These are really good questions about what math *is* in a very deeply probing way. Unfortunately the haters are piling in... I have transcribed the questions and typed up my instant answers here.
Hello male people attending conference talks given by younger female people. It is not appropriate for you to tell a younger female speaker what you would like them to wear next time they give a talk.
Or anyone really.
A thread on asking questions in math talks.
This week I was at a 60th birthday conference, the first in-person conference I've been to since Covid that's more or less in my field, and I decided to do something radical: I decided to ask questions.
"What is the value of 24÷4(8÷4) = ?"
The answer is zero: the value of this is zero. This has zero pedagogical, mathematical, or logical value.
Oh wait, it has value to people trying to assert superiority over other people.
In case it needs saying again: not all mathematicians enjoy "math puzzles". So if you don't enjoy "math puzzles" that doesn't mean you're not cut out for mathematics.
I am designing a maths curriculum that is a) non-cumulative, b) in particular doesn't rely on proficiency with mental arithemtic and c) instils skills relevant to life as well as to higher mathematics. I'm pretty sure it will never be implemented but I'm an idealist.
Thinking about the fact that to explain subject X to person A you need to understand both subject X and also person A. I think there's often not enough focus on understanding the person.
When I show a picture of a bagel inserted into a slinky people often ask how I did it and then express disappointment that I just cut the bagel. So today for summer camp I did it without cutting the bagel!!
UK state sixth form teachers: do you have any students applying to Oxbridge for maths? If they are offered interviews I would like to offer to do mock interviews for some state school students who might benefit from some help.
Incidentally I didn't want to get into the whole cognitive dissonance thing in my answers but I think that might be going on with the haters. Someone questions something that you take for granted. That causes cognitive dissonance.
I have been a bit quiet recently. I recently experienced a very bad, permanently life-changing trauma. It's hard for me to pretend to be ok. But it's also hard to talk about it because I'm afraid of what people will say. I'm not ready yet but I might talk about it soon.
Me: "High school math competitions are offputting congressive people and I think it contributes to gender imbalance in math."
Several male people: "But I really enjoyed math competitions!"
Er...yes.
To resolve the discomfort of the cognitive dissonance, you either have to question your own assumptions, or you have to dismiss the questions very hard.
Aside: I love that about math, when mathematicians are grateful when you notice something wrong, unlike in normal life when people get mad and double down and deny it.
My method for how never to run overtime in talks.
0) Care.
1) Divide the talk into sections. Decide how many minutes each section should take. Check the actual time at the end of each section (compared with the planned time) so that you can make adjustments early.
I kept a tally of male and female people's questions, and in the end it was 57 from men and 11 from women. But 8 of those were from me! I single-handedly massively skewed the stats, which is what I usually see
@emilyriehl
doing.
Was just tempted to omit a proof from a paper and say it's obvious, but then I examined my conscience and realised I want to omit it because it's tedious to typset. Oops.
I guess it depends if you want a book to filter people out or bring people in. I think there are already plenty of books that filter people out (and often the wrong people) so I'd rather write ones that bring people in. Or try to, anyway.
I've been so touched by the outpouring of support following my vague tweet about trauma. This week is World Childless Week, a week dedicated to telling the stories of those who are permanently childless and not by choice. This is my trauma.
OK look. So yes we need to know that 2x + y means one thing and 2(x+y) means a different thing. But this should be called mathematical convention, not held up as a piece of math.
Hi. I took a month away as it was becoming exhausting. I came back to immediate notifications of people who want to shut me up. I realise that if I stay away because of them then they have succeeded. So I'm back.
Dear everyone who makes math/STEM tshirts: I wish you would make "women's" tshirts available too. By which I mean curved-cut, rather than straight-cut. I mean, I wish all tshirts would have that option, but it sends a particularly inclusive message when it's math/STEM.
!!!! Nine boards in the venue at
@Caltech
!! I kinda wish I were giving a board talk now...and they are controlled by three buttons that do permutations!!!
!!!!!!
I was told my question was stupid by a senior professor in my field, in front of everyone at the talk. So I stopped asking questions. But I've been inspired by
@emilyriehl
who told me she makes a point of asking questions to make sure people see a woman asking questions.
I've been working on this all week!! It's a 3D Eckmann-Hilton argument, or weak commutativity for 3-cells in a 3-degenerate 4-category...braiding around the seam, syllepsis across the sphere...
Moreover, the next day the speaker came up to me and thanked me because it turned out that was an error in his talk! Wow! My "stupid question" turned out to have found an error in his talk. And he was so grateful.
Apparently this needs to be said: I do not write books for my ego or ambition, or to fulfil a book-writing desire of some kind. I write books to try and help people understand maths and fear it less.
A middle school student who worked through my Category Theory book manuscript often asked me questions that turned out to result from her trying to overcomplicate things.
I completely disagree with this article, which says we need more rote learning and we should "make girls practise math". If someone doesn't enjoy math then what if rote learning and "practice" makes them utterly hate it?
The first question I asked my pulse went through the roof. I was terrified. But the speaker looked really happy and said "Thank you for asking that, because I really wanted to say more about that." Wow!
What an amazing night it’s already been… and we have more awards to give! Next up, for Science/Technology, the prize goes to…
@dreugeniacheng
for her book that poses a question we all have been wondering the answer to: Is Math Real? Congrats!!
#bookprizes
#bookfest
@basicbooks
This is why I thought school was dumb: because they did things like take off half a mark on my physics exam because I answered "how many seconds" with "5" instead of "5 seconds". No, it wasn't 5 seconds seconds. Yes I'm still irritated n years later.
I am very bothered by the idea of supporting arts education "because it helps academic performance". It's somehow like supporting maths education so that people can do their taxes. I support good arts education because I think it helps humans.
Anyway several amazing things happened. The first is that in the effort to have a question to ask, I followed the talks much more, did not give up as fast, was way more engaged, and got way more out of the conference.
This is how my visual syllabus for next semester is going so far...it's a work in progress but I like how it's progressing! *No advice thanks!* [As you can see we don't even start until Jan 31 so I'm getting reaaaaaaaaally ahead.]
I decided this tshirt was too passive-aggressive for the first class, but wore it today now we all know each other better - my students found it funny. (And then we ran an imagined 2020 election with Ranked Choice Voting.)
Exciting! Here's a code for 20% off for *pre-orders* of "The Joy of Abstraction" through the
@CambridgeUP
website - code is JOY20, should make it $20.76 if I've used my calculator correctly. (Or £16 in the UK.) (I did that one in my head!) Out in Oct!
So I asked the question, and the speaker ummed and ahed a bit and said he needed to think about how to explain it. After the talk some young people thanked me for asking the question as they said they were wondering too. So I felt useful!
I remember when I was a post-doc in Nice Wikipedia went down one morning, and at lunch the senior professor said "Wikipedia's down, so the whole of mathematics research has stopped and we might as well have along lunch" or something.
I'm very uncomfortable about celebrating math prodigies, even if they really are (not just performing monkeys). I worry it perpetuates damaging myths about mathematical ability. People may take it as proof that math ability is "innate".
I dare you to stop using the word "talented". The idea of "talent" perpetuates the myth that there is something you have to be born with in order to be good at something.
Here's my article from yesterday's Guardian magazine previewing my new book. At the end I also recommend wonderful and important books by
@joboaler
,
@ginarippon1
and
@mathyawp
Today a student asked if I would like to be addressed by my first name or Dr/Prof last name. I used to be paralysed by that question but now I answer basically this: "Thank you for asking. The thing is that I think it's an impossible question to answer because...
Seems I wound a bunch of (male) people up by questioning the value of math competitions.
Note, I did not say we should abolish math competitions, I said we should do some more congressive things to stop putting off congressive people.
I sometimes post about my research process to try and shed some light on what research mathematicians do. Unfortunately it usually results in some people (usually white guys who aren't research mathematicians) giving me "advice" on how to do my research.
For those who are upset about the s of "maths", rest assured that the US version is called "Is Math Real".
Through years of diligent practice, I am bilingual and can say both "math" and "maths".
I've basically never asked questions at conference talks before, or even in research seminars, because I'm too scared of being told my question is stupid. And by the way I'm not imagining this: early in my career I tried asking questions and was told my question was stupid!
Brilliant talk by
@DrEugeniaCheng
at
#newscientistlive
- never heard angry heckling at a maths talk before (at how category theory can illuminate social justice)!
Superbly handled Eugenia!
Some of my organising tips: 1. Leave everything exactly where you last used it. Chances are that's where you'll next use it. Much more efficient than putting it away and getting it out again. Also more memorable so I don't lose things.
So excited that my first children's book is out in the UK today! (US in the spring). Here's a little preview of "Molly and the Mathematical Mystery", a lift-the-flaps adventure. Deep maths is involved but no knowledge is required! Only imagination and curiosity...
@templarbooks
Abstract math is the most practical thing I have learnt. Yes we need to learn empathy, but I get it from abstract math. Thinking abstractly and logically enables me to see other people's points of view from *their* logic, not mine. (My next book is about this.)
I am honored to be one of four Chicago women featured by the Mayor for Women's History Month! We're on digital billboards around the city so look out for us! I have not succeeded in seeing mine yet but some friends have seen it...
Dr. Eugenia Cheng is a Scientist in Residence at the School of the
@saic_news
, won tenure in Pure Mathematics at the University in Sheffield, and holds a PhD in pure mathematics from the University of Cambridge. 🧵
I had a horrible nightmare: that my espresso machine stopped working.
I woke up and thought: thank goodness that was just a dream.
I tried to make espresso.
MY ESPRESSO MACHINE HAS STOPPED WORKING.
And I hope that nobody will ever tell people their questions are stupid! Because if we put people off asking questions then we are effectively impeding them from learning things. I've spent 23 years not learning as much from conferences as I could have done!
IT ARRIVED!!! And I'm launching it in the UK tomorrow (Wednesday) on Radio 4 Woman's Hour. I mean, I'm launching {it in the UK}. I'm in Chicago, which means I'll be doing a live radio interview at...4am. From my wardrobe.
So this week I decided to try and ask a question in every talk, to set an example. It helps me to do it for other people, and to follow Emily's example. She is less afraid of being thought stupid than me. (She is also a more brilliant mathematician than me, which I think helps.)
Hey! I'm launching a virtual book club for "The Joy of Abstraction" with
@ToposInstitute
! It's asynchronous and will go at about a chapter per week. Anyone is welcome to ask me questions and I will make a video answering all the questions!
@CambridgeUP
@DrEugeniaCheng
Says that when we stop students going to higher levels of maths because they aren't good at times tables or equations, it's like not letting people go into swimming because they aren't a good runner. Times tables are "an absolutely tiny part of maths." Great book!
But really the main revelation to me is how much more I understood of the talks as a result of this. I learnt tons, and got tons of research ideas. And nobody said my questions were stupid, and some were even actively interesting.
Somehow no amount of experience ever prepares me for being yelled at during a talk.
Ok, not exactly yelling, but it was angry, obstructive, disingenuous "questioning" from a senior math professor who evidently objected to EVERYTHING I did, and felt he had to say so. Repeatedly.
I have found a better way of waking up in the morning than an alarm: chocolate mousse.
I have a tiny but intense chocolate mousse ready for first thing every morning with my espresso, and I don't eat any at any other time of day. It makes me look forward to getting up!
I hereby declare that February 29th is........... i Day! Happy i Day everyone! Celebrate the imaginary and imaginative aspects of math! Celebrate cycles of length 4! See how many digits of i you can recite!
#iday
Apparently this still needs saying: ectopic pregnancies are never viable. An ectopic pregnancy is when an embryo implants in the fallopian tube instead of the uterus. It cannot survive there. And if it continues to grow it will rupture and cause severe, life-threatening bleeding.
Anyway, I am definitely going to do this at future conferences, although I'm still scared of people thinking my questions are stupid. I hope that if my questions *are* stupid then it will help other people (especially young non-men) to feel emboldened to ask their own questions.
It's interesting that so many people are put off math by not seeing its "practical applications". That's why I was put off sport! But plenty of people like sport just for itself, not for its "practical applications". The thing is if you find something fun it doesn't need a use.
@DrEugeniaCheng
Nailed it in answer to q1... I’ve hated math since high school because everything began to be taught without context. The only context provided was more theory math, and not practical applications and so I lost interest in it quickly and couldn’t do well.
When I interviewed at Sheffield I said I wanted to write this "very explanatory" category theory book, and someone on the panel said "I don't think maths books should explain things. That leaves nothing for the students to do."
Happy book birthday to Molly and the Mathematical Mystery by Eugenia Cheng, with illustrations from
Aleksandra Artymowska! 🎂
Find the clues and lift the flaps on this mathematical mystery! 🔢 An explorative and creative approach to the sometimes daunting topic of maths. 📐
One mildly hilarious aspect of all this was that it was actually very hard for me to get to ask a question sometimes, because the more confident (male) people would often just call out their question, but I always raised my hand and waited to be called.
Saw an article in the Guardian about how we should stop relying on sugar to give us more energy in the afternoons, and do something healthier instead. I thought "Ooh sugar, good idea!" and ate some cake, and now feel much better.
I was inspired by
@chadtopaz
to move to a visual sylllabus. Online teaching is the perfect time to do it, because I'm presenting it on screen rather than on a handout anyway. Here's where I am currently! [NB Please do not criticise it. I'm posting it in case it helps anyone.]