Ask HN: 23, Too late to study Mathematics? - casper345
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FroshKiller
Yes, you've missed the boat. You have the neuroplasticity of a bucket of dried
joint compound. There is no point in studying anything at all, let alone
mathematics. You are totally incapable of acquiring and synthesizing new
information. To even try would be an affront to God. Whatever subjects you
have learned by your advanced age are the only ones you can hope to advance
in, contribute to, and profit from forevermore.

~~~
corporateguy6
I know this is a joke, but there’s truth in it. If he aspires to hit a high
level of mathematical altitude, the time for that has likely sailed.

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ColinWright
For what it's worth, I don't think it's too late. Your biggest challenge will
be to take it seriously, put in the time, and to be resilient in the face of
the difficulties.

But I have a friend who is in his late 40s who is coming up to speed in Number
Theory, and doing well. But he is serious, and is putting in the time.

With age comes maturity, that can help, but also a more set way of thinking,
which doesn't. Also, it depends on what kind of mathematics you want to learn
...

... and why.

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cottonseed
23? Ha! No. I went back to school at 34 and got my PhD in pure math from
Princeton when I was 40.

~~~
psyklic
Raymond Smullyan also got his mathematics PhD from Princeton at 40.

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znpy
Nah. Mathematics is kinda like "brain gymnastics": you'll have a hard time
starting but it'll become easier as you go through it.

My advice is to find a place/community where you can ask "stupid" questions
without being judged too much. For this kind of questions, every once in a
while, I like to ask on usenet, on the sci.math newsgroup.

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mindcrime
_Whether you think you can, or think you can 't, you're right_.

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ColinWright
In addition to my other comment[0]:

* What do you want to study?

* How much time can you dedicate to it?

* How will you study - will you have mentors?

[0]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18622262](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18622262)

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jjgreen
Absolutely not. Karl Weierstrass didn't really get started until he was 40.

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tonyedgecombe
No, I didn’t graduate (in mathematics) until I was 49.

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dyeje
It's never too late to start anything.

