I tried several times but it's boring and mentally draining as fuck. Looking at numbers is like watching at kriptonite from 20 inches away. Not enough to kill you immediately, but enough to drain your life force slowly.
This was supposed to be fun..
>any good crash course or something?
“What is mathematics?” is a pretty easy text that covers most things you’d need to know
>What is mathematics?
I know the basics and I'm not what you would call a stupid person (i work in IT field, watch scifi shows and play 4x games in my free time), but when it comes to intermediate math my brain just freezes and i see bunch of symbols that i can't/don't want to decipher.
How is this fun to anyone is beyond me...
>I know the basics and I'm not what you would call a stupid person (i work in IT field, watch scifi shows and play 4x games in my free time)
>I'm not a stupid person
Read anything by Ian Stewart or Martin Gardner or Alex Bellos.
Math isn't just numbers. There's topology. Try "Flatterland" by Stewart. Or "What is the Name of this Book" by Smullyan for a witty introduction to logic and Gödel's Theorem.
Obviously i'm a stupid person just like everyone else, but not that stupid that i can't comprehend things. I'm basically 4/10 stupid.
Finally someone is actually trying to help.
Thanks!
I read flatland, so Flatterland is like a sequel to it?
Is there any way to make learning linear algebra fun?
I think learning math in college just saps all the potential fun out of it because of the pressure to pass exams.
>Is there any way to make learning linear algebra fun?
That's what i'd like to know..
if you know basic algebra, then i recommend picking up How to Prove It
Yes, but much funnier and more inclusive.
Victoria Line discovers the diary of her grandfather, A.Square. Her father burns it. Talking about "higher" dimensions only gets you put in jail or in an asylum.
But Vicky has already scanned it, does some research on the Interline, and attracts the attention of a Space Hopper who takes her on a tour of the Matheverse.
Great book! Stewart has also written "The Annotated Flatland"; which expands on the basic concepts and explains aspects of Victorian life unfamiliar to modern readers.
>Victoria Line
But, isn't Victoria a woman's name? Why call her Line at all?
Is something like that good for those that haven't started school yet? I took a detour through the military, but I still want to study some.
>You mean this one?
Thanks!
You're welcome.
Math _can_ be enjoyable if presented properly.
Studies have shown young children like it. It's the way it's taught which leaves them with an aversion to it.
I was a kid before calculators. Early homework was like "$20 is compounded monthly at 4% annually for 10 years. What is the final amount?"
One or two problems and I understood the principle. But there were 20 problems night after night. Boring!
Years later, when I learned logarithms, I practically screamed thinking of how my youth had been wasted.
Fortunately, I was exposed to Gardner's column for Scientific American and learned there was more to math than repetitive number-manipulation. "Real" mathematicians hardly ever do arithmetic.
Because that's what she is. Flatland women are 1-dimensional.
It's also a joke on Stewart's part. Victoria Line is a branch of the London Underground. Similarly, A.Square's first name is never mentioned in the original 'Flatland' but Stewart decided it must have been "Albert". Albert Square is another landmark.
I couldn't agree more. I used to like math and physics until some point in my life when i suddenly started hating it..
>Great book! Stewart has also written "The Annotated Flatland"
Well u guess I'll have to read both of them now...
Thanks once again.
Well, read some of the books I recommended and rediscover the fun.
In addition, look for Colin Bruce's "Conned Again, Watson". If you're into physics as well, try his "The Strange Case of Mrs Hudson's Cat"
3blue1brown “essence of linear algebra” series
>3blue1brown “essence of linear algebra”
Great! thanks.