Understanding the Process: The role of a mathematician can be likened to that of a chef. My mind serves as the kitchen, where I blend ingredients comprised of knowledge fragments from my memory or external mathematical resources. These resources could be textual sources like academic papers, books, or insights shared during talks and personal discussions. My objective is to skillfully combine these elements, following distinct methodologies, to produce insightful lemmas, theorems, and eventually, a comprehensive set of theories.
My Research Techniques: When embarking on research, my initial step is to turn to Google or Google Scholar. These searches often yield a plethora of results, many of which might be irrelevant or not quite on target. The challenge lies in shifting through the information, especially if you're uncertain about the exact keywords. Accurate keywords can make or break your search. On finding a relevant resource, I often delve deeper by exploring the reference trees on scholar.google.com, tracing both preceding and succeeding works. Lately, I've found that ChatGPT offers a dynamic approach to information retrieval, serving rapid guidance. Despite the impressive success of ChatGPT, I still think that it provides (as Google did before) knowledge. However, I believe that knowledge is not the same as understanding! I think that in the realm of mathematics, human intervention remains essential to interpret and understand the content.
Traditional Resources: Sometimes, the required information is tucked away in a physical book, necessitating a visit to the library. Although this can be a tad inconvenient in today's digital age, it's comforting to see an increasing number of publications becoming accessible online. However, too much screen time hurts the eyes and recently I starting going back to paper for the important texts. It gives you more perspective to have several sources in front of you and also gives you the ability to think a bit better.
Navigating the Data Deluge: Over the past decade, the vast and growing digital information landscape has made it increasingly challenging to pinpoint specific data without investing significant time.
Beyond Mathematics – My Sanctuary: Apart from my academic pursuits, I find solace in hiking and cycling through scenic locales. These natural retreats provide not just physical rejuvenation but also mental clarity. While urban life has its thrills and challenges, our interaction with nature is often limited to visual media and fleeting visits. True enrichment comes from immersing oneself in nature, perhaps nurturing a garden or caring for animals. Some of my most profound epiphanies have struck me during these moments of natural communion.
The True Challenge: I think one danger is that our communication as humans has significantly degraded with the technological advances and in the end we lost some of the abilities to be fully humans. I believe that being human and learning how to treat other humans is an art which should be rediscovered.
