Allan - I agree totally. I know you didn't say otherwise, but depending on circumstance, purposefully ignoring criticism is a great call. I've only gotten this question from disgruntled students - an aggressive tone can be trouble in that circumstance so I find the double-think useful. On Tue, Mar 6, 2018 at 4:49 PM, Allan Wechsler <acwacw@gmail.com> wrote:
James Davis's mental reframing might help keep oneself from retorting sarcastically. But it presumes the best possible intentions of the asker -- that the asker is sincerely interested in hearing about real-world applications of a particular mathematical concept. And that well-meant question is an excellent question indeed, bringing up notions of "the unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics" that are certainly worth thinking about.
But this purposely ignores the fact that the question is often asked with less than the best intentions -- as an implied supercilious criticism of one's chosen interest. This attitude is common, and hard to ignore. I'm still in favor of responding politely, but that's the way I've been asked the question, when I've been asked.
On Tue, Mar 6, 2018 at 6:37 PM, James Davis <lorentztrans@gmail.com> wrote:
I have a hard time avoiding the snarky response, but the following observation helped. Whether or not there are applications obviously doesn't matter, but the *question* of whether or not there are applications is often interesting.
It's hard to inspire folks to see beauty, but easy to re-frame the question to yourself.
On Tue, Mar 6, 2018 at 11:04 AM, Joerg Arndt <arndt@jjj.de> wrote:
Anyone being annoyed by this question when you presented something you found beautiful in its own? I certainly have. Plus, being a bit diplomatically challenged (ask Neil!), I'd like to hear a way of answering that question without appearing to be rude. "I don't care one bit" does not work, as I verified empirically.
Best regards, jj
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