the kinds of emotional intelligence one needs to succeed in a field where you spend almost all of your time understanding nothing. ​ And second, by presenting them with a formal definition, I gave them a common reference point from which they could compare and contrast their own notions. There we had the beginnings of disaster avoidance. ​ As a mathematician, Devlin did nothing unusual. In fact, the most common question a mathematician has when encountering a new topic is, “What exactly do you mean by that word?” ​ The mathematical habit is putting your personal pride or embarrassment aside for the sake of insight.