Core Mathematics is Useless: Constructive Criticism

Isn't the whole point of this section to foster individuals' mathematics fundamentals? If someone answers a question correctly, it is evident that he/she already understood the concept and applied the technique appropriately. There is no benefit. If you answer incorrectly, Brilliant gives no solution and urges you to move onto the next problem. How are you supposed to develop comprehension?

#Support

Easy Math Editor

This discussion board is a place to discuss our Daily Challenges and the math and science related to those challenges. Explanations are more than just a solution — they should explain the steps and thinking strategies that you used to obtain the solution. Comments should further the discussion of math and science.

When posting on Brilliant:

Use the emojis to react to an explanation, whether you're congratulating a job well done , or just really confused .
Ask specific questions about the challenge or the steps in somebody's explanation. Well-posed questions can add a lot to the discussion, but posting "I don't understand!" doesn't help anyone.
Try to contribute something new to the discussion, whether it is an extension, generalization or other idea related to the challenge.
Stay on topic — we're all here to learn more about math and science, not to hear about your favorite get-rich-quick scheme or current world events.

Markdown	Appears as
`italics` or `_italics_`	italics
`bold` or `__bold__`	bold
- bulleted - list	bulleted list
1. numbered 2. list	numbered list
Note: you must add a full line of space before and after lists for them to show up correctly
paragraph 1 paragraph 2	paragraph 1 paragraph 2
`[example link](https://brilliant.org)`	example link
`> This is a quote`	This is a quote
# I indented these lines # 4 spaces, and now they show # up as a code block. print "hello world"	# I indented these lines # 4 spaces, and now they show # up as a code block. print "hello world"

Math	Appears as
Remember to wrap math in `$` ... `$` or `\[` ... `\]` to ensure proper formatting.
`2 \times 3`	$2 \times 3$
`2^{34}`	$2^{34}$
`a_{i-1}`	$a_{i-1}$
`\frac{2}{3}`	$\frac{2}{3}$
`\sqrt{2}`	$\sqrt{2}$
`\sum_{i=1}^3`	$\sum_{i=1}^3$
`\sin \theta`	$\sin \theta$
`\boxed{123}`	$\boxed{123}$

Comments

Actually, you can find solutions by clicking on the little rounded rectangle with a small eye labelled "Solution." Solutions are free of charge!

Matt Wang - 8 years, 1 month ago

haha my bad

Taylor Lau - 8 years, 1 month ago

so what you would do for the answer of the type ""3+5=?"".....ha ha ......a little obnoxious...

Sayan Chaudhuri - 8 years, 1 month ago

Problems may have more than one possible approach, and people may even arrive at correct answers without using the concepts that the problems were designed to train (i.e. using pure trial-and-error or manual computation when a more "elegant" solution exists). So answering a question correctly does not automatically guarantee that the appropriate technique was used.

Besides, it wouldn't hurt for us to practice basic concepts every now and then. The core mathematics section also enables us to focus on specific techniques

As a side note, maybe problems in higher levels are impossible to solve through approaches different from the concepts that the problems are designed to train.

Paolo Miguel Bartolo - 8 years, 1 month ago

Also, wouldn't that be the idea of using stars instead? When you take away the points initiative, when you get a star which doesn't (yet) have any inherent value, it incentivizes people to actually learn. You can get the right answer through trial-and-error, and then click the "Solution" button to see how to do it legitimately

But I agree with the comment about higher levels. As a comment, I am flabbergasted whenever I see double integrals, so I'm not going to to that part of Calculus anytime soon.

Matt Wang - 8 years, 1 month ago

You can't say its useless

it is simply helping us

even if your concepts are clear there is no harm in practising questions over them rather it'll only help you...

A Former Brilliant Member - 8 years, 1 month ago

Math	Appears as
Remember to wrap math in `\(` ... `\)` or `\[` ... `\]` to ensure proper formatting.
`2 \times 3`	$2 \times 3$
`2^{34}`	$2^{34}$
`a_{i-1}`	$a_{i-1}$
`\frac{2}{3}`	$\frac{2}{3}$
`\sqrt{2}`	$\sqrt{2}$
`\sum_{i=1}^3`	$\sum_{i=1}^3$
`\sin \theta`	$\sin \theta$
`\boxed{123}`	$\boxed{123}$