

Is Math a Young Man's Game? No - hhm
http://www.slate.com/id/2082960/

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Prrometheus
>What's changed? For one thing, there's simply much more mathematics to learn
than there was 100 years ago.

Also, our early education is excruciatingly slow. It would be interesting to
follow the children who are allowed to skip through the system at their own
pace and see if their period of mathematical creativity still begins later
than before.

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maxklein
Early education is slow for a tiny minority of people. You can't change the
system to suit the _most priviledged_. That's a fast track towards creating a
two-tier society.

If a child is so clever, he can read books himself and he can skip grades. But
if a child is lagging behind, he requires help from others.

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Prrometheus
Why are colleges able to cater to people of all abilities whereas our early
education can not?

It is a fallacy to think that we must have one system for everybody.

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echair
Because colleges select applicants by aptitude, and elementary schools by
proximity.

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Prrometheus
What accounts for the difference here? Why can't K-12 institutions select by
aptitude?

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echair
Because you can't pack enough different institutions within a sufficiently
small radius.

Parents want 5 year olds to live at home. They're ok with 18 year olds not.

~~~
Prrometheus
Most people live within range of a few different schools. Why are they all the
same?

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sireat
Interesting article, but it does not prove the assertion in the title.

Grigori Perelman was already exceptional in his teens.

If one does not get the basics(meaning calculus, linear, discrete math) down
pat by 20, IMHO, one doesn't have much of a chance at serious math discoveries
by later age.

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adamc
There are athletes who are great into their late 30s too, but it's still a
young man's game. The article doesn't support the title.

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13ren
_It is by logic we prove, it is by intuition that we invent. — Henri Poincare_

[to the tiny minority of fellow 40+ HWers] Intuition comes from being open to
it, which comes from doing new things. I'm sure that as we get older, there is
some decrease in mental flexibility and energy - but a big part of it is a
choice to be less daring, less open.

By analogy: it seems inevitable that old age means loss of bone density. But a
study gave some menopausal women weight training - yielding dramatic (50%)
increase in bone density. Use it or lose it.

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mhartl
This is wonderfully well-written.

