How to Learn From a Mathematician

Richard Hamming was a mathematician who went on to do research that helped shape computer science. He gave a lecture called “You and Your Research” that I have read over and over again for inspiration. It helped shape my research and my working habits for the rest of my life. I won’t go over all of the lecture for you but I will highlight my two favorite points. One, he said don’t work with your office door closed. People may distract you and take up your time, but you are leaving yourself open to new ideas and doing work that matters. The person who works with their door closed may be getting a lot of work done, but without input from other people to bounce ideas off of that person may be working on something that doesn’t matter. Second, he explains that during lunch he never sat with his closest co-workers who were all working on the same problems as he was. He expanded his mind by sitting with people he didn’t know. He asked questions about their research and what were the challenging problems in their fields. By doing so he could potentially lend his expertise to the problem while learning something himself along the way. I work from home, so you might be wondering how I work with my door open? I do it via zoom. I have co-workers with whom I zoom with all day long. We might be working on our own projects and not even talking but when we need to we do. We bounce ideas off of one another and get interested in what the other person is doing. It may seem silly to have a day long zoom meeting going, but we are working with our doors open. Now, I have to admit lunch is a different story, LOL! Now let’s bring this back to a practical real life example where you might not be doing any research at all. What about your weight loss journey? Are you doing it with your door open or closed? Are you talking to other people who are on the same journey as you? Have you joined a group that will be able to talk to you about their journey? The answer should be yes you are. You would be working on your journey with the door open. So in conclusion, be a social butterfly and try to expand your mind by talking to people outside of your bubble.