Hi, since you guys are supposed to be the smartest board, I come here for some kind of insight about a problem of mine
I can't into math, I would go to Veeky Forums but those guys are shitlords
Does sucking at math mean I'm completly stupid? I can (painfully) get behind the mechanical side of it, but I never actually understand what the hell is going on, I can't put my finger on it.
I know people who are great at math but can't get the main idea from a text, even really simple ones
Why does this happen? Is there some kind of research on this subject? Books? SOMETHING?
Hi, since you guys are supposed to be the smartest board, I come here for some kind of insight about a problem of mine
Christopher Nelson
Christopher Lee
If you ever want to solve this you should start with the greeks. Seriously.
Cameron Kelly
Once you crack down on the mechanical aspects the intuition will follow.
Schools always teach the "how" and not "why." Luckily, the internet has all sorts of explanations on most mathematical concepts
Jackson Davis
this.
euclid's elements
Isaac Davis
Nah, not at all. Different kinds of intelligence develop in different ways, and even the same kind of intelligence, given different personality and developmental quirks, might not "see" math in the same way as another person with a similar base constitution.
Natural mathfags tend to have their own weaknesses, like you've seen.
But also, math is painstakingly learned. The reason many adults are good at math is BECAUSE they "saw" it in a way that made it progressively unravel the more they pushed into it, naturally and in a fun and fascinating way, whereas you saw it as mechanical and boring. They were obviously in a much better position to soak up higher and higher math and train themselves to think mathematically for decades. So it might not even be that you CAN'T "see" the way they do, but that it'd take you a long time to catch up to where they've already gotten, relatively organically and painlessly.
Levi Bennett
Most of math needs to be ingrained via rote learning for some of its higher concepts to be easily digestible.
It's like expecting a child to solve a quadratic if he's not acquainted with at least solving a straight line.
Charles Butler
Just like Veeky Forums, there is a small fraction of people on Veeky Forums who aren't shitlords.
Anyway, if you can analyze arguments, interpret text, etc., you can understand math. There are two reasons why "humanities-oriented" folk don't like math:
1. They aren't willing to put in the effort to properly understand math. This is understandable. Their interests lie elsewhere. Understanding math, just like understanding philosophy, for example, takes a lot of time.
2. Mathematics education in public schools is abysmal. They present mathematics as a mass of procedures with arbitrary, unexplained steps. The natural logic is obscured. As a result, mathematics seems to be a cold, lifeless, mechanical subject. It lacks "humanity," the very thing that appeals to "humanities-oriented" people. Read "Lockhart's Lament" for more on the shittiness of math education.
Brayden Lopez
Everyone in this thread is full of shit. I've gotten math concepts with minimal effort from basic arithmetic and geometry to differential equations and number theory. Math is, as you say, mechanical, and so the rote method will get you a decent way. But you can't learn talent, you'll always be limited by your lack of ability to intuit your way past the tedium. Don't worry too much, math is overrated even on this board. It will never get you laid and it will never make you happy.
Jason Hernandez
>differential equations and number theory
You are delusional if you think this is advanced math.
Leo Campbell
I stopped bothering with math at that point. Figured if it wasn't fulfilling by my sophomore year, it probably never would be.
Samuel Murphy
Even if the Veeky Forums people are good at maths, they'll never reach the same level of people like Von Neumann, or even the lesser variety geniuses that were around at his time. There's a limit to the extent that you can process these kinds of things - and people rarely become late bloomer geniuses.
Same thing with Literature. Even if you can write a few short stories, it takes a different sort of skill to get to Chekhov's output and perception into human nature. You might have a lot of human experience but lack the ability to communicate it into words. Even if you can pull iambic cadences, it takes a different sort of skill to attach it to ideas and imagery the way someone like Wallace Stevens does. Even if you can draw landscapes, being a Monet is a different deal. Even if you can play the piano, Mozart was already pissing music' in the courts when young.
I would say that in our modern society, the bare minimum is to know enough to not get fleeced with regards to finances, and to not get screwed by the inconveniences that comes up with computer difficulties. But in life you have to accept that there are barriers that you'll never be able to breach and you should just focus on those things that you're innately good at. And also you have to accept that in every field, a large bulk of people will be mediocre - and there's a higher chance that you'll fall into the majority than the minority (but happiness can still be reached in mediocrity)
I think, though, that in order to know what these barriers are in the first place, it's good to throw yourself into as much stuff as possible - and know when to burn the bridge before you waste any more time on it.
Julian Hernandez
I've seen people on Sci ask this same question, and the responses are actually helpful and give you a plan to follow. You just have to ask in the right way, I bet if you copied and pasted this edited for Sci you would get help much more specific and pertaining to action than the responses you see on this thread. What gave you a bias against Sci?
Asher Myers
The process of learning math is simple. Work problems over and over and eventually it becomes clear. It takes some people a long time to cross that threshold of obscurity and clarity, but don't let it discourage you. If you're having trouble with understanding concepts, you could try books with a more intuitive approach like this one. amazon.com
Hunter Mitchell
This is a good post
Henry Adams
>I can't do math
That means you have a low IQ. You can't conceptualize the numbers because your brain isn't strong enough. This is the point of common core math (i.e., tard math), to make math simple enough for normies.
William Roberts
>Once you crack down on the mechanical aspects the intuition will follow.
Wrong. Some people are just dumb. Remember, the average IQ is around 100 and half of people are dumber than that.
Matthew Martin
>I dont understand how IQ works
Benjamin Reed
>Most of math needs to be ingrained via rote learning
WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR FUCKING PROBLEM IS YOUR FAMILY TREE INDBRED?
Mason Fisher
kys it just means you learn through practice which is def true
Bentley Green
Lol what, that's like saying you should read Aristotle's History of Animals to learn about biology.
Math isn't literature, you need to actively engage in it. Do lots and lots of questions on whatever area of math you're doing, it's the only way to really improve.
Jayden Evans
You learn math by doing math. Intuition will follow, but it doesn't come straight away. Keep at it for a while and one day you'll realize you've improved.
Lucas Ortiz
Daily reminder that there is no point in learning math if you are not going to use it.
"Pure" math was a mistake.
Lucas Ortiz
Math is actually a skill, not something you "learn" in the traditional sense. You want to be good at math? Treat it like a skill. Practice math, don't learn math.
Once this becomes clear it's easy to follow the mechanics.