Be Lazy #shorts

Here's a top tip for aspiring mathematicians from Oxford Mathematician Philip Maini.

Be lazy.

[rn-omhu]

Its flattering that youtube suggested this to me.

[VeteranVandal]

I'd say this is great advice for more advanced students.

[THEMATT]

Spend 2 minutes solving the problem ❌ Spend 2 hours finding a method to solve the problem in 30 seconds ✅

[hisanuswat]

My lazy ass not even solving the problem:

[MrCurse]

"Why are you not cleaning your room!"
"I'm a good mathematician"

[ZarahMcIntosh]

Yup. Laziness breeds efficiency. It's an important virtue to have.

[raymondz]

That is not being lazy, thats being creative and efficient.

[annonuhm]

"How many chalkboards do you need in your auditorium?"

"I need ALL OF THEM!"

[JimSpelman]

I often say to my high school math students, "Work smarter, not harder. That is not being lazy; it is being smart!" Much of mathematics is recognizing patterns. With much practice, the math actually gets easier as you advance. Calculus actually possesses a beautiful elegance and simplicity once you arrive to that peak. The challenge is getting to that peak.

[mechafractal]

To be a really good mathematician you have to have at least 12 whiteboards

[muhammadizhar]

The professor is right in the sense that mathematicians avoid doing something over and over or doing it with brute force or by applying direct definitions. Mathematicians try finding patterns and developing formulas.

[chitunachituna]

My math teacher in school was the same: What would you need to solve it elegantly? Lean back, think about it, dream a little, use your creativity.. Loved him. He made me appreciate and actually love mathematics.

[ARJ]

Finding the cleaver way to solve the problem is the hardest thing 😂

[meppeorga]

As an IT guy who heard this advice years ago I would definitely say that it doesn't apply everywhere.
Sometimes you just need to do something even if its a bruteforce approach before you're able to learn from it and do it better next time.
Laziness is something you can pull off when you have the knowledge and experience to be lazy.

[YaNeK]

Bro was preaching "Work Smarter, Not Harder" to college students about to exit with mountains of debt in student loans. Bless his soul! 💯

[_KITE]

Finally, decent content on this platform.

[trungduong]

It is great advice for everything. Imagine efficiency sky rocketed if everyone just follows this simple trick...

[Supercatzs]

for those wondering in this particular example, when it comes down to fourier series, the function you're trying to turn into sines and cosines may be either even or odd, and in the case of fourier series, you decompose the function into its even and odd parts, however, if the function is just even, for example let's take f(x) = x^2, there are no odd components, so finding the b_n term, which is the sine component, sine is odd, and there will not be any odd component, so the integral with respect to x^2*sin(pi*xn) from -pi to pi for example is going to be zero due to there not being any odd component in an even function.

[steniodeassis]

Professor Maini! A great source of inspiration!

[Galdeon]

My father always told us :.
Observe the lazy people
Listen the wise ones
Study the hard workers
Combine them to your way