alt Hacker NewsThere has to be a happy medium between the tersness of the current notation systems and the verbosity of code-like expressions. We just need to rethink this so more people can learn it. Math still stands a bit like writing did in ancient culture. It's a domain reserved for a few high priests inducted into the craft and completely inaccessible to everyone else.
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The problem is that math is not some universal language, it is a broad field with various sub domains with their own conventions, assumptions, and needs.
Polysemy vs Homonymy vs Context Dependency will always be a problem.
There are lots of areas to improve, but one of the reasons learning math is hard is that in the elementary forms we pretend that there is a singular ubiquitous language, only to change it later.
That is why books that try to be rigorous tend to dedicate so much room at the start to definitions.
Abstract algebra is what finally help it click for me, but it is rare for people to be exposed to it.
I wonder why so many people are under the impression that the notation is what is keeping them away and if only the notation was easier then the underlying concepts would be clear. For example, if you don't know what the pullback of a differential form is, it doesn't matter if I write it in clear text or if I write the common notation φ^* ω.
> It's a domain reserved for a few high priests inducted into the craft and completely inaccessible to everyone else.
It's a domain reserved for people who want to learn it, and there's ton of resources to learn it. Expecting to understand it without learning it does not make any sense.