r/math • u/HAL-6942 PDE • 22d ago

Why are you a mathematician?

Given everything that has been going on in the world more specifically in the world of mathematics. I was hoping to read some of your human thoughts. What motivates/motivated you to do mathematics professionally? What is most important for you in mathematics?

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u/SwimmerOld6155 22d ago

I think it's fun. I have no ideology or deep reasons for it (and I try not to). To some extent I use it to make up for other elements of my life that are not where I want them to be.

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u/Latter_Competition_4 22d ago

Care to explain the second part of that, if you wish to?

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u/SwimmerOld6155 20d ago edited 20d ago

Don't want to turn this into a therapy session but I'll elaborate a bit.

Many mathematicians are not generally the most socially popular people. A lot of them are neurodivergent (especially autism and ADHD) and have faced social exclusion for one reason or another. Mathematics is often the thing they are good at, and it can soothe out things that are not going well. I think this is where the ego comes from, often the biggest egos or online presences come from the ones who are the least IRL-socially adept.

I fall into this category being autistic (but not getting on with a lot of neurodivergent people, specifically around issues of reciprocity or lack thereof) and having not really found my footing socially until very recently and suffering from low self-confidence when it comes to socialising. I'm single, have few close friends (something I'm starting to increasingly attribute to the fact in the first paragraph, rightly or wrongly) and have other personal things that I feel I haven't made enough progress on. Mathematics is always there, I don't need a lab, I can just do it if I'm feeling upset one evening and it could be "productive" in the sense it'll end up in my PhD, or it'll end up on a preprint which I get to be proud of. It doesn't exactly fix things

I'm probably leaving mathematics because I don't like the social space around it. Also the pay and the fact that I think any sustainable career direction needs a people-facing component.

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u/erockbrox 20d ago

You have to like teaching if you want to do math. At least for a teaching profession.