What Do You Do With a PhD in Math?

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©Simply Nailogical Inc. All opinions are our own.

[matt-kocc]

I'm a maths grad and the moment he was asked "what's the best number" I was like "please say zero it's got to be zero", and then he said zero and I punched my fist in the air in celebration. what a moment.

[miehaed]

did i understand anything he said at the end there? no absolutely not. but i love hearing people talk about stuff they're passionate about!

[real_john_doe]

I did a bachelors in math. I’m a PhD student in Econ now. I thought I was phenomenal at math until I got to the proof-based courses he mentioned in this video. Those courses are really what separates those who are good at math from everyone else.

[catinbush]

As a mathematics undergrad currently in Number Theory, I definitely second the “all the numbers became letters” statement. I am literally studying integers, and the ONLY numbers that have shown up have been in the subscripts lol (and I guess the Euclidean algorithm but still)

[samfrizzell]

Matt can talk all day, I won't understand it, but I just want to listen

[Jerry_Fried]

When I was studying math, I came across what I think is an apt analogy for pure math as opposed to applied math. Pure mathematicians are like guys who love to build railroad tracks. They don't care where the tracks go. They don't care whether anyone will ever want to go where they have laid the tracks.

Then, one day, a physicist realizes he has to go to X location, but he doesn't know how to get there. He does some investigating and, whattaya know, there are already some tracks leading him right there.

[Niekoue]

It's true that all the numbers are gone and we only use letters. What they don't tell is that the letters don't signify numbers anymore. They signify a form of differential operators, a topological space, a limit set, or something completely different. Somewhere down there, beneath 4-7 layers of abstraction, there just might be numbers. Or there might not, as is the case in abstract algebra and topology.

[Star-dkxc]

I'm actually really glad they do these small clips because I am interesting in going to college for some sort of math, and I would have had no clue this podcast episode existed!!

[theboombody]

The first difficult math hurdle is long division. Then algebra. Then calculus. Then proofs. Then group theory. Then I don't know what else because I can't figure out group theory.

[reirae]

PhD Physicist here, hello! I am one of the two that understood the reference to tenors and topological space. Would actually love to hear more about it.

[bzaban]

For anyone out there interested in the theorems he cited at the end about the number 14, they are Grothendieck Theorem and Kuratowski Closure-Complement Theorem. ;)

[siyaneliswashozi]

I am a medical doctor and I never seemed to understand why people didn't get my medical jokes, until this guy tried to explain his favourite number and now I see what it looks like on the other side haha

[zacharyadams]

‘I’m convinced there’s a connection between these two facts’ is the most mathematician thing to say.

[alexandersanchez]

Unless you work for the NSA, you’re probably overqualified for most non-academic jobs as a pure math PhD. But you generally do a PhD not because you want a job, but because you want to learn the material/do research, and doing a PhD is the easiest (some would say only) way to go about it.

[melissawicks]

I'm actually in Undergraduate School for my degree in Applied and Computational Mathematics. I plan on going on for my PhD as well. It's interesting to hear Matt talk about how isolating being in that high level of math can be because I am already feeling that as an undergrad. The only people I can talk about Math to is my classmates and even then I understand conceptual ideas better than some of them who are just taking the class as a prereq for either some engineering course or their math minor.

*edited: changed schoole to school lol

[krisherdown]

I have a BS, double majored in computer science and applied mathematics. For the AMS major, I did my thesis on theory related to Fibonacci and fractals (at least I can explain that part and even some non-math people understand).

To even delve into "pure" mathematics is something that gives me a headache. To make it simple for those reading this comment, mathematics major involves an obsession with proofs involving calculus level stuff in high dimensions.

[UltraSwat]

I actually am finishing up a PhD in abstract harmonic analysis, the same area as Matt (my supervisor is a former student of Matt's supervisor). Really interesting to listen to his perspective!

[lhcoco]

As an Applied Math major, I definitely definitely fell in love with the analysis portion, there is beauty and exactness for most of the discovered and proved arguments

[kamilgrzesik]

There's a common misunderstanding of imortance of maths. When I was going to study it, everyone around me thought I will end up as a teacher. That's a normal thing, most people don't know maths and are unable to imagine all its applications. Once you get into, you realize the benefits of having such background. I work now as a quant in a large bank, I'm not doing anything mathematically complicated, but I cannot imagine someone to do my job without deep understanding of basic math concepts and analytical mind set. I regularly interview candidates, it's sad how hard is to find a good one - there are very few graduates on the market and all have good jobs, so it got pretty tight, and salaries are pretty good. Strongly recommend to study it, if you have analytical mind set.

[celestecolamarino]

I find it amazing how interesting your podcast is. Bringing this kind of guests and talk about math might feel totally unrelated to your channel, but it is extremly refreshing. I might not understand a thing about math, but the way he talks about it really makes me feel curious and want to keep listening ♥️.