reasons, and persevere in this environment to do the things you need to do.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:No Country for Mediocre Mathematicians by marcosdumay on Sunday August 30, 2026 @12:18AM (#49495654)
> “what do you like about your job?”

For software development, normal people will just assume it's money and probably not even ask...

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:No Country for Mediocre Mathematicians by pwdisswordfishq on Sunday August 30, 2026 @12:50AM (#49495801)
They would not even be wrong.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:No Country for Mediocre Mathematicians by binary0010 on Monday August 31, 2026 @01:55PM (#49512658)
Yeah seems like most programmers just do it for the money. I imagine only like 20% of us do it just because we enjoy it.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:No Country for Mediocre Mathematicians by axus on Monday August 31, 2026 @02:06PM (#49512779)
I feel like the number is higher for software work where I'm at, and lower for every other profession. Scary when you think that your doctor is in it for the money
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:No Country for Mediocre Mathematicians by SoftTalker on Monday August 31, 2026 @02:12PM (#49512864)
You can be a software developer without any formal training and without any licensure. Not so for an MD.

It's going to attract more people who have the mentality of artists or musicians, i.e. people who do it for the love of the craft and as a creative outlet.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:No Country for Mediocre Mathematicians by ventana on Monday August 31, 2026 @02:52PM (#49513428)
> You can be a software developer without ... any licensure.

Don't jinx it. We are extremely lucky in this regard, and it actually looks like a rare exception.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:No Country for Mediocre Mathematicians by inanutshellus on Monday August 31, 2026 @02:31PM (#49513125)
hopefully the MD that passes all the tests is still worth his salt even if he only chose the profession for the paycheck.

but as one of the nearby professors is famous for saying: "C students gotta go somewhere."

( and since this is HN - he didn't mean the programming language :D )

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:No Country for Mediocre Mathematicians by nkrisc on Monday August 31, 2026 @03:06PM (#49513626)
There are plenty of easier ways to make money than becoming a doctor.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:No Country for Mediocre Mathematicians by Marsymars on Monday August 31, 2026 @07:00PM (#49515870)
They tend to be higher risk though. If you've got the capacity for memorizing all the stuff you need to become a doctor, there's not much risk involved in attaining your doctor salary.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:No Country for Mediocre Mathematicians by forshaper on Monday August 31, 2026 @04:28PM (#49514498)
idk, a lot of American doctors I've met seemed to be in it because they like school and stability. Though perhaps a similar scary.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:No Country for Mediocre Mathematicians by geodel on Monday August 31, 2026 @02:04PM (#49512761)
I'd just say there are scores of people who like programing. But that's about it.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:No Country for Mediocre Mathematicians by BoredomIsFun on Monday August 31, 2026 @03:05PM (#49513615)
True. I like math and CS theory, but despise coding (pays well though). AI is finally taking over this soul-sucking occupation and all I can say - good riddance.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:No Country for Mediocre Mathematicians by binary0010 on Monday August 31, 2026 @03:16PM (#49513751)
It's an awesome profession for those of us who love it.

Tbf coding with ai is still super fun though. I am hoping that engs who hate it like you will finally get kicked out as productivity increases from ai and it will finally go back to just us nerds.

It's kinda soul-sucking being around all you guys that just hate this work, please get out and go do farming or something lol.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:No Country for Mediocre Mathematicians by BoredomIsFun on Monday August 31, 2026 @03:26PM (#49513870)
> It's an awesome profession for those of us who love it.

Yes, by definition of "love" and "awesome".

> Tbf coding with ai is still super fun though.

Agree, it could be entertaining.

> I am hoping that engs who hate it like you will finally get kicked out

Ain't gonna happen, as I am pretty good at it.

> please get out and go do farming or something lol.

I thought about, but it is not well paid. I make money mostly from investments though, still do occasional coding stuff - for money.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:No Country for Mediocre Mathematicians by doctorpangloss on Monday August 31, 2026 @02:44PM (#49513301)
For mathematicians in the US, it's because their parents like money.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:No Country for Mediocre Mathematicians by paulpauper on Monday August 31, 2026 @01:56PM (#49512673)
A PhD in Arithmetic Geometry and a publication in a top tier journal is hardly mediocre in and of itself, as far the author is concerned. The equivalent for a software engineer is probably a leading AI engineer, with a strong publication count. I think a lot of people who are not mediocre are unaware of what mediocrity actually is. Yeah if you're only in the top .1% and comparing yourself to the literal best in the world, you will feel mediocre in that sense . A mid mathematician maybe publication in worse journals, teaching community college.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:No Country for Mediocre Mathematicians by bananaflag on Monday August 31, 2026 @02:19PM (#49512949)
> A PhD in Arithmetic Geometry and a publication in a top tier journal is hardly mediocre in and of itself, as far the author is concerned.

It kinda is (sadly) because unlike engineering there aren't thousands of postdoc jobs in arithmetic geometry.

And ofc in a year because of AI all math PhDs will be mediocre by definition.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:No Country for Mediocre Mathematicians by p1esk on Monday August 31, 2026 @04:26PM (#49514473)
As a professional mathematician, if you’re not advancing your subfield of research consistently you are mediocre.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:No Country for Mediocre Mathematicians by fn-mote on Monday August 31, 2026 @07:58PM (#49516295)
If you say so.

Saying most tenured faculty at research 1 institutions are mediocre seems to be stretching the definition, though.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:No Country for Mediocre Mathematicians by p1esk on Monday August 31, 2026 @09:52PM (#49517033)
Who’s saying that?
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:No Country for Mediocre Mathematicians by kcexn on Monday August 31, 2026 @06:29PM (#49515639)
It's still impressive, but it's not enough.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:No Country for Mediocre Mathematicians by bananaflag on Monday August 31, 2026 @02:14PM (#49512892)
> And, I lie to anyone who asks me why I’m a mathematician.

I prefer to say "I liked a girl" (because it's the truth)

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:No Country for Mediocre Mathematicians by sheafification on Monday August 31, 2026 @02:53PM (#49513455)
My go-to is “It’s the only thing I was good at in school, I was hopeless at everything else,” which is only a slight exaggeration.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:No Country for Mediocre Mathematicians by layer8 on Tuesday September 01, 2026 @05:07PM (#49528207)
> constant feeling of frustration caused by things not working or breaking for random reasons

That’s not a feature of software development, but a feature of working higher up in the stack and/or interfacing with lower-quality external systems. I am lucky to have been working on relatively self-contained systems for most of my career, where that experience hasn’t been a constant.

[ Parent | on HN ]