In my last post I encouraged sharing any and all ideas because ideas ripple throughout a network growing and evolving and will ultimately benefit yourself and everyone around you.

Just this morning one of the email lists I am on was sent an email by Chris Albon (the writer of Conflict Health, an excellent blog on: Armed Conflict, Public Health, Human Security, and Health Diplomacy). The email referred to a tweet I cannot find right now that read:

"blog v. keep-it-to-yourself-and-find-a-way-to-get-it-published-so-it-
counts-toward-tenure: discuss."

A somewhat spirited discussion ensued with many offering opinions. I will not rehash the debate here, suffice to say it was interesting with no one being right or wrong. I will relay my opinion on the matter though.

Specifically the ideas in question are those with a concrete value, be it money or especially in this case ideas that lead to publishing and then tenure.

Ideas should be shared for the benefit of all. In my mind if an idea is truly amazing it is most important that it be brought into being.

The reality is often different but I just finished college and I want to believe I would give away the cure for AIDS, open source teleportation and loose world peace to all.

Last night Bradford Cross, a friend and acquaintance tweeted:

| I want to learn about are proofs strategies, not just proof mechanics. Suggestions?

For the first time in a while a part of my brain that of late has rarely been exercised kicked into gear.

It is with extreme fondness that I remember my first real exposure to proofs. My freshman year of college I was sitting in my first mathematics class. The professor was young and engaging, the course material seemed familiar that first day. That night I checked our first problem set.

Question 1:

Prove that x*0 = 0.

That was to be one of the most defining moments in my entire life. Instant panic. I had assumed for so long that such an equation was a given, an identity. I had never questioned why it was so. It was also the first time anything mathematical had eluded me. Sure I had made mistakes or not done homework, but I had always just "got" mathematics.

Upon being shown the solution and learning more about proofs I realized concepts I hope I never forget.

The scalable power of basic modularized knowledge.

The network effect of knowledge.

The rest of my four years at college drove home those points. Each individual learned new things from each other. They internalized that and scaled it to develop new concepts and ideas. Then shared that with others. Repeat.

Bradford has reminded me of those things that I value and hopefully I can strive for them again. I hope any of you out there will join me. Engage me on any level. Even the most seemingly trivial contribution can lead to whole new discovery and can ripple throughout a network and back.