Ants are the graph theory of biology.
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The "math most likely to make you mad" is continuum theory. But the math that will most reliably lead to a being fixated on it?
Graph Theory.
@futurebird graph theory and primes are absolutely gateway drugs
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@futurebird I wasn't taught graph theory but it sounds like something that I would not have enjoyed at all. One of the merits of math was that you were supposed to be able to get to a correct answer. Such a beautiful aspect that is so rare in life.
It's still math. There are still right answers. Especially for the combinatorics problems you do as you build up to some of the theorems.
It's just a lot of theorems are easy to state, sound reasonable but hard or unproven.
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* Anyone can understand some of the big questions in graph theory
* People think graph theory is "great for kids" for some reason (yeah if you want them to be obsessed with unproved theorems for their whole life)
* It's very easy to get very deep in graph theory and VERY lost. Easy to state problems with no solutions
* You just know it's all CONNECTED and it's going to drive you nuts forever@futurebird Graph theory is good from a "not all math is about numbers" perspective. But it really isn't that approachable. That's one of two classes I dropped in graduate school. And I have papers published in graph theory.
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It's still math. There are still right answers. Especially for the combinatorics problems you do as you build up to some of the theorems.
It's just a lot of theorems are easy to state, sound reasonable but hard or unproven.
@futurebird Oh, I see. I misunderstood what you meant. Thanks.
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The "math most likely to make you mad" is continuum theory. But the math that will most reliably lead to a being fixated on it?
Graph Theory.
@futurebird it's how you get that gaunt, haunted look that Veritasium's animators like in mathematicians.
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The "math most likely to make you mad" is continuum theory. But the math that will most reliably lead to a being fixated on it?
Graph Theory.
@futurebird Yes! Graph Theory is such a darling of beauty and frustration.
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@futurebird Graph theory is good from a "not all math is about numbers" perspective. But it really isn't that approachable. That's one of two classes I dropped in graduate school. And I have papers published in graph theory.
@futurebird Geometry is probably a little more approachable and still mostly number-free but IDK that is that much better. Knot theory, maybe? That might be worse.
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* Anyone can understand some of the big questions in graph theory
* People think graph theory is "great for kids" for some reason (yeah if you want them to be obsessed with unproved theorems for their whole life)
* It's very easy to get very deep in graph theory and VERY lost. Easy to state problems with no solutions
* You just know it's all CONNECTED and it's going to drive you nuts forever@futurebird "graph theory has too many unproven theorems" actually just statistical error. average graph theorist has 0 unproven theorems. Cantors Georg, who lives in a cave & posits over 10,000 theorems a day, is an outlier adn should not have been counter
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The "math most likely to make you mad" is continuum theory. But the math that will most reliably lead to a being fixated on it?
Graph Theory.
@futurebird Graph theory is great because any time I have a problem that needs it, my mathematician colleagues will line up to help with it.
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* Anyone can understand some of the big questions in graph theory
* People think graph theory is "great for kids" for some reason (yeah if you want them to be obsessed with unproved theorems for their whole life)
* It's very easy to get very deep in graph theory and VERY lost. Easy to state problems with no solutions
* You just know it's all CONNECTED and it's going to drive you nuts forever@futurebird can confirm, am insane and graph theorist
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It's still math. There are still right answers. Especially for the combinatorics problems you do as you build up to some of the theorems.
It's just a lot of theorems are easy to state, sound reasonable but hard or unproven.
@futurebird@sauropods.win @photovotary@beige.party some like 4-color theorem has a very unsatisfyingly inelegant proof -
* Anyone can understand some of the big questions in graph theory
* People think graph theory is "great for kids" for some reason (yeah if you want them to be obsessed with unproved theorems for their whole life)
* It's very easy to get very deep in graph theory and VERY lost. Easy to state problems with no solutions
* You just know it's all CONNECTED and it's going to drive you nuts forever@futurebird graph theory is extremely useful but only after you have linear algebra
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* Anyone can understand some of the big questions in graph theory
* People think graph theory is "great for kids" for some reason (yeah if you want them to be obsessed with unproved theorems for their whole life)
* It's very easy to get very deep in graph theory and VERY lost. Easy to state problems with no solutions
* You just know it's all CONNECTED and it's going to drive you nuts forever@futurebird I saw a video recently talking about how there is only one infinite random graph and had my mind blown, I can see it driving people mad
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F myrmepropagandist shared this topic
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@futurebird I saw a video recently talking about how there is only one infinite random graph and had my mind blown, I can see it driving people mad
@orman @futurebird hey i saw that video too
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@futurebird graph theory is extremely useful but only after you have linear algebra
@futurebird graph theory is a tool for turning any problem into a linear algebra problem, or for getting visual intuition for unintuitive linear algebra problems
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@futurebird I saw a video recently talking about how there is only one infinite random graph and had my mind blown, I can see it driving people mad
@orman @futurebird *knowing I may regret this, and yet* Imma need that link
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@orman @futurebird *knowing I may regret this, and yet* Imma need that link
I will add it to #fediverseTV
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I will add it to #fediverseTV
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The "math most likely to make you mad" is continuum theory. But the math that will most reliably lead to a being fixated on it?
Graph Theory.
@futurebird I learned a tiny bit of queueing theory and that’s the one I can’t get out of my head. I see it everywhere, of course. Traffic. The grocery store. The airport. Restaurants. I know enough to say “I bet there’s some queuing theory principle that explains this” but not enough to know more than that.
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Ants are the graph theory of biology.
@futurebird for a quarter of a century I thought cladistics was the graph theory of biology!
