TFW sucked at math all through high school

>TFW sucked at math all through high school
>Pulled C's and D's because I couldn't do it
>Thought I was hopeless for math
>Put off Uni and go straight to working a job
>Years later decide to try and get a degree
>Scared of the math though
>Go online looking for resources to learn it
>Within 4 weeks learn all of the shit I failed at in HS and can do it very well (Algebra 1/2, Geometry, Trig, Pre-calc)
>Teach self Calculus in 2 weeks using online resources and a textbook I found at Goodwill
>CLEP out of Calc
>Decide to take Calc 2 for shits and chuckles
>Teach self the entire course on my own time in 3 weeks

So I guess my question is, why the hell is it so easy now? Is self-teaching math the superior method? Is it just because I'm older now (26)? I swear if I knew about this back in HS I'd have done it and breezed through the math classes.

>Is it just because I'm older now (26)?
Yes.

Learning is a skill. It takes strategy and it takes discipline. You just needed some time to develop them.

it's easier with age, yeah. in highschool i was constantly sleep deprived and tried to avoid the work at every opportunity instead of putting in effort. now in university level math it's no big deal, being able to put up with at times boring and tedious material is a skill that many young shitheads don't have the patience for

Similar situation to you except I'm a year older and not quite as far along. I blame the utter shit tier public school system and teachers. Outside of private school/tutoring, self study is the only way to go. I find it hard to believe that you mastered Calculus in two weeks though.

holy fucking shit are you me?

I didn't go into Uni until I was 22 and started basic arithmetic at 21 on khan academy.

good shit my dude.

My story is similar to yours. I can of course only speak on behalf of myself and my own circumstances, but I wouldn't be surprised if the same is true for the vast majority of Americans who suck at math. I grew up in a broken family that wasn't very invested in my or my brother's education. We were allowed to watch waaay too much TV, which compounded the situation even worse since nearly every program (even geared towards children) promotes ignorance and stupidity (even Erdos was convinced the Russians were using TV to pollute the minds of American youth). Lazy parents and shit culture I would argue are why Americans have such shitty academic performance on the global stage and struggle with math in particular. Shitty teachers also probably play a large role.

Went through a similiar experience a few months ago. The key thing is to learn everything and I mean EVERYTHING from scratch and the rest will be a breeze.

>everything

Are we talking set theory and dedekind's essays on number theory or what?

You taught yourself. You allowed yourself your own method and pace, and your brain took to it.

same here; im quite a bit younger, but i graduated this past year and ive been using khan academy to destupify myself with regard to math

Start with basic algebra. Try to apply set theory to middle-school-tier problems. It helps a lot to have it set in a formal way. Work from there.

I'm 21 yr old you but I'm at algebra currently

I feel you OP. I barely managed to pass algebra 2 by the time I graduated high school. 7 years later and suddenly I blow through pre-algebra, trig, pre-calc, and calc 1 all within a month. It was mind-blowing how suddenly all of these basic mathematical concepts made sense to me on an intuitive level.
I'm going to continue on. Starting calc 2 material soon.

Theres several reasons to this in my opinion.

At 26 your brain is more developed.

At 26 you've learned to study/learn better (being able to study well/efficiently is an art that takes most people years to develop.)

Motivation/discipline. This one is one of the biggest in my opinion. I can't say for sure since I'm 24 now (not 26 yet) but I can definitely say over the years I think the motivation to genuinely learn shoots through the roof for a lot of people.

Lastly, yeah; if you put your nose to the grindstone for long periods of time, self-studying generally is the better method. You are your best teacher which is another reason why learning to study can be such a useful skill. By being good at studying, you can achieve 90% of your potential from a study session. By being bad at it or having bad habits you'll achieve maybe 10%. (Although I would say when you get to around analysis - real or complex, self studying will slowly lose effectiveness. Guidance is a huge help when you're learning to write proofs.)

Knowing that life sucks dick without a good career path is one hell of a motivator.

this *100. school might be hard but nothing is harder than being poor and working some shit job forever until you die.

I'm wondering if anyone can help me find a free version of this textbook online.

You have to be over the age of 18 to post here

reading these posts, I honestly feel scared. I gave up on uni (CS) first year cause wanted to do dumb shit and party instead. Skip school for 3 years now and am feeling like my time has passed (22 soon to be) , you guys gave me some motivation right here and got me thinking that it's not late to get back, scary stuff.

I'm trying to help my younger cousin get this.

use libgen to pirate textbooks. also

22 isn't old you stupid faggot. the concern about age is one of responsibilities, when you have a family and work that take up too much of your time to actually do well in school it can be hard to go back. even then if you have the resources it's not a problem to gradually do what you want to do.

It's because HS teachers are largely incompetent, whereas you can rather easily find YouTube math courses taught by halfway-competent people who ACTUALLY HAVE DEGREES IN THE SUBJECTS THEY TEACH.

>It helps a lot to have it set in a formal way.

I tried doing this and failed. Admittedly, I jumped into spivak+naive set theory at the same time, but i also passed college calc 1+2 years ago (just barely).

>Try to apply set theory to middle-school-tier problems.
Can you give an example pls? Maybe elaborate a little on how i'd move from that to trig and calc?

Dude I was in your shoes. You'll be good, not just fine but good if you:

>don't get involved with a relationship (till you're setup)
>don't take on any debt
>read and apply the concepts in part 2 of B. Franklin's autobiography.

Similar to you and to OP I also learned on my own out of pure drive math seems to be sold badly under a 'hard' label and a non intuitive way of looking at natural occurring relationships but even then normies tell you it's only for intelligent nerds

when did you start posting on Veeky Forums?

could it be that we needed to be in a place surrounded by no bullshit people, and not sheltered from the world in order to become motivated?

I feel it was actually the sheltering that screwed me over, being raised a beta cuck by parents and all doesnt help with social situations/ becoming redpilled, while all the popular/ smart kids clique helped one another out all the time and were given special treatment and OPPORTUNITIES by the teachers

>meanwhile im surrounded by the dumbasses who purposfully disrupted everything,
> no internet or tv on weekdays, smartphones were not invented yet, and when they were parents would still not give me one like everyone else

This.

The most important variable that caused this is the fact that your brain is bigger, better, more mature and developed, because after all you're older. All other variables are secondary considering your situation.

Does anyone knows what is the peak for "arithmetic thinking"? I saw somewhere it was around 50 y/o, but I think that's a little bit exaggerated.

Dang this is the kindest and most positive post I've seen on here.
I started out homeschooled till high school. I did my kindergarten math book in a day. Learning at your own pace and learning when you are interested makes for the deepest learning. In middle school I had a small math class with other homeschoolers and more formal math teacher (kind a like one from a british boarding school). Private high school now and my calc/pre-cal teacher doesn't really teach, but just gives us problem that lead a long the development of calclus, discovering it for ourselves, which is probably next best thing to pure autodidacticism.

Nice larping faggot.

>wanting tv, internet or a smartphone in your life on the weekdays

maybe your professors were shit
maybe you're actually competent but didn't realize before
maybe you learned to learn in your time off
who knows, math is cool. self-teaching isnt the best but it sure beats shitty professors

What the fuck is Algebra half?

Self teaching really is the best for basic maths. Why do you need to sit in a class and be assigned homework to learn basic Calculus? Stuff like that is most likely the reason people are so put off by it. By learning it yourself in a few weeks you skip the massive amount of drudge associated with it like test and homework.

I was in a slightly similar situation.
When I was 17 my priorities where to party and fuck, it's all I wanted.
I passed everything and did a year at college, I just went to classes when I felt like it, I prioritized drinking and bitches.
Luckily I ended up joining the Army so I could get paid to drink and fuck skanks for a couple years.
Now I'm back in school finishing my masters in electrical engineering and it's easy. Super easy.
If you go to class and do the work it's just easy to understand everything and get A's.

So I think you're priorities of the fact that you don't want to be a poor fag working a shit job the rest of your life motivates you along with the fact that highschool teachers suck big fuckin dicks at teaching, especially teaching any math and they usually barely understand what they're teaching in the first place.

>Lastly, yeah; if you put your nose to the grindstone for long periods of time, self-studying generally is the better method. You are your best teacher which is another reason why learning to study can be such a useful skill. By being good at studying, you can achieve 90% of your potential from a study session. By being bad at it or having bad habits you'll achieve maybe 10%. (Although I would say when you get to around analysis - real or complex, self studying will slowly lose effectiveness. Guidance is a huge help when you're learning to write proofs.)

Talk a bit more about this please. Why not 100%?

You're older and more self disciplined. Plus you got exposure to superior resources than the shit they teach in school.

I retaught myself linear algebra, calculus, precalc, trig, and basic analysis with proofs in under 3 months. I had the same realization as you that wait, why didn't I do this in Grade 8 and spend the next 4 years doing adv math well it was because I was a total dickfaced cockmaster and spent all my time screwing around

It could be the whole late development thing prevalent with autism. I myself have been diagnosed and I was always behind my peers.

Similar here, please recommend to me some books for baby's first proofs and baby's first abstract algebra.

Is this a LARP post? Because I feel mentally retarded and am about to start up school again but hate math.