Re:I Vibed a Proof of Conway's Conjecture
by danabramov on Friday September 18, 2026 @09:44PM
(#49762512)
OK this is probably not quite what you meant but I'll shoot: I highly recommend Terence Tao's Analysis textbook (which now also has a Lean counterpart on GitHub). You can skip Chapter 1 (it sets up the motivation but I couldn't answer most questions, which is part of the point). From Chapter 2, it builds up in a somewhat "dry" but actually very accessible and methodical way. It is "mathematical" but it is "for people who don't know mathematics" in the sense that it forces you to build the entire mathematics from scratch, including proving things like `a + b = b + a` as exercises. This is actually how I got into proofs in the first place, with later picking up Lean by doing Natural Number Game.
Re:I Vibed a Proof of Conway's Conjecture
by GPerson on Saturday September 19, 2026 @12:54AM
(#49763426)
Since you respect Terence Tao, but not the general population of mathematicians, maybe you’ll read his blog posts which describe the ways your actions are detrimental to human striving.
Re:I Vibed a Proof of Conway's Conjecture
by danabramov on Saturday September 19, 2026 @06:31AM
(#49765239)
I’ve replied to this here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49762433
Re:I Vibed a Proof of Conway's Conjecture
by GPerson on Saturday September 19, 2026 @11:00AM
(#49767103)
You did not.
Re:I Vibed a Proof of Conway's Conjecture
by SturgeonsLaw on Saturday September 19, 2026 @08:05AM
(#49765863)
Thanks, I'll have a read
I love this approachable prose.
If anyone is aware of any other "mathematics for people who don't know mathematics" resources I'd greatly appreciate any links.