Do they just do same maths question over and over again ? Do they go hunting for new maths ? Like what do they do to “find” new theory ?
In: Mathematics
Understand the difference between what I’ll call problems and exercises.
Exercises are what you do in math class when you are learning. The method for solving them is known and you just have to follow the right steps to get the answer. This is most people’s experience of math so they tend to envision mathematicians sitting around all day doing problem sets. Mathematicians do not do this. This would be like an author spending their time spelling random words.
A true problem is one where you don’t know how to solve it when you start. Finding a solution takes creativity and hard work. Sometimes years. The frontiers of math where the cutting edge research is happening are often so advanced that it might take years of study just to understand what the problem is (consider [this list](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unsolved_problems_in_mathematics) of unsolved problems; I have a BS in math and it’s Greek to me).
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