maybe it was different a few years ago. now i am back in this university town, ann arbor, but i'm not of the right mind to do mathematics yet.
i don't think i am serious enough, yet. maybe it's the lack of sleep. hours ago, i boarded an overnight airplane flight to return to michigan today.
if i start working on an idea now, then i will not commit to it. it will be mathematical wanderlust and it will be a waste of paper. more than anything, it will be jogging my memory, remembering what problems i was thinking about before and if i remember any good, juicy leads .. which i won't.
it is good to remember, but it would still be a waste of paper.
i don't know if i'm well-rested enough to write, either. specifically, i mean: write something that i won't immediately delete tomorrow.
the thesis casts a long shadow. now i hesitate with my ideas, because i'm afraid they are not grand enough, expansive enough.
today i think i'll make good on my promise of a list of open questions.
questions can be innocent, and there is little risk if one asks a silly question. you don't have to solve anything, either: just think about what you don't know, realise what you don't know, and then formulate it. make a guess, if you feel bold about it.
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