Official math can be found in textbooks, where it is presented in a logical and structured manner, in an esoteric language that relies on indecipherable symbols. Secret math, also known as mathematical intuition, can be found in the heads of mathematicians. It consists of mental representations and abstract sensations, often visual, that are for th

Our Ordinary Intuition As long as schools refuse to teach the human reality of mathematics, all mathematicians will be self-taught. Saying that math is a matter of intuition isn’t enough. You also have to explain that this intuition is accessible and describe the ways that you can develop it. Nothing is more intimidating than the myth that mathemat

This geometric intuition has been the secret weapon in my mathematical career. I began to see things that no one else had seen, to solve problems that no one else had been able to solve. It was only much later, talking with other mathematicians and reading the stories of famous mathematicians, that I found out my experience was not at all unique. W