[Edu-sig] Re: Edu-sig digest, Vol 1 #216 - 1 msg

[Morris, Steve]

 > > Whatever happened to kicking back and appreciating the
 > > masters, getting a sense of what high quality mathematics
 > > is like without actually trying to be a master yourself?
 > > That's how we do it most music and art and literature.
 > > For some reason, math is supposed to be different.  Why

There is a little difference. Music can be good or bad. Bad music is still
music. Math is right or wrong. Wrong math is not math, it is a mistake.
While math can be beautiful that isn't its purpose. The purpose of math
isn't personal appreciation. The purpose of math is to get the answer to a
specific kind of question. If you get the wrong answer you are usually worse
off than no answer.

That being said there is significant value in understanding what can be done
with math even if you don't learn how to do it. Understanding someone elses
proof is still valuable even if you couldn't have derived it yourself.
Understanding the reach of math lets you know when to ask for a master.