3 Comments

1. 

   peter on 22nd March 2010 at 4:53pm

   Let me say how strongly I support your views of competition, Susan (as examplified in the playing of tennis). One of the great frustrations of my childhood was having aptitude and skill for mathematics, yet my math teachers insisting on my doing puzzles, games, tests of mental arithmetic, etc, and entering mathematics competitions. I found the competitive elements of these activities morally repulsive and divisive, and still do. At university, where I did a degree in pure mathematics, I learnt that large swathes of the discipline are dominated by a macho, dog-eat-dog, take-no-prisoners culture – like, perhaps, the very competitive worlds of violin soloists and operatic tenors. I always felt that doing mathematics should be a collaborative activity, akin to playing in an orchestra, and I always got most pleasure from collaboration, not competition. I discovered that some parts of the discipline (eg, mathematical statistics, computing and artificial intelligence) are far more co-operative than are the traditional areas, and it is into these areas that I took my career.

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     Susan Tomes on 22nd March 2010 at 5:43pm

     That’s very interesting, Peter. I hadn’t realised that mathematics has its own equivalent of competitive versus collaborative aspects.

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2. 

   peter on 23rd March 2010 at 1:29pm

   Thanks, Susan. I have now blogged about my views here:

   http://www.vukutu.com/blog/2010/03/macho-mathematicians/

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