Sometimes I feel like I’m not really a “math person,” like I don’t fit in with math culture. But today there was this math discussion where I felt like I did fit in, and I think part of that is that there are really two math cultures, one of people who did math contests and one of people who didn’t, and they’re pretty different.
People who never did math contests talk a lot about how math is “fun” and “awesome” and “beautiful.” They think math is their friend, and deep down they alieve that they are good at math. People who did math contests don’t see math as our friend. It’s more like outer space: looks pretty in pictures but will kill you if you get too close. And deep down we alieve that we are bad at it. There’s this thing math contest people do where they all say, all the time, “I suck at math.” And what I love about it is that there’s no irony, no winking, no “see it’s funny because I’m not really bad at math, I was just talking about being in Blue MOP,” it’s said with utter sincerity in a way that seems … appropriately respectful of math.
Incidentally, this is why I’m sort of irrationally defensive of that Barbie. Math is hard.