> I hate the realization that comes after the struggle about how easy was the problem I tried to solve. You're far from the only one to feel this way, but I wa

> I hate the realization that comes after the struggle about how easy was the problem I tried to solve. You're far from the only one to feel this way, but I want to point out that this attitude is a choice, not an intrinsic feature of the problem. An equally valid perspective is that learning turns difficult problems into easy ones. One advantage of the latter perspective is that it makes solving a problem a moment to enjoy and celebrate, whereas your perspective turns it (almost definitionally) into a moment of self-recrimination. "Hooray, I understand it!" vs "Why didn't I understand it sooner? (I'm so stupid!...)" I actually suspect that there is natural selection for people with the more upbeat perspective to succeed at becoming mathematicians.