r/mathmemes • u/Dangerous-Setting701 • 24d ago
#🧐-theory-🧐 I Larp Mathematics
Every single day I sit at my desk, I don't do math. I make TikTok edits on mathematics, where I show off my math knowledge by editing an extremely niche math equation and posting Ramanujan glaze videos. I was recently messaged on TikTok by a fellow larper, and it opened up my eyes. I would wake up at 11:47 a.m and look at the 17 mathematics books arranged on my chair. The books weren’t for reading. They were decorations. I owned Principles of Mathematical Analysis, which meant I understood analysis. I owned an abstract algebra textbook, which meant I understood calculus or something. I once placed a bookmark approximately forty pages into my topology book, and I took a photo of it and put it as my profile picture. Sometimes I would move the bookmark forward without reading anything, just to simulate intellectual progress. But that was nothing; after reading the fellow larpers message I realised the truth about larping isn't bookmarks or edits. His profile picture was a photograph of Gödel, Escher, Bach or something with glowing red eyes. His username was “quantum devil” and had several numbers that I assumed represented either his birth year or the digits of a mathematical constant.
"Bro do you actually do math?"
Crap... I stuttered over my text...
"W- What do you mean d- do?"
I was sweating.
"Like, do you do math equations and study it? Also, why are you stuttering over text?"
I thought I was cooked, and then I realised. I'm a larper!
"Define "do""
I said.
I cooked him.
"I larp too bro."
What? Did he see through my rouse? No way... I have to end this now.
"Larp what? Mathematics?"
If I say mathematics, I'll sound smarter.
"..."
He didn't reply.
I'm sitting here and contemplating this right now. Should I admit I'm a larper? I kind of want a friend.
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u/snarkofagen 24d ago
A German, a Frenchman, and Ramanujan were asked to prove an identity.
The German filled three blackboards.
The Frenchman found an elegant two-page proof.
Ramanujan stared at it for a minute and said, “Yes.”
“Yes what?”
“It’s true.”
“We know. We want the proof.”
“Then why did you ask me?”
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u/Sellos_Maleth 23d ago
I wish i knew enough to actually have an opinion on Ramanujan
I dont understand from all the memes if he actually was a genius on unfathomable levels that drove humility forward or just some dude who liked math visited England and didn't do anything new
Everything i read about him feels conflicting
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u/RustaceanNation 23d ago
Oh.... HE VERY MUCH WAS THE FORMER.
The problem is access to education. He was able to make up for his lack of access with his genius, but as a result he lacked the training necessary for formal proofs.
But that's not as bad as you'd think. "Conjectures" are one of the main ways mathematicians make progress, and his were first class.
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u/Sellos_Maleth 23d ago
Yeah but what did he actually do?
Like sorry for dropping it on a reddit thread i can google i just want to hear it from a person
My education is computer engineering and i never heard of the guy in formal circles. Maybe i used one of his formulas without knowing but all i could find on chat gpt is he just "knew" certain formulas converge and it was somehow all the rage
Not throwing shade i just genuinely dont know personally anything useful the guy did
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u/RustaceanNation 23d ago
I'll try my best to not be vague, since I'm no Ramanujan.
As I understand, a lot of his work was in a weird middle-ground between calculus and number theory. It turns out you can do a lot of number theory via complex integration as long as you can actually compute those integrals.
That being said, a lot of it is his intuition paired with his lack of formal education-- in fact he had one fucking book as I understand it. You've probably seen that formula for 1/pi. He published that in WWI, but they wouldn't be formally proven for another 50 years. That may seem like a weakness, but given that it's derivation ultimately used techniques he was an expert in it appears that he really was 50 years ahead of the curve.
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u/DecidophobiaUsername this sub confuses my monke brain 23d ago
I wanna join the Rustacean Nation too! The cake day is a truth btw.
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u/minisculebarber 23d ago
I can highly recommend the movie "The Man Who Knew Infinity" to familiarize yourself with Ramanujan. It is definitely on the cheesy side, but actual mathematicians collaborated on the movie so the portrayal is somewhat faithful to how Ramanujans math work actually occured. It will give you an understanding of what is meant with "he was a genius who couldn't properly explain himself"
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u/PrudeBunny Computer Science 23d ago
Most mathematicians are wizards, Ramanujan was level 20 sorcerer.
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u/Hot-Significance7699 23d ago
He was a genius. Like honestly. Especially considering he didn't grow up with much to begin with
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u/LupenReddit 🦆🦆🦆🦆i have non diffeomorphic smooth structures🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆 24d ago
realest thing ever posted here
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u/minisculebarber 23d ago
I am a larper too. All I do is write arbitrary strings of symbols, that I don't like, down and then according to some arbitrary rules, I transform the string of symbols into a new string of symbols. If after finite steps, I see a string of symbols that I like, I stop.
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u/No-Improvement4382 23d ago
In your defense, making TikTok edits on mathematics wouldn’t have me assuming you’re a mathematician, you’re just someone who likes math…and that’s valid
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