JMA-PSOS

Prima olimpiada scolara de matematica din Romania de care stiu este cea internationala de matematica din 1959. Dupa cate stiu, erau 3 (poate 4) olimpiade scolare in Romania in anii 80: mate, fizica, romana (si poate si chimie). Acum sunt zeci. In anii 80 am participat la cele de mate si romana, iar la romana am ajuns chiar la faza nationala in clasa VII-a (la Braila cred), unde am avut un rezultat mediocru. Imi aduc aminte ca in liceu, eu eram in clasa A, dar clasa B era cea de matematicieni si profesorul lor de mate (Ilie Olaru) facea pregatire pt olimpiada in afara orelor. Cred ca am fost o data sau de doua ori la pregatirea lor si am fost complet depasit de nivelul problemelor discutate, ca de altfel si de majoritatea problemelor din Gazeta Matematica ce erau recomandate pt pregatire.

Dupa 1990, am participat la competitii matematice in liceu si universitate in SUA. In liceu am castigat premiul intai de cateva ori la CCML, am luat premiul doi o data la ICTM (cu echipa de doi, cu Igor P?) si am fost la faza nationala la ARML de doua ori: cu echipa de rezerva in 1990 si cu echipa Chicago A in 1991 (cu care am luat locul 2 pe SUA/Canada cu echipa, in urma echipei din Ontario A care a luat primul loc). Am amintiri placute din excursiile facute pentru ARML la PSU (la University Park cred) si excursia cu masina sotilor Z pt ICTM (la Normal, Bloomington sau Urbana).

La universitate am luat locul 3 intr-un an la competitia locala si am participat o singura data la Putnam.

I was listening to the Hidden Brain podcast on NPR, particularly the You, but better episode and Katy Milkman (while promoting her 2021 book How To Change; see summary) told a little story told about George Dantzig's famous "homework" (stats) problems. KM made the mistake to say unsolvable instead of unsolved (yuge difference):

What's so fascinating about this is that those were two unsolvable problems that had been written on the board. So, his professor discovers that George Dantzig has actually solved these unsolvable problems and comes rushing, and he tells him, "Oh my goodness, do you know what you've done?" Believing these were just his regular homework problems is a big part of what helped George solve them. He didn't treat them any differently. He expected to find a solution. He persisted until he did. If he had thought they were unsolvable problems, he might not ever have attempted them and never have had the success.

This brought up two thoughts:
1. We fail by making small mistakes that compound over time (e.g. religion, oral traditions, language evolution, growing bureaucracies, common law, survival bias, compound interest, ignored externalities, genetic abnormalities).
2. How much can I trust Milkman given such a basic and egregious error? Here is a summary of her 2021 book that is available on Toby Sinclair's website: