What does it feel like being a maths genius?

[TheAspiringDoc]

Here's a quote from my discussion with the best of the best:

"If you understand the theory behind school maths you are probably better off spending time practicing comp maths as it better prepares you for the unexpected and is interesting. The most important thing is to do problems, and be prepared to take a while on each one"

yep. it really is about the interest and unexpected

[brightsky]

VCE is probably not the best indicator of 'maths genius' capability. If you want to look at real mathematic talent check out people who get awards in maths competition like the Melbourne Uni Maths Comp and prizes in the AMC. Even better, people who have qualified the Maths Olympiad Summer School, and at the very top, the people who have represented Australia in mathematics.

Despite how much hard work and effort you put into learning maths, you'll never be able to get into the Maths Olympiad Summer School without a large dose of natural ability. The way these people grasp mathematical ideas is quite frankly astonishing, and to these people, Specialist Maths is quite literally child's play considering that many of them have / could have done the hardest VCE maths subject back in Year 8. Often these people don't get 50s in VCE because 1) They don't really care and 2) VCE maths focuses on tricks and attention to detail while the Maths Competitions they have refined their talents on are based purely on pure mathematical intelligence and problem solving ability

This, although I'm not a strong proponent of the idea of natural talent. People who are regarded as 'geniuses' in a particular academic field (maths or otherwise) are usually those who are able to make unorthodox connections between ideas. Such an ability, I don't think, is congenital, but rather acquired after birth through exposure to certain modes of thinking.

[not a maths genius here]

When I was in Tournament of Towns in year 8, there was this guy from Brunswick Secondary (I think). Tall lanky Caucasian guy with long blonde hair, he was a machine. Pretty sure he's well known in UoM maths circles, was incredibly talented. Probably the closest person I've met to being a "maths genius".

Also have a read about this guy if you're keen on a top-level mind https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grigori_Perelman

I believe he was President of the Melbourne Uni Maths Society a few years back.
To answer the OP's question though, I suspect it'd feel pretty darn good haha!

[The Raven]

[not a maths genius here]

When I was in Tournament of Towns in year 8, there was this guy from Brunswick Secondary (I think). Tall lanky Caucasian guy with long blonde hair, he was a machine. Pretty sure he's well known in UoM maths circles, was incredibly talented. Probably the closest person I've met to being a "maths genius".

Also have a read about this guy if you're keen on a top-level mind https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grigori_Perelman

OMG Andrew Elvey Price!
Fucking beast at maths. I think he became one of the teachers at tournament of the towns after he was ineligible to participate. He was also hired at Scotch to do maths mentoring programs. I've remember seeing him a few times. Definitely a maths genius!

[pi]

Yeah that's the guy haha, what a talent! For our population size, Aus does pretty well

[appleandbee]

I personally know two maths geniuses myself; one of them is an old piano teacher of mine who completed a Bachelor of Maths at Melbourne Uni at the age of 16 (this was before the Melbourne Model, she did a Masters of Music after that). Her brother is the youngest PhD graduate from an Australian Uni, where he commenced a PhD at Melb uni at the age of 16 and finished it when he was 20. He went straight to a PhD with no previous uni education. He’s now working at Queensland Uni. Both of them never went to school and their parents weren't maths professors or anything like that (Biochemist and Engineer). They are simply in a league of their own.

[zsteve]

I shy away from labeling myself a 'maths genius', but I'd say that a natural grasp on many topics has helped me immensely. This is at times visual and always conceptual. 99% of the time, I don't stop with "using a rule" without understanding (note - not memorizing) its derivation or proof.

[wyzard]

Don't really call myself a math genius but I'm pretty decent at it and really love doing it

I'd think that intelligence is really malleable and being a genius is a product of passion, hard and smart work. The reason I got good at maths is not because I'm a born genius (I'm actually a late-achiever), but rather I proactively strive to improve constantly. Even though I'm good with math; a lot of time I'd need to persist through difficulties, think out of the box with new concepts, wrestle a lot with problems and keep pushing myself to new levels.