Any mathfags on here that use to be bad at math? I use to hate it as a kid...

Any mathfags on here that use to be bad at math? I use to hate it as a kid. I was barely able to learn my times tables back in elementary school. In freshmen year of high school I failed algebra 1 and had to retake it. However, by junior year I realized all I needed was a lot of practice. I significantly improved and even started studying some math outside of school. I now love to do and discuss math. Anyone have a similar story/experiences?

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i was sort of good at maths but i hated it. then once i got to calculus and differentiation and stuff i though 'wow look at all the pretty symbols, maybe people will think i am smart if i can use these' so i studied, and it turned out i enjoy maths

Real potential requires a person to be talented at math from birth. That's what I believe, but perhaps it's possible to become pretty good even if you were once bad.

Math requires hard work not good genes.

99% of those kids who were "talented at birth" were just normal kids born into wealth and forced to excel academically by their parents. Someone like Terence Tao is one in a billion.

The biggest thing pushing people away from math is this perception you have to be some autistic child savant to study it when really any smart person could excel at math if they actually took an interest in the subject.

Nobody is really genetically predisposed to be a math genius. To be good at math is like trying to get good at other things like music or language. You need to follow the steps and practice. Anyone with an iq of at least 90 can do this.

I like it when I hear about doofy ways people get into things.

This. There is a difference from kids forced into gifted programs that saw the material earlier than you vs kids that are actually gifted. Some kids seem smart because they took math courses earlier and seem "advance" for their age due to having learned the material earlier, when they are quite average. Eventually actually gifted people will surpass them.

That's the problem with a lot of "gifted" students that are skipped a grade or two or seen the material earlier. They aren't that smart and eventually when everyone else reaches the courses they took they somehow fail out or become average. People that are the real deal like Tao are rare

I'm bad/mediocre at math now and I'm at Uni, managed to get through multivariable calc through the skin of my teeth. What can i do to improve? It just feels like some people have a better feel for it than I do, or is it just practice?

I was average back in HS due to depression and hating STEM. Then I eventually overcame my hatred and switched to engineering (before that I had gone through 1.5 year of psychology). My first semester was really hard and I studied like and asian, but after that I've been able to get by.

>It just feels like some people have a better feel for it than I do, or is it just practice?
Yeah, just practice m8. See When I first entered engineering I got the same feeling as you do. People around me were having the easiest time with calculus while I has burning my neurons with it. After busting my ass I eventually got the intuition and caught up with them, and learning new subjects got a lot easier.

Alright man thanks!

>Relatable
>Failed freshman year
>Now going to uni
I had to repeat my first year bcuz of math, i hated it and i sucked at it and all this was primary schools fault. My next year as a freshman was ~~~~ i knew math but didnt enjoy it. Smarter everyday made a video on bikes with wich you stare left u go right, and he practiced for 8 months and forgot how to drive a normal bike, than in amsterdam he tried driving a normal bike and forgot how to but then it clicked for him and started going normal again. Same happened for me in my life. I cant remember when but it clicked for me i started enjoying at math and science. I like to study what im interested in and iblove knowledge. Now my math grades are straight As.
>It is ones relevation wich chenges him, it is ones loght wich guides you when needed. Our brains are beautiful thing we dont understand completely like woman.
>tl;dr

[math]\text{ }^{\color{#571da2}{\displaystyle\text{W}}}\text{ }^{^{^{^{\color{#462eb9}{\displaystyle\text{h}}}}}}\text{ }^{^{^{^{^{^{^{\color{#3f47c8}{\displaystyle\text{y}}}}}}}}}\text{ }^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{\color{#3f62cf}{\displaystyle\text{ }}}}}}}}}}}}\text{ }^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{\color{#437ccc}{\displaystyle\text{i}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}\text{ }^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{\color{#4b90bf}{\displaystyle\text{s}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}\text{ }^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{\color{#56a0ae}{\displaystyle\text{ }}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}\text{ }^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{\color{#62ab99}{\displaystyle\text{t}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}\text{ }^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{\color{#71b484}{\displaystyle\text{h}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}\text{ }^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{\color{#82ba70}{\displaystyle\text{i}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}\text{ }^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{\color{#96bc5f}{\displaystyle\text{s}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}\text{ }^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{\color{#a9bd52}{\displaystyle\text{ }}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}\text{ }^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{\color{#bcbb48}{\displaystyle\text{o}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}\text{ }^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{\color{#ceb541}{\displaystyle\text{n}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}\text{ }^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{\color{#dcab3c}{\displaystyle\text{ }}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}\text{ }^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{\color{#e39938}{\displaystyle\text{/}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}\text{ }^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{\color{#e68033}{\displaystyle\text{s}}}}}}}}}}}}\text{ }^{^{^{^{^{^{^{\color{#e3632d}{\displaystyle\text{c}}}}}}}}}\text{ }^{^{^{^{\color{#de4227}{\displaystyle\text{i}}}}}}\text{ }^{\color{#da2121}{\displaystyle\text{/}}}[/math]

Because it has to do with math.

Just practice every day. Practice until you get it. And keep practicing so you don't forget. That's what I did.

It's just hard for me to sit down and diligently do math/study. I don't know why, I didn't have these problems when I was a child. I'm now in my third year (out of five) and I just feel like I'm not learning anything useful. Or am I just too dumb to apply the things I learn? Sorry if this comes off as a blog post.

Are you retarded?

[math]\rm {{\color{red}A}^{\displaystyle \color{yellow}u}}_{\displaystyle \color{green}t} \color{cyan}i {}^{\displaystyle \color{blue}s} \color{magenta}m

[/math]

not true
i learned some math after school in my late 20's
reason ?
my teachers at school were lazy as fxxx and didn't do anything other than pass the books out and shout abuse at you

^This. In diffrent reality Tao could be "working" as a poet in McDonalds...

i was always ok at it but hated it until about 23, and then ate it up

there is a significant difference between a normal schmuck getting his first A in calc 1 and the likes of Gauss

I used to think Maths were meh and easy (also quite stupid because we had timed tests with hundreds of questions, basically monkey-training us).
After a while it was pretty cool and easy (after we moved on past the monkey-training).
Now it's practically love and without it I doubt that I would have a purpose in life.

Me.

Used to get 50s-60s in high school, then I finished a degree in Philosophy, now I'm finishing a degree in Math with a >3.9 GPA.

Granted, my schools pretty retarded

me too

You are literally retarded. You'd struggle to find a single great mathematician who was not renowned for their mathematical ability when they were young. The ones you find will most likely be people who simply didn't start doing math until a later age.

Then explain why every Nobel Prize winner has an IQ average of around 150 and I figured it'd be the same--if not higher--for Fields Medal Winners. If you actually believe this and you're not joking you are another retard. Disposition does exist.

A pure mathematician with an IQ of 125 is literally useless. They'd struggle to have even a basic grasp of, say, topology and abstract algebra. They might be able to get by in applied math, but they'd be mediocre at best.

I think a lot of people fail to reach their potential due to life circumstances. I was very poor in the Deep South. The public schools suck. The teachers are basically babysitters, and a lot of them are really stupid. The only way to learn was having private tutors or parents who could teach you. My parents didn't know any math themselves and were always working. I switched schools and scored high enough to be placed in "gifted" classes, but by then I was years behind on even basic math.

The accelerated classes were filled mostly with kids in a different socioeconomic class than me. I was hungry all the time, my shoes were falling apart, my home life was shit. Being poor comes with a lot of BS that changes your outlook and perspective on life. It's hard to care about classes when you're dealing with so many other things. I rarely went to class in high school, I did really well in the math classes when I actually showed up and decided to try, but I failed most classes because I always skipping school and missing assignments.

This turned into a blogpost, but my point is a lot of people never have and never will discover their potential. There's plenty of intelligent kids who will fade into mediocrity because they were poor or their parents failed them. Some of my best friends are illegal immigrants and you can tell they're naturally intelligent but it was never developed. Now they work construction. I've seen kids that were smarter than their parents. What sucks even more is that they're kind of outcasted/seen as weird because they're smarter than everyone else around them. It's depressing to think about how many people this applies to.

Geniuses and prodigies will probably still excel, but theres definitely people who could've been much more.

Raoul Bott
Stephen Smale
Karl Weistrass

I can keep going, if you want?


>Let me pull shit out of my ass and pass it off as biblical truth. Sounds like your IQ is bellow 120.

>Citation needed

You seem to be overestimating how hard it is to master high mathematics. The last time you've had math was probably in HS.

>Then explain why every Nobel Prize winner has an IQ average of around 150
Seriously, where do ou guys pull those averages from?
Obviously there are more people with an IQ of 150+ among Nobel laureates than among the general population, but why would nearly everyone have an IQ so high? 120-125 is a much better estimate: there's a considerable share of gifted individuals but there are also lots of hard-working average people coming from privileged backgrounds.

Yeah, no, I disagree. I've a BS in pure maths and a masters in electrical engineering. My IQ is confirmed 109.

It's true that you can reach an abstraction ceiling, but it's a lot higher than what Veeky Forums would lead you to believe. I've no doubt that I could finish a phd in maths if I had 5 years to waste.

I'm a putnam fellow you dumbass. Don't know why I'm wasting time here

I guarantee you I could give you a whole slew of problems you'd struggle to solve. I said mathematicians with low IQ's were useless. Not that they can't get degrees.

I guarantee you all 3 of those people were the #1 person in their class in math when they were in grade school

putnam is just stupid puzzles.

Let's see those slew of problems then? It's funny because faggots like you can't hold a candle to someone like Gauss or Tao, yet you act like you know it all.

Add Stefan Banch to that list, btw.

How are you gonna guarantee something when you got no proof. You are acting like a bitter faggot RN.

Here are a few elementary, but pretty fun problems. I could just give you impossible stuff like what Cleo does, but I won't. Take it for what you will.

Difficulty: 3/10
Integrate 1/(a + b cos x) where a and b are real

Difficulty: 5/10
Integrate (cos x)^p / cos(nx) where p and n are natural numbers and p

Oh X1, X2, etc... are dense between 0 and 1

You want some less elementary problems? Topology? Abstract algebra?
You should be able to solve those problems I gave easily if you're not useless

Got several C's in middle school. Didn't try hard in high school and got B's. I even failed real analysis my first time taking it 2 years ago.

I just got accepted to a pure math PhD program with a fellowship and TA position (top 50 US school).

Nigga, you just proved my point. Are you that foolish that you would judge someone's talent in math based on a few select problems, which you already know the answer to.

Honestly, it's quite sad seeing someone's head so far up their own ass. Like I said before, faggots like you can't hold a candle to Gauss or Tao yet you act like you are hot shit.

>let's see your whole slew of problems then
>gives problems
>claims they don't have to solve them

Yes, I would judge someone's talent based on a few select problems because people who are good at math are generally good at solving all types of problems and people who can't solve shit are generally bad at solving problems which, if you didn't notice, IS ALL MATH IS

> abstract algebra
> hard to get a grasp on
I don't think I'm that smart, but baby's first abstract algebra and topology aren't exactly hard.

I solved the first 2 when I was in high school and the last when I was a freshman.
Topology and abstract algebra has the potential to be very difficult. I wasn't talking about 101

I forfeit.

Since you are good at math why don't you solve my select combinatorics problems?

In case you didn't notice, being a Putnam fellow is hot shit

Sure

>Topology and abstract algebra has the potential to be very difficult. I wasn't talking about 101
ahh okay. the "basic grasp" was the part I was questioning.

Despite what you may believe, you don't have to be one of the greats to be a mathematician.

Are you going to write out the problem? I always enjoy a challenge

for the third problem
let [math]c_1, \ldots c_n[/math] be the lengths of the parts after n steps, and let [eqn]s_n = \sum_{1 \le i \le n} c_i^3[/eqn]
then
[eqn]s_{n+1}- s_n = -3a_nb_n(a_n+b_n)[/eqn]
so
[eqn] \sum_{n\ge 1} a_nb_n(a_n+b_n) = -\frac13 (\sum_{n\ge 1}s_{n+1}- s_n) = -\frac13(\lim_{n \rightarrow \infty}s_n - s_1) = \frac 13[/eqn]
since [math]\lim_{n \rightarrow \infty}s_n=0[/math]

In a span of 30 days, a hot shit putnam fellow shit posted at least one time a day, but no more than 45 times a day. Prove that there must be a period of successive days during which the shit poster posted precisely 14 times.

30 minutes.

You take a collection of days in which I posted 14 days. Does it also count if I posted 14 times in a day?

Well, you need to prove to me such a collection of days exist, you are kind of jumping the gun here?

I'm clarifying on the question. Would a single day in which I posted 14 times count or does it have to be a collection of days that add up to 14?

A single day would be fine.

I doubt it makes a difference either way

There are 13!/(k!*(13-k)!) ways for me to shitpost 14 times in k+1 days. We prove this by letting each shitpost be an x.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
There are 13 places between the x's to put a | and seperate the shit posts into different days.

We must show that there's more ways to shitpost 14 times in 30 days sucessively than there is total number of ways to shitpost or 45^30

Where it starts becoming a real bitch is when we start worrying about counting twice

Good problem specifically because it's not easy to get around double counting

Well not greater, but equal

Yes, that's why I picked it :).

This problem is very deadly yet easy to state.

If you want a simillar problem to this one, try the Erdos Szekeres Theorem.

Although, combinatorics has that effect. The "easy" way to solve this problem would be to use the pigeon hole principle.

A professor demonstrated the solution to this problem in lecture, so I guess I cheated on this one before I stated it.

Hang on, what if I shitposted 45 times a day every day for 30 days?

Something missing here? If so I should of noticed it sooner

Damn, I fucked up the question.

I meant to say no more than 45 times in that period of 30 days.

Good eyes.

Talk about a different problem

You can't shit post 45 times for 30 days straight because you would surpass the limit ( which I stated incorrectly) of 45 times in a span of 30 days.

What if I shitposted 45 times in a single day?

Well, let me state the solution to the one I already said, if anyone is curious.

let aj = number of times you shit posted on or before the j'th day.

then a1,a2,...,a30 is an increasing sequence of distinct positive integers, with 1

Could I get an answer? I'm still not clear on the question. I want a chance to solve the actual problem.

Well, I fucked up the problem so I guess you win :).

Yeah you can, but then what? You shit posted 45 times in one day and then you can't shit post anymore in the next day because you reached your limit.


HERE IS THE CORRECTLY STATED PROBLEM.

In a span of 30 days, an user shit posted at least one time a day, but no more than 45 times DURING THAT PERIOD of 30 days. Prove that there must be a period of successive days during which the shit poster posted precisely 14 times.

So why couldn't I shit post 45 times a day, go cold turkey until the end of the month, and never shitpost 14 times in several successive days?

Oh, I see what you mean. Okay, I'm clear on the problem now. I'll try and solve it in 15 minutes after I get done writing this gamma function integral in another thread...

Perhaps, I was too vague in the problem statement.

Let me add a bit of details.

In a span of 30 days, an user shit posted at least one time a day, but no more than 45 times DURING THAT PERIOD of 30 days. Prove that there must be a period of successive days during which the shit poster posted precisely 14 times during that period of 30 days.
If anyone is reading this thread, make sure you don't fuck up your questions by being a lazy mofo like me.

Yes, I did.

I go to straight Cs throughout school until I passed Algebra II with a C- and thought, thank gif I'm done withstand. Proceeded to get an F in precalculus three times in college and dropped out (I was a lib. Arts major but I needed a math class for "diversity".)

Was listless for a few years before I went back and took precalculus again at 23 y/o, with trig. I decided I would not let this class hold me back, and so I went to every lecture, did every assignment plus extra problems from every chapter taught in lecture. I got an A+. Then took Calc 1. A-. Finished calculus series with straight As by working my ass off on problem sets. I'm taking a proof class this summer, then real Analysis and abstract algebra next academic year. Officially changed my major to math and I want to maybe do a PhD.

All I needed was desire and hard work. Now I actually love math and self taught myself a little probability and proof technique on the side. It's absolutely possible for a brainlet to succeed in math if they put their heart and soul into it

Damn, that' an inspiring story. If you really want to do it then do it man.

You seem to think that a mathematicians career objective is to be a field's medalist. This is a flawed way of thinking. The career objective is not to solve the millennium problems, but instead, to simply contribute. We reach conclusions by building one step at a time. It's true that some uniquely awesome people will not only build the staircase, but the whole damn block, too, but they are exceptions, not the rule. You and your kind do the field of maths a great disservice by attempting to elevate it to lofty positions, thereby limiting the combined brainpower the field has to offer.

I got it. I'm going to start working on it now. Here's what I've spent the last 30 minutes writing

>41 minutes ago
You aren't going to solve shit. Stupid fucking brainlet

catalog.ucf.edu/content/documents/programs/Mathematics_BS.pdf

Scale of 1-10, as a guy who always struggled in math classes but still somehow managed to scrape by with B's, how hard will this be for me?

My ultimate goal is an engineering program, but I fucked myself freshman/sophomore year doing biomed (skipped a lot of classes and eventually withdrew) and I'm ineligible for my school's engineering college. However I can take the path of Math into a Masters Engineering program at UF.

If I really apply myself like I have been since I returned to school, how hard does this curriculum seem?

As hard as any other university. What knowledge is required for a BS is pretty standardized I think. Take applied math rather than pure.

This isn't true. Math is completely man-made, and there's no evidence to back up the claim that some people are naturally gifted at it.

That would be like saying some people are talented at birth at driving a car.

some are, they are called pilots later on life

Don't you mean men?

what if he posts 45 times every day

If he starts with 1 post on the first day, 2 posts on the second, 1 post on the third, 2 on the 4th, 1 on the 5th... which period of successive days has precisely 14 posts?

nevermind, theres a lot

This is blatantly false. Mathematical talent obviously exists, and you've never been anywhere near serious math students or read about any mathematician in your life if you think it doesn't.

The point that people either miss or ignore is that everyday mathematics is not a sport. It's not like the NFL or even the IMO where you need to be in the top 0.0001% at your skill to be "good enough".

Terry Tao is not your average mathematician, and you don't need to be Terry Tao to make it as one. Anyone with decent ability can do that provided they put in the time.

I got held back in HS because of mathematics. At the time I didn't care and lost the math train halfway trough, then one day I thought I'd pick up the books for once. Turns out I ended up loving it and now I'm studying maths at university.

What is the difference? I don't think my school offers applied math

>doesn't offer applied math
Bejesus. Come again? You're telling me that they only offer pure math degrees? As in abstract prove the existence of the number 1?

and they worked quite hard to get there, don't you think?

Exactly, mathematics is a profession, that's all. OP is a troll for not stating what "good" and "bad" at math means. One could say that good means good enough to get a degree, but even then it's not the same to get a degree in Princetown that one in Alicante (Spain).

In my experience, there are people who can create new knowledge and people who can just learn and understand work from other people then apply it. I wouldn't say the latter are really mathematicians (not that I am one, I'm actually pretty bad at math and can just grasp complex concepts very superficially). However they can do useful work, just like basically everyone. You don't need to be the next Euler to get some small shit done and make other people's lifes easier while earning some money from it.

I do not believe that people are born with innate mathematical abilities, other than potentially having a primal number sense. However, I do believe some are born with extraordinary abilities in regards to temperament, which may make them more open to learning certain subjects.

Terry Tao, like many other great mathematicians, is mainly a product of his environment. He grew up in a family that stressed the importance of mathematics and learning from infancy.

His mother recieved a degree in both physics & mathematics, and she teaches math, physics, and chemistry to secondary-school students. His father was a pediatrician who studied methods in educating gifted children. He grew up in a family that knew exactly what to feed and expose him to before he was even born.

Multiple biographies indicate that, at the age of two, he loved attempting to teach five year olds mathematics. His family stated that he learned mathematics from watching Sesame Street. This might be true, but it'd be hard not to believe that both his mother and father were very instrumental in shaping his behavioral psychology by encouraging him to use certain active learning techniques early on. There's also plenty of studies which indicate that Sesame Street does a better job at impeding a child's learning rather than encouraging it.

Children start to imitate their parents around the age of two, so it isn't far off to say that he imitated his mom in regards to teaching others so early on. In doing so, he utilized one of the greatest forms of memory retention (learning through teaching). The method has been shown to greatly increase the learner's motivation by giving them a heightened sense of purpose and helps in the formation of stronger neural connections.

If you combine this with the changes which happen within the brain before the age of four, in regards to prefrontal cortex development, then it's the perfect catalyst for the rapid development of mathematical ability.

>innate talent
>temperament

What about people like Ramanujan who were memorizing pi to 300 decimal places without effort?