

Does one have to be a genius to do maths? - hhm
http://terrytao.wordpress.com/career-advice/does-one-have-to-be-a-genius-to-do-maths/

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noonespecial
In all seriousness, math is just a tool. Its a powerful, complicated tool, no
doubt, but even novices can learn to use it effectively.

Think of it as a magic chisel. If all you need it for is to pry a lid off of
something, you can learn to do that fairly quickly. Those who choose to put in
the time to learn to use it effectively can create beautiful sculptures.

There has been some discussion here before about "genius" and it has been
(correctly IMHO) judged to be overrated in comparison to diligence. Decide if
you need math to solve the kinds of problems you wish to solve. If so, put in
the diligence to learn the math you need. It will serve you well, genius or
not.

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hhm
This article doesn't talk about that. Terry Tao is debunking the myth that
only genius people can do interesting discoverings in mathematics; that is,
that you have to be Poincare, or Euler, or Gauss, or Erdos to do interesting
mathematics.

You can also extrapolate it to general science (remember Einstein?),
technology, business, and so on...

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joeguilmette
no you just have to be good at math.

zinnnggg!

