I have never lost interest in anything I once fell in love with. Even when it was not yet love, but merely a passing fondness or interest, the same was true: my hobbies always multiplied. For example, in my freshman year I was drawn to philosophy, psychology, and wandering over to Weiming Lake; in my sophomore year, to religion, philosophy of science, and memorizing Tibetan mantras by rote; in high school, to popular science books, wuxia novels, and philosophy in the first year, to history and turn-based strategy computer games in the second year, to economics, Japanese animation, and buying books in the third year; in middle school, to physics; in elementary school, to mathematics; and so on. None of the things I have ever been passionate about shows the slightest sign of being forgotten by me. Of course, my devotion to them can no longer be as intense as when I first fell in love with them, but that is like the passage from a mad, feverish romance into a calm shared life: the things I love have one by one melted into the depths of my heart, and can never again be cut away.
My unwillingness to part with what I love has also enabled my interests in philosophy, science, history, society, and so on to play as large a role as possible in my study and life; this was also one of the major reasons why I ultimately chose philosophy, the most inclusive of majors.
But what I originally wanted most was to enter the School of Mathematics, next the School of Physics, then any department related to mathematics or physics, then departments such as economics or history, and only after that the Department of Philosophy—unfortunately, I lacked the strength, negotiations hit a wall, and I failed to get what I wanted. Looking back now, that was fortunate as well: if I had been a little stronger at the time, or a little less lucky, I might now be in some engineering department at Tsinghua, or in a joint degree program at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, but not in Peking University’s Department of Philosophy—this place where I feel completely at home.
But I would never say, sour-grape style, that studying mathematics is inferior to studying philosophy. Math Olympiad competitions were the meal ticket I devoted myself to for eleven years; studying mathematics was once my highest ideal, but that has now become a dream of the past. Still, my failure to marry mathematics may well have made mathematics, for me, a kind of most perfect existence so lofty as to be beyond reach. Now, when I speak of mathematics, the sense of almost sacred reverence I feel for it has instead grown stronger and stronger. Marrying a wife does not mean one can no longer admire Venus; even though I have married philosophy, my praise and longing for mathematics will not cease.
In the early hours of June 3, 2006
Bifengtang
Some time ago, while hanging around the Future Peking University People community, I happened to see the question below. Then, because I had recently reread parts of the “Popular Mathematics Translation Series” and other mathematics books, my emotions were stirred and my hands itched a little, so I wrote the reply below, reposted here:
Title:: How did you fall in love with mathematics?
Author: Unnamed person
Posted from: Future Peking University People community (http://www.gotopku.cn/)
As titled
2006-5-17 03:56 AM
su
Useful, interesting, easy to learn.
You don’t need experiments to study mathematics; you can tell right from wrong yourself.
2006-5-17 09:00 AM
Gu Chi
God is a mathematician, and the book of nature is written in the language of mathematics.
Mathematics embodies the deepest mysteries and wonders of the natural world. Through mathematics one can feel “the great beauty of Heaven and earth” (天地之大美).
Of course, physics is also the discipline closest to “God,” but the language of physics is still mathematics.
Even in middle school mathematics, everyone can try to feel the harmony, symmetry, simplicity, and marvel embodied in mathematics. Try to study mathematics with a “pilgrim’s” heart.
Of course, the mathematics learned in middle school can after all hardly reveal such a lofty realm; that sense of sanctity probably can only truly be experienced when one does mathematical research oneself. I had already fallen in love with mathematics in elementary school and middle school. One reason was exactly as su said: “You don’t need experiments to study mathematics; you can tell right from wrong yourself.” (By the way, now I have abandoned the sciences and turned to the humanities, studying philosophy. The charm of philosophy happens to be the opposite: its questions never have a single clear answer!) This is very important. A math problem is either solved or not solved; there is no vague, indeterminate state. If you say, “I think I’ve solved this problem, let me check the answer to see if it’s right…”—that means you still can’t solve it! Even if the answer is correct, you still do not truly understand it. If you study middle school mathematics well, then under the difficulty level of the college entrance examination there absolutely cannot still be any “unsolved” problems; it is merely a matter of how much carelessness and how many mistakes there are. The true pleasure of mathematics is to be found in the Olympiad contest. Personally, I feel the joy of mathematics lies in tackling hard problems. I wonder whether everyone has ever had the experience of racking their brains for days and nights over one problem, or using up more than a hundred sheets of scratch paper for a single question? Solving a hard problem on your own—there’s no need to torment yourself like that often; just one or two such experiences are enough to let you feel the delight! I see many classmates who work on problems with absolutely no perseverance! They think for just a few minutes and then give up, and want to go ask the teacher or some expert. I am very unwilling to explain problems to these classmates.
Of course, many classmates cannot solve the problems because they have not grasped the concepts clearly! Problems in math competitions rely on inspiration, insight, and accumulated experience. But problems at the level of the college entrance examination do not require too many non-knowledge-based abilities; often, once the basic concepts and methods are mastered, you can proceed step by step and solve them. Before the college entrance examination, the main purpose of doing lots of exercises and drills is to improve accuracy and speed; but those problems should be ones such that, given any one of them, if you are given enough time, you can solve it. If there are still problems you cannot solve, then I’m afraid you have not even clarified the basic concepts! I encounter many classmates like this: they have done a mountain of problems, yet they still get some basic definitions wrong! Doing problems this way is a waste of time. — What I want to say here is the attractiveness of mathematics, namely its “precision”! Every concept, every mathematical term, has a definite definition! Although middle school math textbooks are not very strict, the definitions and descriptions are still relatively clear. Although some definitions may look like verbose nonsense, I hope everyone will definitely take them seriously. One way to study mathematics is to forget everything—except definitions and axioms; I know nothing else, and I only have the right to prove things through those definitions, axioms, and theorems. Apart from those plainly written, crystal-clear things, we know nothing! There is nothing ambiguous in mathematics. The line of thought and the process for solving a math problem should be completely clear; if your thinking still contains words like “probably” or “about the same,” then there is a problem.
2006-5-17 05:20 PM
Suanzi jinzoujie
Senior, welcome to the professional mathematics section of the graduate school entrance exam forum!
Welcome to post your views there
2006-5-17 09:12 PM
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- kaikair
2006-07-13 10:39:26 http://www.magicofsarah.com
http://www.magicofsarah.com/post/70.html
A divination game (the most important number is 51.83): how can its secret be discovered without any clues? - Feiyang no Mantou
2008-03-09 16:20:56 Anonymous 58.212.71.136
I hate mathematics!
Translated from the Chinese original with AI assistance. The original text is authoritative.
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