Reflections of a Middle-aged Mathematician
As my twenty-fifth birthday approaches, I must accept that my life is a study in, if not mediocrity, then unfulfilled promise. I am a good musician. I am a good writer. I am a good mathematician. But I am not great. I was given an abundance of talent, but not the spark of intense passion necessary to achieve true greatness. I was left incomplete.
My words will fork no lightning, and when I'm gone no one will remember my work. No one will remember me.
Do you think I have not just cause to weep, when I consider that Alexander at my age had conquered so many nations, and I have all this time done nothing that is memorable.
But she was different, having both talent and passion, and I thought to share in some of her immortality. To support her, encourage her to attain her own ambitions, that would have been my own life's achievement.
Forgive my arrogance for attempting to attain such grand heights as a brief footnote in her biography. What a fool I was! Better to desire one of my own kind, brilliant and not destined for distinction.
Better to let the remaining years of my life pass me by.
As my twenty-fifth birthday approaches, I must accept that my life is a study in, if not mediocrity, then unfulfilled promise. I am a good musician. I am a good writer. I am a good mathematician. But I am not great. I was given an abundance of talent, but not the spark of intense passion necessary to achieve true greatness. I was left incomplete.
My words will fork no lightning, and when I'm gone no one will remember my work. No one will remember me.
Do you think I have not just cause to weep, when I consider that Alexander at my age had conquered so many nations, and I have all this time done nothing that is memorable.
But she was different, having both talent and passion, and I thought to share in some of her immortality. To support her, encourage her to attain her own ambitions, that would have been my own life's achievement.
Forgive my arrogance for attempting to attain such grand heights as a brief footnote in her biography. What a fool I was! Better to desire one of my own kind, brilliant and not destined for distinction.
Better to let the remaining years of my life pass me by.
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How about "pedantic"?
(PS, I love these words because my Algebra lecturer has used them in the past, and when some numbnut asked him what the words meant, he gave a sarcastic response and then went into a talk about how this was a course on Algebra and not English Literature and that maybe there were some people in the wrong lecture theatre.
Algebra IV: Groups & Rings
Probability & Statistics
Linear Programming & Optimisation
(and a unit in French cos I'm studying for a degree in Maths with Modern Languages)
The algebra is difficult, but exhilarating, and it's made all the more worthwhile by the sarcasm and attitude of the lecturer.
School is good. I was fortunate enough to be able to save up enough money to leave work and study full time. I plan on doing it again at some point later on in my life, but maybe not as a full time student.