“Can you make fancy patterns of water that actually have some computation power? …” — Terence Tao

If I experiment enough, I get a deeper understanding.

Math education has changed over the years. In the 19th century, they taught spherical trigonometry because one of the biggest applications of mathematics was navigating the ocean. This is no longer so relevant.

If there is something that I should know how to do but don't, it bugs me. I feel like I have to sit down and work out exactly what the problem is.

I tend to change research direction every few years or so.