The meeting
Posted 05-03-2010 at 07:49 PM by EmmyNoether
I feel ambivalent about my meeting with my adviser. On one hand, it was horrifyingly disappointing when all the work I had done the last several days was undercut with a single swipe of chalk as my adviser sketched out a counterexample. The best way to describe it is a feeling of despair that dwells in the pit of your stomach when you see the glass chandelier of your work falling in slow motion towards the ground and it's ultimate doom of shattering into billions of pieces.
Still, the knowledge gained from seeing someone underhand everything you've done is un-matchable. I am so happy that the counterexample he did find was in regards to the only part of my proof that I felt a bit fishy about. I can rest somewhat comforted that the rest of my work was impeccable. Of course, I would have very much preferred it all to be impeccable, but as I have heard multiple times, if you strive for perfection you'll end up failing most of the time.
I often try to explain to people that life in the math-lane is very similar to a dance on a Japanese game show. It's three steps forward and 2 steps back as you navigate across a room where the floor is a giant wac-a-mole board. Eventually, you may make it across the room, but you'll never get there as fast as you want to, nor in a straight line as you avoid moles coming at you from the floor. You might feel like you are detouring, which you are, but along the way, you learn what paths not to take, which can be as important as learning which path is right. No matter what, as long as you persevere and don't get taken out by a mole, you should find your way to end of the road. Plus, you learn some valuable lessons and defense mechanisms along the way.
Still, the knowledge gained from seeing someone underhand everything you've done is un-matchable. I am so happy that the counterexample he did find was in regards to the only part of my proof that I felt a bit fishy about. I can rest somewhat comforted that the rest of my work was impeccable. Of course, I would have very much preferred it all to be impeccable, but as I have heard multiple times, if you strive for perfection you'll end up failing most of the time.
I often try to explain to people that life in the math-lane is very similar to a dance on a Japanese game show. It's three steps forward and 2 steps back as you navigate across a room where the floor is a giant wac-a-mole board. Eventually, you may make it across the room, but you'll never get there as fast as you want to, nor in a straight line as you avoid moles coming at you from the floor. You might feel like you are detouring, which you are, but along the way, you learn what paths not to take, which can be as important as learning which path is right. No matter what, as long as you persevere and don't get taken out by a mole, you should find your way to end of the road. Plus, you learn some valuable lessons and defense mechanisms along the way.
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