for example take even a famous mathematician, like a fields medalist.
99.9% of the population will have no idea who the f they are.
on the other hand, they will be famous within mathematicians and have all the prestige and the good work opportunities that come from it, without having the shortcomings of being famous within the general population.
Actually it is best to be at the top level but not a FM winner or similar. Those people have to deal with annoying groupie undergrads and suckers-up at the Heidelberg Laureate Forum etc, and are constantly being harassed to present their face for fundraising or to defend woke causes and so on.
Why would you want the attention of random people anyway? The 99.9% you speak of are monkeys whose idea of mathematicians begins and ends with beautiful mind or good will hunting, and they'll be more impressed by you splitting a bill evenly rather than trying to explain what you're working on.
If you are looking for external validation in your life then dont become a mathematician. thats for sure.
Why would you want the attention of random people anyway? The 99.9% you speak of are monkeys whose idea of mathematicians begins and ends with beautiful mind or good will hunting, and they'll be more impressed by you splitting a bill evenly rather than trying to explain what you're working on.
Terence Tao is pretty well known outside of math
Surprisingly not. I've known many undergrad math majors (even at places like Harvard) who did not know who Terence Tao was. I would say Terence Tao is the mathematician (who isn't also a politician, etc.) known by the most people, but would still say only 0.1% of the population would know who he is, maybe even less.
Why would you want the attention of random people anyway? The 99.9% you speak of are monkeys whose idea of mathematicians begins and ends with beautiful mind or good will hunting, and they'll be more impressed by you splitting a bill evenly rather than trying to explain what you're working on.
Why do so many mathematicians have such an overinflated opinion of themselves? It's always the "but we're smarter than X" line. Are you though, putting other people down to raise yourself up? It's like one massive coping mechanism because you didn't receive enough love as children.
I think a lot of you need to expand your world horizons. No wonder this forum has so many incels.
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