Productivity means creating meaningful value and maximizing quality relative to your resources rather than simply rushing through tasks as fast as possible.
24,101 karma · joined August 22, 2016
> Scholze was a student of Rapoport, who was a student of Deligne, who was a student of Grothendieck, who was a student of Schwartz; in this chain, Scholze, Deligne, Grothendieck, and Schwartz are all Fields medallists.
Combine it with the fact that the only real asset you have is your time.
Imagine getting a tailwind at the age of 50 and being financially illiterate. AND, being partially blind.
I was literally too busy to not realize what really mattered. Decades gone by!
–Karen K. Uhlenbeck
The loudest note sounded in all recent educational discussions is the call for more practical methods in presenting the fundamental subjects of study. It is claimed that language, science, and mathematics have been taught with too little reference to their utility in the vocations and in the ordinary affairs of life. The methods commonly employed in presenting mathematical subjects have been especially open to criticism. This is true even in some schools designed to give vocational training. Mathematical books of the kind traditional in the older schools have been continued in use in the newer and more practical schools. These books were written almost entirely from the point of view of the teacher of pure mathematics with little reference to concrete problems of life and' having no reference whatever to the actual problems of the drafting-room and the shop. As a natural consequence the class room work in mathematics, in many of our most practical schools, has failed to utilize the material afforded by the shops and science laboratories to fix the knowledge of mathematical principles by concrete illustration and by practice.
If anyone is curious about the illustrations, the Internet Archive has the book:
Master precalculus, with emphasis on conceptual understanding and computation. It's the base.
You may want to read There’s more to mathematics than rigour and proofs by Terry Tao.
https://terrytao.wordpress.com/career-advice/theres-more-to-...
"We present to the lovers of Algebra a work of which a Russian translation appeared two years ago. The object of the celebrated author was to compose an Elementary Treatise, by which a beginner, without any other assistance, might make himself complete master of Algebra. The loss of sight had suggested the idea to him, and his activity of mind did not suffer him to defer the execution of it. For this purpose M. Euler pitched on a young man whom he had engaged as a servant on his departure from Berlin, sufficiently master of arithmetic, but in other respects without the least knowledge of mathematics. He had learned the trade of a tailor; and, with regard to his capacity, was not above mediocrity. This young man, however, has not only retained what his illustrious master taught and dictated to him, but in a short time was able to perform the most difficult algebraic calculations and to resolve with readiness whatever analytical questions were proposed to him."
> On top of having a sweet tooth, she is said to have risen early at her retirement home, spending time on mathematics and calligraphy.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29748259
While my mother was still aphasic, I was exploring ways to communicate with her and then it occurred to me that she was literate and numerate. At the time, I began writing questions with possible answer choices on a scratch paper and had her read them and select the answer she wanted by tapping her fingers on it. This is how I got to know how she was feeling, what she wanted for a breakfast etc. By the way, she is a technophobe.
A week after my father's untimely demise, my mother suffered a massive stroke and went into a coma. We brought her home after the doctors treating her at the hospital had declared her brain dead. During the hospitalization, she was diagnosed with Covid-19, which we were told caused her the ischemic stroke.
Of note, we live in a village where we have no access to healthcare at all.
As her caregivers at home, my wife (42) and I (48) were exposed to my mother while she was still comatose and recovering from the infectious disease, and subsequently both my wife and I tested positive for the coronavirus. With no one else around to help us except my daughter who we had kept in isolation, we continued caring for my mother, giving her nothing but thin liquids via a feeding tube.
The symptoms my wife and I experienced through our recovery lasting a week to 10 days included a low-grade fever, loss of taste and smell. It took us about a month to regain the latter. Even my mother, who is 68 and otherwise healthy, regained consciousness and her ability to communicate over a month or so and she began taking in food orally after I had no choice but to go ahead and remove her feeding tube myself. She is still paralyzed and bedridden, though.
You mean the shuttle has been replaced by something newer and hence is an obsolete word?
This is the verbatim reproduction of what the smart speaker said:
"Plug in a phone charger about halfway into a wall outlet, then touch a penny to the exposed prongs."
― Bill Watterson
Being sincerely passionate about something can sometimes backfire on you.
Living in India, I had worked in the US healthcare industry for over 15 years. I had to work every Indian holiday. Just imagine the list of festivals/holidays India has; they are perpetual, to say the least. I didn't have to work US holidays, during which I would be home while the rest of my family went about their business, as usual. I would say that it got to the point where I was estranged from my parents and other folks. Now, whenever I think about the sorry state of affairs which I felt had been thrust upon me, I'm filled with remorse for not visiting my parents more often. Every aspect of life has its pros and cons. I see a pattern.
Season's Greetings to all HNers!
Look for work that doesn't stress you out, lets you have a schedule that you can stick to over time, and still provides you with some kind of income. Studying for your degree should be your long-term goal.
Stay away from social settings that may give you an initial boost but have after-effects and leave you feeling anxious, down, or depressed.
Engage in some physical activity that could help you regain your mental health. Looks like you can overcome your problems through sheer willpower alone.
Sorry I must dash away now!
It is incredible to me that the increased crop yield comes with such a smaller unit of land requirement.
I see this as a way to protect one's health and sanity as one ages. Aging gracefully should be possible.