Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site rochester.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxl!houxm!houxz!vax135!floyd!cmcl2!seismo!rochester!sher From: sher@rochester.UUCP (David Sher) Newsgroups: net.ai Subject: Re: Mathematical Methods Message-ID: <7379@rochester.UUCP> Date: Tue, 12-Jun-84 23:27:32 EDT Article-I.D.: rochester.7379 Posted: Tue Jun 12 23:27:32 1984 Date-Received: Wed, 13-Jun-84 06:59:00 EDT References: <730@sri-arpa.UUCP> Organization: U. of Rochester, CS Dept. Lines: 11 Personally, I have done mathematics upto the beginning graduate level for various courses. When I do any difficult piece of mathematics I find that after the fact I can never remember how I came upon the proof. I can reconstruct my steps but the reconstruction has no real relationship to what I really did. The sensation of finishing a proof is highly analogous to waking up from a dream. This is possibly the most important reason why I am doing artificial intelligence rather than mathematics today. If other real mathematicians also operate in this manner then it is not surprizing that they are reluctant to write up their resoning processes. They literally can not remember them. -David