5th
hubris
A friend and I had a conversation today about why Mathematicians are so egotistical. It’s true that much of mathematics is beyond comprehension to any person outside of the field, and this does add to our ego. But in the end I think we agreed that it is, at the core, a defense mechanism. Most people hate math. I know, because 90% of the people that I meet tell me so when they ask what my major is. If I didn’t have such an inflated image of the importance of mathematics in my mind, I might get defeated when someone hates on my major. But instead I smile inside, knowing whatever they study has more roots in math than they probably will ever know. Honestly, what else is there to do but keep believing that the thing I love most in the world is the most important thing in the world?
