Simple. Mathematicians do all the complicated work, figuring out the stuff. Then the physicists waltz in, apply the results and take all the creditCheery Lunatic said:
Why do I find maths hard?
- Thread starter Mazza35
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I had the same problem that you're having. For me, at least, the problem is that i have a hard time understanding algebra functions that i can't mentally apply to real-life situations. Geometry or physics are easy in that they are always tied to real situations, whereas body-less equations that can't be.Mazza35 said:
Anyways, thats my 2 cents.
I would say if you have tons of free-time on your hands, get Gamemaker and then remake Disgaea (or just a 3D RPG in general). Just about everything you'd learn in high school math can be applied there.
Basically, just apply everything you learn, I believe the reason why calculus was so easy for me was because I got obsessed with TNL (To Next Level) systems and having an interest in making games (and actually going about doing that) gave me a lot of practice with it, such as understanding jumping heights to controlling camera angles and aiming.
Basically, just apply everything you learn, I believe the reason why calculus was so easy for me was because I got obsessed with TNL (To Next Level) systems and having an interest in making games (and actually going about doing that) gave me a lot of practice with it, such as understanding jumping heights to controlling camera angles and aiming.
Generally someone is bad at something if they don't put as much effort into as things they are good at. If you look at how much time you spend doing and thinking about math versus subjects you enjoy, I'm willing to bet there's a time difference.
Another thing is that mathematics tend to get to a point where there seems to be no practical application. I know that's when I stopped caring. I'm actually really good at discrete/finite math, but I don't do so well with calculus. I think it has something to do with my interest in probability. I'm also really fast at basic math and I have a good mind for geometry (thanks, billiards).
But yeah, I made A's in calculus/trig courses just like anything else because I put forth a lot of effort. I didn't like it, but I was still just as capable as anyone else. I barely remember anything, though.
Edit: When I say practical application, I mean in everyday life. There are certainly fields that use calculus and trig extensively, but if you aren't in one of those fields...well, it isn't very useful.
Another thing is that mathematics tend to get to a point where there seems to be no practical application. I know that's when I stopped caring. I'm actually really good at discrete/finite math, but I don't do so well with calculus. I think it has something to do with my interest in probability. I'm also really fast at basic math and I have a good mind for geometry (thanks, billiards).
But yeah, I made A's in calculus/trig courses just like anything else because I put forth a lot of effort. I didn't like it, but I was still just as capable as anyone else. I barely remember anything, though.
Edit: When I say practical application, I mean in everyday life. There are certainly fields that use calculus and trig extensively, but if you aren't in one of those fields...well, it isn't very useful.
No explanation or help. I still find maths fuckin horrible, I dropped it after year 11 cos I couldn't do shit without a calculator (and still got shit wrong when I had one.)Mazza35 said:Odd question, but been pissing me off from my recent Maths and Methods homework, I'm in Yr 11 (VCE) and I can't even get fucking quadratics anymore, yet give me physics shit, and I'm fine and find it real easy, and I'm even better at history.
So, how the fuck does this work? Brilliantish mind for sciences and humanities, but maths = poobrain of facedesking proportions.
Explains or help needed.
I did a physics A-Level and not having any maths to back it up was fucking awful, every day was a struggle and every assignment I got grade was a disappointment.
But I did it and went on to Uni, there I did a maths a-level course on the side of my degree, once again every day was a nightmare and every concept took fucking hours to learn. But I persevered and got a first.
I still barely understand shit all maths I'm asked to do, but when I look back on what stumped me in high-school, it all seems simple now. Simply put - for people like you and me Maths is always gonna be fuckin hard and the only way your gonna do any good at it (and I mean like half as good as those nerdy kids who find it easy) is to pour in hours and hours of solid work.
How would you explain me then? My best subjects were always Chemistry, Physics, and English, while my worst were always Maths and Social Studies. :/Lawnmooer said:
I sympathize with you, but I know why math is difficult for me. I initially do not see numbers as simple numerals equating something, I see different people in different places.
EX: 24 = A tall, beautiful girl (2) and a handsome boy (4) are at a party at a girl's flat (twenty).
Strange, I know, but I've found ways to work around it, and quickly understand what my brain is telling me.
EX: 24 = A tall, beautiful girl (2) and a handsome boy (4) are at a party at a girl's flat (twenty).
Strange, I know, but I've found ways to work around it, and quickly understand what my brain is telling me.
That's very interesting, never heard of someone who did that.alandavidson said:
My brain just doesn't like doing things illogical, this is why I fail most maths projects and essays, I see them as illogical bullshit on paper which doesn't deserve my thought. It's all wired into my brain, can't change it
Probably because early highschool maths is really easy. It's more or less recapping and expanding on primary school. You've probably been doing algebra since year 4 but presented as something else. Then once you start doing maths in the last couple of years in highschool, a lot of what you're doing is completely new. It becomes less about the answer and more about the thought processes behind it.Mazza35 said:
People learn things differently, and you might learn better through teacher demonstrations than thinking abstractly about numbers.
This can always be a factor, yes.
The point of something like a maths project is far from illogical. Generally, they're designed to get you to apply your knowledge to real-world scenarios. For instance, a project I did in year 11 was an examination of the Logistic function and how it can be applied to population growth. That isn't illogical, nor is it bullshit. It's what maths is for: Solving problems.Mazza35 said:My brain just doesn't like doing things illogical, this is why I fail most maths projects and essays, I see them as illogical bullshit on paper which doesn't deserve my thought. It's all wired into my brain, can't change it
Why the devil is this a Mercedez-Benz ad?JesterRaiin said:
Anyway, I'm more of an English guy, but I was good enough at math for no one to notice how bad I was at it...
I dunno, I was good at the subject at some point, even had to be moved up a class in high school because I was better than the teacher. Now I look at maths, drool at the side of my mouth, then move back to gaming. It's not hard, it's just dull but when I do work at it, it seems what I'm doing is so far remove from what we're being taught, and this is university level stuff.
I dunno the only thing you can really do is find a way maths can be put into a context you can understand. It may just be that people aren't explaining it in a way your mind can comprehend.
I like english/history type stuff. Anything that requires me to give an argument and discuss things. But on the other hand I'm crap at being social. How's that for a mystery. *shrug*
I dunno the only thing you can really do is find a way maths can be put into a context you can understand. It may just be that people aren't explaining it in a way your mind can comprehend.
I like english/history type stuff. Anything that requires me to give an argument and discuss things. But on the other hand I'm crap at being social. How's that for a mystery. *shrug*
Now, are you bad at it, or just slow?
I mean, I take pretty much everything slowly and carefully in an academic setting. Probably to an unhealthy degree at times. I can do math, but I don't find it particularly rewarding and thus don't seem as good at it as other subjects because I don't spend the hours I would spend on writing and perfecting even single page essays.
Also, imagine teaching yourself all of highschool math in one summer break. Yeah....
I'm not really that sad that I forgot most of it by now. These days, I just need a calculator and to remember forumlas.
So just take it slow and keep at it. My personal philosophy with a lot of things is that the only thing separating you from a master is time.
I mean, I take pretty much everything slowly and carefully in an academic setting. Probably to an unhealthy degree at times. I can do math, but I don't find it particularly rewarding and thus don't seem as good at it as other subjects because I don't spend the hours I would spend on writing and perfecting even single page essays.
Also, imagine teaching yourself all of highschool math in one summer break. Yeah....
I'm not really that sad that I forgot most of it by now. These days, I just need a calculator and to remember forumlas.
So just take it slow and keep at it. My personal philosophy with a lot of things is that the only thing separating you from a master is time.
Math takes work.Lots of work. Don't believe anyone who tells you that you're not right for it. I failed math by far when I was taking it my first time around in high school. Then I started working extra hard and I managed to land on a very solid A. I even got the right answer to a few questions on our test that were removed because they were considered too hard. Basically I went from having no right answers to having all right answers. You just need to focus and ask your teacher to point you into the right direction where you're struggling.
What (if any) textbook you use can also be important. For a good bunch of my math years (just finished my last math course this Christmas) I used mainly the book for learning math. We had a great one where two and two pages went together to each form a sub-chapter, 8-13-ish of these per chapter, each sub-chapter:
1) explaining the sub-problem relating to the chapter,
2) presenting it mathematically,
3) providing a few examples, and
4) providing 8-ish tasks that needed the math the two pages taught us.
If I'd been absentminded in class or forgotten it all for lack of doing my homework, I'd open it, read a task, read through a similar-seeming example, and use that to do the tasks. Bam. Worked well for intense studying the one or two days preceding a test, and as long as the math continued to build upon that knowledge, it'd stay. (If unused after that, though, it would've disappeared pretty fast, I expect.)
So if you have a good math text book, make sure you at least try to use it.
1) explaining the sub-problem relating to the chapter,
2) presenting it mathematically,
3) providing a few examples, and
4) providing 8-ish tasks that needed the math the two pages taught us.
If I'd been absentminded in class or forgotten it all for lack of doing my homework, I'd open it, read a task, read through a similar-seeming example, and use that to do the tasks. Bam. Worked well for intense studying the one or two days preceding a test, and as long as the math continued to build upon that knowledge, it'd stay. (If unused after that, though, it would've disappeared pretty fast, I expect.)
So if you have a good math text book, make sure you at least try to use it.
I was exactly the same in secondary school, and now I'm studying for an engineering degree. This will probably sound like I'm looking for an excuse, but in my experience my ability with maths varied with the teacher: most maths teachers don't really bother explaining how to do any of it, they just give you a few examples and expect you to work it out from that.
Wow. You managed to post the exact words I was going to post!Yopaz said:
To reiterate: It's easy to think that there is some trick to math´and if you don't know it, you're screwed.
Fact is, the trick to Math is the same as the trick to all other subjects: Put in enough work.
Look at your homework and do more of those tasks until your fingers bleed.
Additionally, don't know if it's the case with you, a lot of people tend to overthink math, even when the solution to the given problem was just to write everything down and then rearrange an equation two times
(is rearrange the right word here?).
Dyscalculia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyscalculia
Seriously.. its a thing. Its a rare thing. but it IS a thing. You may or may not have it, but given its ratio it seems like an outside possibility.
The key thing is, you have to look at yourself and compare your difficulties to something like dyslexia. Such as lack of memory retention when it comes to recently instructed mathematical prerequisite rules and procedures. So if your in a math class, and your on chapter 13.5 and find yourself completely stunned like the new section is written in greek, and when you see the equation worked out and see that it calls back on things you learned in chapter 13.2 but the thought never occured to you to do utilize that technique, then its possible its dyscalculia.
not saying it is...but look at the wikipedia page, compare some of the signs/symptoms and if you find that most of them are describing your situation, then perhaps you might want to do actual research on the condition and perhaps have yourself tested for it. If thats it, there are treatment techniques to help, much like how there are techniques to help compensate for dyslexia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyscalculia
Seriously.. its a thing. Its a rare thing. but it IS a thing. You may or may not have it, but given its ratio it seems like an outside possibility.
The key thing is, you have to look at yourself and compare your difficulties to something like dyslexia. Such as lack of memory retention when it comes to recently instructed mathematical prerequisite rules and procedures. So if your in a math class, and your on chapter 13.5 and find yourself completely stunned like the new section is written in greek, and when you see the equation worked out and see that it calls back on things you learned in chapter 13.2 but the thought never occured to you to do utilize that technique, then its possible its dyscalculia.
not saying it is...but look at the wikipedia page, compare some of the signs/symptoms and if you find that most of them are describing your situation, then perhaps you might want to do actual research on the condition and perhaps have yourself tested for it. If thats it, there are treatment techniques to help, much like how there are techniques to help compensate for dyslexia.
