When i hit upon something amazing that’s just me and I later find out, “Oh, Euler did that already”, I remind myself that I got there MYSELF. That means my thinking processes are well-honed. I did not just copy blindly. In a way it’s a relief now when I can track down someone else who is doing/did ‘my thing': Now I don’t have to if I don’t want to, and I can think of them as having done some of the harder stuff for me, so now I can go even further if I want.

When i hit upon something amazing that’s just me and I later find out, “Oh, Euler did that already”, I remind myself that I got there MYSELF. That means my thinking processes are well-honed. I did not just copy blindly.

In a way it’s a relief now when I can track down someone else who is doing/did ‘my thing': Now I don’t have to if I don’t want to, and I can think of them as having done some of the harder stuff for me, so now I can go even further if I want.

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