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applfanboysbgontoday at 6:50 PM2 repliesview on HN

IMO, it's just the notation. Something I've actually found ChatGPT useful for is to create mathematics lessons for me in the form of computer programs. When broken down into a series of readable almost-plain-English steps, it's so much easier to understand. And it's easy to tinker with programs and get a hands-on feel for things quickly.

I'm sure having a compact notation is absolutely invaluable for people who dedicate their lives to maths, but for someone with just a passing interest, I find it more obscuring than helpful. I feel the same way about music notation.


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vector_spacestoday at 7:03 PM

I mentioned this in a sibling comment but even for mathematicians, the intimidating notation and the more formal language might give the wrong impression about how we think about math. Actual thinking and even discussions with other mathematicians tend to be looser and more concrete and tactile, but the notation and language are there in part to act as a sort of lingua franca to help everyone stay on the same page, since everyone thinks at least a little bit differently. It also helps to keep you honest and catch situations where your thinking was muddied, since this language is so specific and writing things down has a funny way of catching things. And good notation goes a long way towards making the simplicity of an idea clear, or completely muddy in the case of bad notation.

Many mathematicians do what you do as well!