10.04.19 // Went To A Cafe This Evening To Get Some Vegan Coffee Cake Before My First Final But They

This! I'm in love.

Just wait until anti-vaxxers learn about bijections.

NASA has released new images of Jupiter, taken by the Juno Spacecraft.

Mimas and Prometheus

Image Credit: NASA / JPL / Cassini-ISS / Justin Cowart

Burn. The evidence.

“Symbolic integration” is when you theatrically go through the motions of finding integrals, but the actual result you get doesn’t matter because it’s purely symbolic.

Differentiation and Integration [Explained]

“I don’t know anything with certainty, but seeing the stars makes me dream.” ― Vincent Van Gogh

People don't stop things they enjoy because they reach a certain age

“People think of education as something that they can finish. And what’s more, when they finish, it’s a rite of passage. You’re finished with school. You’re no more a child, and therefore anything that reminds you of school - reading books, having ideas, asking questions - that’s kid’s stuff. Now you’re an adult, you don’t do that sort of thing any more. […] You have everybody looking forward to no longer learning, and you make them ashamed afterward of going back to learning. If you have [a system of education using computers], then anyone, any age, can learn by himself, can continue to be interested. If you enjoy learning, there’s no reason why you should stop at a given age. People don’t stop things they enjoy doing just because they reach a certain age.”

— Isaac Asimov  (via 01030104)

“Being curious is better than being smart. Being motivated and curious counts for more than being smart because it leads to action. Being smart will never deliver results on its own because it doesn’t get you to act. It is desire, not intelligence, that prompts behavior.”

— James Clear, Atomic Habits

Yesterday was hard.

I'm in some courses all this week, and I don't understand anything that 3 of the 4 speakers say. And I've just met the new PhD student of the department, and he's really smart and he's understanding most of the things. And on top of that my advisor is asking me to finish a big amount of writing. I feel really stupid and discouraged.

So, list of positive things to take into account this week:

- All of the courses are about PDEs and not Dynamical systems (which is my research topic). It's normal to not understand most of them.

- It is a great opportunity to see how people of other topics work, and what are they interests. You don't need to understand everything perfectly. Let go and enjoy.

- I learned a lot from yesterday's poster session, and from other students.

- Next year I would have a very smart PhD partner from who I could learn a lot.

- I am a slow-learner when understanding new topics, and that is okay. I could have other qualities that make me a good mathematician.

And I don’t need your permission to defend the North.