How much effort?

Reflecting more as assess current status and decided made sense to talk how much effort I feel have put into finding my own ideas, which have noted began back April 1995. There was some confidence there I think as noted the date to within a month. Later have decided April 15th sounds good for the day. Where my vague idea was to use modern problem solving techniques on old presumed hard math problems, just in case that fresh look with a try anything simple perspective might reveal things missed before.

Oh yeah, so yes, made a rule to use only simple approaches. Am so glad I did that! Where only diverged from it a bit with one thing, where I found myself needing calculus. But even then I didn't go beyond partial differential equations of the first order. So still didn't use really complex mathematics. Was important to have that rule to not get bogged down in certain ways. There IS a lot of modular which was key to a lot, and now just seems so cool. Yes modular is in mathematics as well as so many other things in our world and is one of the most powerful simplifying abstractions available.

So yes, a hobby, which was a good way to look at it. Just my own interest in doing something, on my own time, without anyone else involved in decision-making or anything of importance relative to it.

However, did put in much effort maybe because I enjoyed it so much and like many who try such things very quickly thought I had success! Where with one thing? Um, yeah. But I don't talk it as much as wrote a math paper and sent to a reputable journal and had an editor reject my proof as too simple. That will rattle you. Too simple? Are you kidding me? (Is correct I know now but still don't push that hard, as it's just such an emotional thing to me.)

But trusted established authority then, so moved on. That was 1996.

Will admit as was also living my life otherwise, did wonder at times at how much time was spending on my hobby which was a lot! Generally ALL my free time, except for when partying or going out like to nightclubs which did back then. Later would focus more on bars.

Was 1999 when feeling confident and deciding should learn better to face the public, started doing karaoke. Which was a great decision. Little did I know then I had invented a new mathematical technique which would carry me quite a bit from then on, with my latest discovery less than four months ago. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but part of me was also VERY skeptical.

My feel of how things went from about then until 2002 was that I worked at my hobby 7 days a week through entire time, while also finding time to work, and do other things. But by then could work on math problems in my head. And even told myself that I worked on them in my sleep.

Reason for one of my favorite tweets:

Hit the ground running baby, and never stop. You can rest as everybody needs rest, but still work in your dreams.

— James Harris (@jstevh) September 17, 2012

So yeah am talking to myself. Through the years conversations with myself were of course very common, especially when wondering about how much time was spending, and whether could be justified. For a hobby of finding my own ideas, I seemed to be working at it more than anything else.

Didn't really slow down too much till probably 2008? Seems so vague now. By then probably was NOT still every single day. But still most of them. And was also a more and more refined process which was less scribbling on paper and more and more was me working on things with my mind and only going to paper when necessary. Which was good. In the past had at times actually ran out of things to scribble equations on.

And finally started branching out into other areas, which I think maybe was more by 2012?  Or maybe 2010? And then was full force by 2014. And recently I finally suspended formal research, though promptly figured some other things out. Oh yeah, by then was really accepting WAS formal research as struggled to stop it. Tried a few times and now seems to be finally sticking. And now am more into assessing, finally feeling like did ok.

So we're talking about 22 years. And to myself about 7 of those were working every single day, most of the waking day, and confident was working on math problems in my dreams, which um, is probably actually true.

Which sounds about right. And glad to write it down! Have thought about it before but remember being more confident on details while now is more vague. So better to put it down before I forget.


James Harris