![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
On life I actually want
Mar. 1st, 2026 07:41 pmScott D. Clary writes in Facebook -- https://www.facebook.com/scottdclarypage/posts/pfbid02AGpWyBqpw8LtKbQmjgrxZUim3ympc3cfuJybmUKtGAegrh6D98tLqJhta2z1Xyk8l :
One of the most clarifying things you can do is finish a sentence that starts with: the life I actually want looks like. Not the life you think you should want. Not the life that sounds good. The actual one. Most people have never written it down. It changes things when you do.
***
The life I actually want looks like the life I have right now, but on top of that, with strong mathematicians looking into my books and papers.
How would I know if strong mathematicians are looking into my books and papers? Well, presumably some of them would be asking me substantial questions revealing a genuine interest in and a good grasp of the issues. Some others would post preprints and publish papers containing references to specific important results of mine, applied in a nontrivial way. Better yet, some would eventually come to visit me in Prague to suggest original ideas for joint projects making substantial contributions relevant to the main topics I am studying.
The key word is "strong mathematicians". Weak mathematicians asking me confused questions revealing lack of genuine interest and no grasp of the issues, or even interest in money or prestige rather than mathematics per se, or suggesting collaboration without original ideas or potential for substantial contribution, I have more than enough already. (You can imagine what it means to be a strong mathematician by my standards. Hint: I have my Ph.D. from Harvard.)
But as usual, it might be even more relevant to subtract certain things from my life rather than adding new things to it. How about getting rid of all the candidate collaborators trying to mistreat, abuse, or manipulate me, to take advantage of me? Finding more efficient ways to turn away the candidate collaborators interested in acquiring power over me and pushing me around, rather than learning my ideas or contributing theirs?
One of the most clarifying things you can do is finish a sentence that starts with: the life I actually want looks like. Not the life you think you should want. Not the life that sounds good. The actual one. Most people have never written it down. It changes things when you do.
***
The life I actually want looks like the life I have right now, but on top of that, with strong mathematicians looking into my books and papers.
How would I know if strong mathematicians are looking into my books and papers? Well, presumably some of them would be asking me substantial questions revealing a genuine interest in and a good grasp of the issues. Some others would post preprints and publish papers containing references to specific important results of mine, applied in a nontrivial way. Better yet, some would eventually come to visit me in Prague to suggest original ideas for joint projects making substantial contributions relevant to the main topics I am studying.
The key word is "strong mathematicians". Weak mathematicians asking me confused questions revealing lack of genuine interest and no grasp of the issues, or even interest in money or prestige rather than mathematics per se, or suggesting collaboration without original ideas or potential for substantial contribution, I have more than enough already. (You can imagine what it means to be a strong mathematician by my standards. Hint: I have my Ph.D. from Harvard.)
But as usual, it might be even more relevant to subtract certain things from my life rather than adding new things to it. How about getting rid of all the candidate collaborators trying to mistreat, abuse, or manipulate me, to take advantage of me? Finding more efficient ways to turn away the candidate collaborators interested in acquiring power over me and pushing me around, rather than learning my ideas or contributing theirs?
