By Brian Simanek<\/p>\n
When it comes time to sign up for classes, I always wonder if I should continue to focus on taking classes most relevant to my research or if I should take some time and learn some advanced math not related to my research.<\/p>\n
On one hand, one could make the case that it is always fun and helpful to learn as much math as possible and being in a class that is not related to my research would certainly force me to learn quite a lot.\u00a0 On the other hand, I have learned that most advanced mathematics requires more than three hours a week to be thoroughly learned and understood, so being enrolled in such a class would require a significant commitment.\u00a0 I chose my research field because it is the one I like to spend most of my time thinking about.\u00a0 Does it make sense to devote a non-trivial amount of time to a field in which I am less motivated?\u00a0 I think the answer is yes\u2026 sometimes.\u00a0 It does make sense to think critically about as many different mathematical ideas as possible, but one must also choose a specialty and focus most of one\u2019s time learning in that field.\u00a0 That being said, whenever I have taken the time to learn new math in any field, I have always been glad I did so.<\/p>\n