On building and explaining
Apr. 18th, 2026 02:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
posicScott D. Clary writes in Facebook -- https://www.facebook.com/scottdclarypage/posts/pfbid0KLhGVJjGCDwwp6sNjAfy9usMNToM2LKN5XMCCNxDysGsNxGgYkL8h2tEERBhxsX9l :
The person who can both build something and explain it clearly is worth more than someone who can do either alone. These skills don't naturally co-occur. Builders tend to dismiss communication. Communicators tend to dismiss technical depth. The rare person who refuses to dismiss either becomes the one everyone wants on their team.
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Throughout my life, I generally did not dismiss mathematical communication. But explaining something clearly is one thing, while getting the audience interested in what I'm explaining is something else altogether. In the epoch when mathematicians are no longer interested in mathematics, but rather in betterment of their own lives by the means of doing mathematics, getting anybody interested in my mathematical ideas is a tall order. Coming across people who perceive profit opportunities in pretending to be interested is, unfortunately, much easier. But then, I am not interested in being on anybody's team, either.
The person who can both build something and explain it clearly is worth more than someone who can do either alone. These skills don't naturally co-occur. Builders tend to dismiss communication. Communicators tend to dismiss technical depth. The rare person who refuses to dismiss either becomes the one everyone wants on their team.
***
Throughout my life, I generally did not dismiss mathematical communication. But explaining something clearly is one thing, while getting the audience interested in what I'm explaining is something else altogether. In the epoch when mathematicians are no longer interested in mathematics, but rather in betterment of their own lives by the means of doing mathematics, getting anybody interested in my mathematical ideas is a tall order. Coming across people who perceive profit opportunities in pretending to be interested is, unfortunately, much easier. But then, I am not interested in being on anybody's team, either.
