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How do people get better at math? I genuinely find it intriguing and do want to someday learn it more but my brain just melts when I encounter any complexity in math and it just makes no sense. Any clues how to fix?
4 months ago · 👍 eph, johano
Find your topical nieche where your genuinely interested in the subject and also *somewhat* understand the simpler concepts. Then master your understanding of the simple stuff while exploring the slightly more complicated abstractions playfully. For me fractals are that mathematical nieche since I often wonder about the nature of structure and the conepts of determinism and entropy. I also cannot understand equations, my mind melts when i see a super complicated formula. Fortunately most algabraic functions have a corrisponding geometric visualization which my mind processes much better. Also read math books written for the average person. James Gleik is an excellent author try "Deep Simplicity" · 4 months ago
@zzzenspace so with all that said, it hopefully will give you some ideas/directions to pursue... I echo what @jsreed5 had to say too!
One other thing about exploring introductory linear algebra is that it's great for super visual-tactile learners and you don't need a calculus background to get into it. A touch of geometry and trigonometry review doesn't hurt though! · 4 months ago
@zzzenspace so the kinds of math that will be helpful for cryptography and physics actually have some overlap... I'll first cover what they have in common and then cover differences.
Both fields make heavy use of vectors and matrices, aka linear algebra, which turns out to be useful in lots of other areas too!
Cryptography relies a lot on number theory, so things relating to divisibility, factorization, properties of prime numbers, etc with bits of properties of functions and probability thrown in there.
Physics, of course, is going to take you down the path of calculus and differential equations and much later on tensors, which are like higher-dimensional matrices. · 4 months ago
I worked as a tutor for many years, and we had high-school seniors come in who still counted on their fingers. I recommend doing drills on the most basic arithmetic (single-digit addition, single-digit times tables) until they can be recalled instantaneously. After that, math is entirely definiton-based. If you see something interesting that you don't get, stop at the first word you don't understand and look it up. Repeat until you get to a concept you do grasp, then work from there back to where you started. Take lots of notes and solve lots of practice problems along the way. · 4 months ago
I would first concentrate on making process a thing that you can do without too much thinking about. Don't worry about the "why" it is, at first, just focus on the getting it done. Once you can do a process by memory, then turn around and focus on the why and try to visiualize the underlying process.
Example: Learn to complete the squre without thinking about it too much. Once you master it, go back and see the visual representation of it and understand each part. · 4 months ago
I'm not entirely sure tbh, I'd just like to get better at math in general but if I had to narrow it down then cryptography math definitely seems most interesting. Math related to physics also seems quite intriguing. · 4 months ago
hi, I'm a math teacher 😃 what I can say is that actively practicing problems is better than just reading math passively... constant practice and use will help a lot! also, which areas of math to you want to learn about the most? · 4 months ago
Not to mention the math classes I took back in school where I at least understood some of it but now I've forgotten everything honestly, even basic math is kinda tricky. At least computer math makes perfect sense for me (some of the basic cryptography stuff is really interesting). · 4 months ago