/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.5500361]

>you will never be STEM master race

[Anonymous No.5500366]

>>5500361
feels good, i like to outsource my autism

[Anonymous No.5500371]

>you will never have sex

[Anonymous No.5500374]

>>5500361
>not knowing what STEm is
>not caring
>feels great
>don't even need a stupid meme to show how awesome i feel

[Anonymous No.5500376]

It's never too late to learn!

Unless you are content being a shitty memer

[Anonymous No.5500381]

>tfw smart enough to be grad student in mathematics and love it and not enough to scre a decent thesis in my preferred field

It's a bit like the feel of having no face, actually.

[Anonymous No.5500389]

>>5500361
I talked to a mathematician the other day. He's quite good at what he does. I'm sure his IQ is much higher than mine. Yet, when he started talking about philosophy, he sounded like some retarded new ager, Echkart Tolle tier. It was rather embarassing. It's quite incredible how people that are good in science can be complete imbeciles when they have to think outside of their professional box. Just look at Lawrence Krauss.

[Anonymous No.5500392]

>tfw dyscalculia

[Anonymous No.5500402]

>>5500376
what is it?

[Anonymous No.5500404]

>>5500361

>smart enough for STEM
>find it very boring
>tfw

life is suffering

[Anonymous No.5500430]

>>5500389
⇒implying philosophy requires more than basic literacy and common sense

Perhaps you didn't understand him because you are lacking both?

[Anonymous No.5500444]

>>5500389
It's more a matter of language habits (which of course betray thinking habits) than intelligence.

You can learn to make pretty convincing discourses by replicating the antics and vocabulary choices of the specialists in a particular field. Of course even that is not always easy. There is such a thing as talent for pseudo-intellectualism.

[Anonymous No.5500454]

>tfw your friends will never be characters from a Godard film

[Anonymous No.5500481]

>>5500361
You can always study physics or biology or mathematics or whatever. Just because you don't have a degree in a field doesn't mean you can't learn about it.

[Anonymous No.5500507]

>>5500374
>i don't care so much that i post about it! xD

[Anonymous No.5500523]

>>5500430
yes I couldn't understand stuff like "we are all one before we start thinking"... it's so hard to understand

[Anonymous No.5500533]

>>5500430
>implying you can understand Heidegger or Hegel with your plebeian common sense

[Anonymous No.5500540]

>You will never be a depressed frog

[Anonymous No.5500556]

>>5500507
>the perks of shitposting

[Anonymous No.5500561]

>>5500556
>glass houses

[Anonymous No.5500563]

>>5500481
I think it would be very difficult to learn the equivalent of math or physics degree be self study.

[Anonymous No.5500567]

Why is STEM considered master race, anyways?

[Anonymous No.5500569]

Why don't you just change majors if you want to, OP?

I don't see how STEM would make someone happy seeing all the time they spend shitposting, both in /lit/ and on topic boards.

[Anonymous No.5500570]

>>5500563
*by

[Anonymous No.5500573]

>>5500567
back in the day it would guarantee a well paying job, now it's over-saturated as shit

[Anonymous No.5500595]

>>5500573
Only because of that?

[Anonymous No.5500599]

>>5500567
I don't know. I graduated with a STEM degree, because I thought it would get me somewhere.

Might as well just have gotten some dumbshit lib degree, because I'm still an unemployed loser who reads all day.

[Anonymous No.5500610]

>>5500599
what was your major

[Anonymous No.5500612]

>>5500599
What was your degree in?

[Anonymous No.5500631]

>>5500610
Computer Science

[Anonymous No.5500638]

>>5500631
Didn't you say "STEM degree"?

[Anonymous No.5500655]

>>5500631
What was your GPA, and what College did you go to. I was thinking about Comp Sci, but I am not going to put myself through 4 Math classes if it means I'll work at Starbucks anyways.

[Anonymous No.5500656]

>>5500638
yep.

[Anonymous No.5500667]

>>5500631
Could please tell all the CS majors at my uni that their degree does not guarantee them a well-paying job? Goddamn they are some of the most delusional manchildren it's sort of embarrassing. They legitimately believe that simply having that degree will land them a $100k job right out of graduation, and they are all snobby as shit because of it.

[Anonymous No.5500670]

>>5500595
Yes, that's why people brag about it. Not to make people jealous of their fiddling with numbers and formulas all day or some shit.

[Anonymous No.5500675]

>>5500655
I think it was like 3.2 from kent state.

I'm sure I probably could get a job in it, if i didn't mind relocating to some hipster liberal shithole, pay out the ass for high cost of living, and suck a corporate dick all day.

I know plenty of people who do that though, and they're really not all that much better off than I am now, most have to move back in with their parents occasionally.

[Anonymous No.5500677]

>>5500389
not always the case, my uncle has a P.H.D in mathematics and he knows way more than me and im a history major.

[Anonymous No.5500678]

>about to finish my last semester of a STEM degree

[Anonymous No.5500683]

>>5500678
>tfw still two semesters to get through
I can see the light, though

[Anonymous No.5500688]

>>5500667
Tell them yourself, i'm done with college shit. No degree will guarantee you any sort of a job.

There's plenty of "good" schools that are graduating total dipshits with degrees who have no real knowledge of their field. All they knew was how to work the system in order to slide through in college, then they figure getting out into the working world will be the easy part.

Hint friendo: College is the easy part. In the working world you're actually expected to work.

[Anonymous No.5500698]

>>5500688
Oh don't worry, I totally agree with/understand everything you're saying.

[Anonymous No.5500701]

>>5500595
Americans are fed utilitarian indoctrination, so they think that if they have a "good" job (designing drugs for a pharmaceutical, saving money to a corporation, adding more patents to the public sector) they are "good" people, so they define themselves through their use and hate the people who don't care about that and want to do their own thing.

[Anonymous No.5500702]

>>5500656
Why did you lie?

[Anonymous No.5500717]

>>5500361
I was and wasn't content.

[Anonymous No.5500743]

>>5500702
compski is probably maths and at least technology

[Anonymous No.5500751]

>>5500743
⇒compski is probably maths

hahaha, no

[Anonymous No.5500757]

>>5500743
Depending on how high you are on the theoretical ladder. CS can be about learning the nitty gritty of coding efficiently for companies, or about understanding what theoretical computer science entails for our understanding of maths (although more probably the former).

[Anonymous No.5500761]

>>5500361
>be literary fag in high school
>destined to go to college majoring in humanities
>grades have always been mediocre in math and science, but i slowly grow an interest in math senior year during calc
>after realizing how dismal a career seems after getting a humanities degree, decide to take a huge risk and major in chemical engineering
>get accepted to great engineering school despite mediocre grades
>study hard and relearn shaky foundations in math and chemistry that all my fellow students know well
>become one of the top students in my class
>get through first 2.5 with 3.85 GPA
>keep reading throughout college
>start getting bored of math and science
>start to hate fellow STEM students
>start to hate STEM professors
>consider switching majors
>end up dropping out of college to work a trade and read/write on the side
>my soul feels better

yeah nah math is easy

[Anonymous No.5500764]

Just going to leave this here

[Anonymous No.5500767]

I will, even if it takes me a lifetime

[Anonymous No.5500768]

>>5500430
define "common sense" please

[Anonymous No.5500770]

>>5500761
>chemifag
>believes he does maths

[Anonymous No.5501104]

>>5500361

>Tfw hell is a lovely and unblemished pair of hips walking in the other direction

[Anonymous No.5501108]

>>5500563
Not at all.

If you need others to learn things you must have a pretty sad life.

[Anonymous No.5501118]

>>5500768
You know what it means. Use your brain. Sapere aude.

[Anonymous No.5501217]

“Every good mathematician is at least half a philosopher, and every good philosopher is at least half a mathematician.”


― Gottlob Frege

I find it very true. However I'd rather have a philosopher acquiring skills in mathematics than the other way round in which case it may lead to some new age-ism and mathematician subscribing to some autistic/edgy view. Some brains of great logical transmission power have no capacity for abstract thought at all.

[Anonymous No.5501271]

Why don't you guys just face the fact that STEM students are probably smarter than we are? Anyone could read Hamlet and write a paper on it, but how many people do you think could take Organic Chemistry and pass?

STEM are fields where there is no room for BS, whereas humanities there is nothing but BS. It's all the eye can see.

[Anonymous No.5501282]

>not being a cubicle drone beta testing line after line of code for eight hours a day
thank god

[Anonymous No.5501284]

>>5500573
>now it's over-saturated as shit

What's the new craze? Pre-Med? Computer Science/Programming?

[Anonymous No.5501291]

>>5501271
Too obvious pal

[Anonymous No.5501295]

>>5501271
O-chem is easy its shit like inorganic where it gets cray

[Anonymous No.5501308]

>>5501271
>Why don't you guys just face the fact that STEM students are probably smarter than we are?

Well....for one I AM a STEM student, but I also have a love of literature, so I really don't get this us vs them bullshit. As for them being smarter, nah, no way. I know some STEM students who are brilliant, I know some who are dipshits, same thing with lib students. I wouldn't say either is "smarter", if you can even define such a thing as "smart" anymore.

>Anyone could read Hamlet and write a paper on it

Really? Anyone....? Maybe anyone could buy the cliff notes and produce some half-assed passing paper, but could just anyone read it, understand it, and write some kind of independent and quality material on it?

>but how many people do you think could take Organic Chemistry and pass?

I don't know, lots of people. I passed organic chemistry, as well as english lit. Not sure why it has to be one or the other. A well rounded person should be able to do both.

>STEM are fields where there is no room for BS

Uh huh....sure dude. Keep on believing that. Wait until you get int upper levels.

>whereas humanities there is nothing but BS

A lot of it is bullshit, but a lot of life is bullshit also.

If you had half a brain, you'd devote yourself to studying everything you can, not jumping into some faggy and pointless partisan-ism.

[Anonymous No.5501316]

>>5501271

Pal, overall intelligence quotient is measured in verbal IQ and performance IQ by cognitive science with first being ability of abstract, creative thought, ability of creating new models, schemes and the other (performance) being just logical, transmission of data power.

[Anonymous No.5501322]

The branch of philosophy I believe to be most important is philosophy of language. Everyone should study it. It can get rid of a lot of the bullshit.

[Anonymous No.5501324]

>>5501322
This is why I love Wittgenstein.

[Anonymous No.5501330]

>>5500761
Good for you. I applaud this.

[Anonymous No.5501337]

>>5501324
Exactly. I'll be honest, if anyone asks me what they should study with philosophy, I'll tell them to go backwards from Wittgenstein. Most think the classics should be first; I believe Wittgenstein should come first that way you see through any bullshit you come across in the classics. It's easier than to have to relearn everything later. Just my opinion.

[Anonymous No.5501338]

Working on my le stem degree in bio,I love it but I feel pretty shitty sometimes because I will never be a brilliant tortured starving artist. I think most degrees are pretty legit, it is too bad our society basically forces specialization so only a superman could have vaild degrees in everything they are interested in.

[Anonymous No.5501344]

>>5501338
>tfw majoring in cell bio but barely even consider myself STEM because bio isn't nearly as rigorous as chemistry, physics, etc.

[Anonymous No.5501350]

>>5501338
You can have the degrees. You'll be in massive debt, but you'll have them. Study philosophy if that's what you really want. Fuck it. You can get into law school afterwards if anything. If you do that, I'd suggest finding a program that offers a BA/MA together upon graduation.

[Anonymous No.5501354]

>>5500371
>i had sex and i was like meh
>had it again and again
>still meh
>stopped having sex

[Anonymous No.5501368]

STEM isn't shit anymore. Even engineers are broke bastards because they realize how cutthroat it is and how engineers have a high failure rate (because let's face it, a bad engineer is one of the worst things you would want, next to a bad surgeon). Speaking of which, while medical is alright to get into, it's still high-stakes and competitive.

In short, no matter what you are, you're fucked.

[Anonymous No.5501378]

>>5501271
From seeing dozens I can say that writing a decent paper about a work is hard as hell, even when it's a topic that could be easily researched as Shackespeare.
I don't know how long into OC you're thinking, we had that and redox a couple of years into highschool.
If anything, studying STEM tend to work better with the way your brain works as a teen. Applying it is more or less the same

[Anonymous No.5501383]

>>5500361
Is this one of those meems?

[Anonymous No.5501388]

>>5501322
Go to bed Chomsky; it's late, you have a lot fo crying for the bombed to do tomorrow and the US needs you to stay alive as long as you can before you leave them just with anti church "intellectuals"

[Anonymous No.5501393]

>>5501388
Who the fuck is Chomsky?

[Anonymous No.5501398]

>>5501344
My mother is an astrophysicist and for what I've seen and what she tells me physicists are the worst people you can find since they are constantly fed they are the smartest people ever. I've seen them do pretty dumb, like being unable to explain the most basic shit to a kid or follow simple graphs, stuff just because they are great at crunching numbers

[Anonymous No.5501405]

>>5501398
I'm three years into a physics BS and I can't do long division manually anymore.
I just hire a Mexican to do it for me.

[Anonymous No.5501408]

>>5501398
Yeah I know I'm being pretty silly; every STEM major has its idiots. But I'd wager that bio has more idiots than the others because of the sheer number of pre-meds, who are consistently some of the dumbest people I've ever encountered.

[Anonymous No.5501413]

>>5501350
If you have great presence you can also just be part of a think tank or jump into politics.

>>5501354
Have you tried having sex with other genres and/or in different ways?

>>5501393
Noam Chomsky is probably the last american intellectual. He created a branch of linguistics and had a very big anti-war presence since forever. Really smart guy even if he uses most of his time trying to fight all the indoctrination in the world.
I'm sure someone else can link you to his linguistics things that knows more than me, his most well know work in politics is Manufacturing Consent and deals with the dialectics of propaganda in a capitalist "free thinking" society.

[Anonymous No.5501415]

>>5501408
Of course they're dumb. They're pre-med.

>>5501405
I assume you LOVE Home Depot.

[Anonymous No.5501416]

>>5501405
Do you hire a mexican to operate a calculator? Fuck, you really make lots of money!

[Anonymous No.5501417]

>>5501413

[Anonymous No.5501419]

>>5501368
As a STEM major at a top 5 university about to graduate, I agree.

STEM fucking sucks.

The classes are taught by professors that give no shits about you, will do everything they can to make sure some of you fail, and generally can't speak even mediocre English. Your semesters in school will be completely consumed by the workload of the classes with the high light of your week being a drunken stupor on Saturday or Friday (you won't have the time for both), all other time will be consumed doing homework (you would think there would be less busy work, but there isn't) or studying for exams. Your summers are taken up by internships where you will be expected to do the work of a full time employ for half the pay (and be grateful for it).

You will graduate with a job in some big company, where you will be paid a salary instead of by the hour because you will inevitably spend about 50 hours a week (or more) doing your job because you are so over worked, and again you are more than likely under-paid for your time to begin with.

Your time spent in college will have served you well because you have by now become so use to the crushing pain of mental exhaustion that any time spent idle will trigger a panic attack due to your body being so ill-prepared for leisure. The only thing that keeps you going is the hope of a two week paid vacation, which you will be expected to shorten to one week because "the company needs you". You will never actually take two weeks off in your lifetime.

Eventually, you won't even remember that you are allowed the two weeks. This forgetfulness is the only thing that will carry you through life, as you slowly forget all the other things you wanted to do with it.

You would think I would hate my life, but I don't have the time to consider it all that much. I'm honestly looking at the prospect of only having to work 50 hours a week and having the rest of the time to my self as a blessing. That has to be at least double the free time I have now.

[Anonymous No.5501421]

>>5501417
I really doubt he said that (and the image name make it harder to believe), but a lot of people fail to pass a Truing test because it's biased as fuck, just like a bot could pass it by being lol randumb.

[Anonymous No.5501423]

>>5501413
Is Chomsky any good though? Or is he just some old guy?

Also, WHO THE FUCK IS DANIEL DENNETT? Fucking Santa Claus looking guy.

[Anonymous No.5501437]

>>5501408
>>5501415
I've noticed this too, but why the fuck are pre-meds so dumb? What is it about the field? Do they just go after the highest-paying career they can think of? Same with business. I had a fucking forklift driver give me shit because I'm an undergrad and he has an MBA from the local CSU.

[Anonymous No.5501441]

>>5501419
Yes, how awful to have job security, a title in a company, and a steady salary. The horror!

[Anonymous No.5501443]

>>5501419
Man that fucking sucks ass. Like real anus. WTF should people study then?

[Anonymous No.5501445]

>>5501416
The Mexican IS my calculator.
>paco! graph f(x,y)sub1!

[Anonymous No.5501446]

>>5501423
Chomsky is great stuff and has been doing the rounds since he was young. Back in the 80's they faced him with Foucault a lot since it was the best the states could do, and you can see that he really doesn't like the competition angle of the analytics vs continentals and just sees it all as the same thing and would like to talk things out.
He's also a pretty cool guy, apparently being able to take down hundreds of pages of theory daily and easily remembering them when needed. But his work focuses a lot on the american war against its own people, and that kind of stuff gets a lot of bad rep on you. You could consider that he is so good that even being openly anti government they keep showing him around because his smartness makes them look good. But that kind of stuff shouldn't make you think he's better or worse as a theoric, check his stuff and make your own opinion.

[Anonymous No.5501447]

>>5501337
I kinda followed this path, but in the attainment of my English degree. Started with an upper level lit. Theory survey course and ended with ancient lit.

[Anonymous No.5501451]

>>5501441
Having job security and salary in exchange of being unable to use that salary is a pretty meh exchange, it's not a bad one but you could wish for something better.

>>5501445
Is he a savant little kid you have around in your travels around the world in which you remain permanently indoors working and have no real adventures?

[Anonymous No.5501452]

>>5501437
>Do they just go after the highest-paying career they can think of?
It is basically that. Most of the really dumb ones actually drop down from biology to psychology because science courses in general are too hard for them. But, for the ones who stick with STEM, they typically view all of their college courses as means to an end (that end being a high-paying job). The result of this is that they don't actually care about the material, and only study as much as needed in order to get the grade, which is the only thing they DO care about. Because of this, they never really gain any knowledge besides how to force your way through course material, and come off as dumb because of it. Or at least that is my experience.

Of course there are pre-meds out there who don't do this, but those who do are a huge part of that population.

[Anonymous No.5501453]

>>5501437
No they watch House M.D. and think that their social problems are because they're geniuses.

Honestly you're probably right they just assume they'll get paid a lot. I'm sure they want the power that comes with it and the chance to say 'I'm a doctor'. Whatever floats your boat I guess. I'd much prefer a PhD in Philosophy and Mathematics. Probably cost less.

I actually know someone who did the whole med thing. She was a HARD-WORKER not an intelligent person. There's certainly a difference. She's getting paid 40,000 a year(I forget at which school) to get her PhD in genetics. Whatever floats your boat!

[Anonymous No.5501455]

>>5501419
Wow that sounds really shitty, I'm going into bio from the bottom rung (community college lol) and my life is much easier. however I doubt I'll ever get a good job with my degree even though I plan on transferring to a state college.

[Anonymous No.5501462]

>>5501446
Anything in particular you'd recommend to read? Maybe an anthology?

[Anonymous No.5501464]

>>5501452
Also, take the general attitude of superiority that >>5501453 describes, then you end up with a dilettante who thinks their shit don't stink, which only highlights their idiocy.

[Anonymous No.5501467]

>>5501447
Yeah I think it's the best way to do it. You want the most up to date information to dispel as much bullshit as you can. If you take everything you read from the classics(like most into to phil. idiots do and their opinions change every week the philosopher in question changes) as set in stone then you get stuck really quickly.

[Anonymous No.5501471]

>>5501443
I would still do STEM, just not at a top 5 school.

I go to Georga Tech, so that might be why my situation is particularly bad. Everyone here knows we are masochists. A rather popular joke is that you go into Tech as the valedictorian from high school then become an alcoholic and adderall addict. Suicide rates are pretty high, and that's with the university covering it up as much as they can. They cover up the drug usage too but its not hard to tell people really over-use.

[Anonymous No.5501470]

>>5501467
Oops I meant *intro to phil.

[Anonymous No.5501478]

>>5501467
Oops meant *intro to phil.

Also I mean their opinion changes in the sense that their understanding is completely superficial. Either way, what they learn they stick with until death I've seen. 'Socrates is my favorite philosopher'.

[Anonymous No.5501480]

>>5501471
In what world is Georgia Tech a top 5 university? Do you mean in your specific field?

[Anonymous No.5501484]

>>5501452
I can't help but find weird as fuck the people that forget everything about a class a month after the last exam. How do you even do thayt? I wish I could forget things that easily

>>5501462
In general terms Manufacturing Consent is great, even if a bit obvious for non americans.
For his specialized stuff I can't help you, analitic philosophy passes way over my head without someone guiding me by the hand. But if you are good with logic and math you should be able to appreciate how he starts from the bottom without any requiered reading.

>>5501467
It's okay for your opinion to change constantly as you incorporate new ideas. Why would you settle with the first thing you though?

[Anonymous No.5501486]

>>5501480
Engineering. I don't think we are even ranked for anything else, but for engineering its serious business.

Our English classes are a joke. I think Trolling/Talking on the Internet was one of them, and it fulfilled a general ed. Just absolute bullshit courses meant to take no time or effort.

[Anonymous No.5501489]

>>5501471
Wow that's nuts. I had no idea. What do you study? Engineering? I have a friend who studied 'Engineering Physics' at that aviation school in Daytona. I can't remember the name right now. He's getting a job at Lockheed so that's cool I think.

[Anonymous No.5501492]

>>5501441
But how much do you value mental health?

[Anonymous No.5501494]

>>5501467
>their opinions change every week the philosopher in question changes

there is literally nothing wrong with this. this is called learning. it's not a bad thing. also this was me in my intro to phil class basically and i'm not an idiot so fuck you pal they're actually experiencing the philosophic tradition as it evolved. better to start off humble and eager to learn and accept a lot of different great thinkers than to start off, pick a modern one and think you're hot shit as you tip your fedora to all those 'dumb bullshit ancients' who just didn't get it. with the first way, maybe you'll actually end up cultivating your own opinion.

[Anonymous No.5501499]

>>5501486
Fair enough, those rankings are stupid anyway. But yeah, there are very few schools out there that have both great science/engineering programs AND humanities departments.

[Anonymous No.5501505]

>>5501471
>tfw when lib arts major at emory and all of my former high school friends are now struggling techfags complaining about grade deflation
it's pretty nice. until they end up with jobs and I don't.

[Anonymous No.5501509]

>>5501484
I don't know, it's probably because those people study to pass the test, not to understand the material. When you view material as a means to an end, it is easy to mentally dispose of it once it's of no use to you. Or at least that's how I see it.

[Anonymous No.5501516]

>>5501505
Faulkner had shit jobs all his life. Having a steady and demanding 8 to 5 job isn't the only possible life goal.

[Anonymous No.5501526]

>>5501354
>had it once and it was great
>spiralled into depression and went full hermit
>haven't had it for almost an entire year
:^)

[Anonymous No.5501527]

>>5501505

what up emorybro

>tfw was fucking miserable there

[Anonymous No.5501528]

>>5501419
>Welcome to America

[Anonymous No.5501530]

>>5501516
>Having a steady and demanding 8 to 5 job isn't the only possible life goal
really, whats another possible life goal? ever being as talented and successful as faulkner?

[Anonymous No.5501532]

>>5501528
>Land of the free
>Home of the brave

[Anonymous No.5501539]

>>5501532
>Home of the brave
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osHBA6YAHAo

>>5501530
You aren't "as talented as" any writer. Each one has a certain style, themes, influences, etc. Being happy with your writing, or any kind of artistic work, and having such a steady output as Faulkner, to keep the example going, would be a pretty decent goal.
Maybe just traveling a lot, knowing as much as possible, being part of a big movement. The whole point of "freedom" is being able to chose how you want to be happy and achieve that.

[Anonymous No.5501552]

>>5501527
why were you so miserable? I wasn't really liking it until i took an english course. professor morey is the shit.

[Anonymous No.5501554]

>>5500361
I feel you anon. I feel I''m going to switch to a shitty major and let myself and others down.

[Anonymous No.5501555]

>>5501505
Oh yeah, that's another point about Tech. Once you get in, you can't get out because there is no grade inflation. Your only hope is that a Tech graduate is looking at your application. Its like some insidious black hole for young people.

I have friends at MIT and other places that love what they do because its actually fun and interesting, doing design projects and stuff, and their professors spend a lot of time with them etc, etc. At Tech, never-mind you are probably in the top 10% of talent to be here, you will be treated like a baby for showing up at office hours for help. I do it anyway when I need to but damn do professors seem to get annoyed by it. I've maintained a 3.77 this far and it just feels like a waste.

Ah well, it feels good to be getting out.

[Anonymous No.5501556]

>>5501471
Honestly a place where people feel the need to do drugs to keep up with the pace is a fucked up pace, and not because of the courseload but because of the students.

I've been in setting where working 70 hours a week (twenty to thirty on holidays) wasn't much of a stretch, and people learnt without drugs despite abysmal grades.

[Anonymous No.5501569]

>>5501555
What's this grade inflation/defaltion you talk ago? Is it from switching minor/major or something?
I'm not american so there are a few differences in our systems.

>>5501556
Well, I remember hearing of american stay-at.home moms taking aderal to keep up with the house work. I think it says a lot about the culture more than a particular space.

[Anonymous No.5501571]

>>5501484
If you study a week before the test it's not surprising that you've forgotten most of it a week after the test. The human brain can't just retain complex information on the long term if you don't give it some time.

[Anonymous No.5501582]

>>5501526
Stop being me over the internets, anon.

[Anonymous No.5501585]

>>5501556
>Honestly a place where people feel the need to do drugs to keep up with the pace is a fucked up pace, and not because of the course-load but because of the students.

People do it because it helps. Look at this coursework for my major and tell me you could do this (keep in mind you need a B or higher) without either cheating (very popular too as many professors are known not to give a shit) or drugs.

http://www.chbe.gatech.edu/sites/default/files/pdf/ugrad/11/curriculum-standard.pdf

I was able to get through without taking any drugs, but that's because I thought they would just make me anxious and not help at all--coffee has the same effect on me. I've also got a minor in economics so there's that to consider too, but I did that because its honestly a fun thing to do. The econ professors are so chill here.

[Anonymous No.5501594]

>>5501585
>orgo II and pchem II in the same semester
oh god I'm so sorry

[Anonymous No.5501595]

>>5501569
>What's this grade inflation/defaltion you talk ago?

Everyone uses the 4.0 GPA scale but a 4.0 at one university is not the same thing as a 4.0 at another. At Tech, a 3.0 is average while at others a 3.5 is average. So when a college you want to transfer to sees you got a 3.0, you get sent to the bottom of the pack.

[Anonymous No.5501601]

>>5501585
>Wellness
How are you gonna pass that if you are stressed??

>>5501595
Does it work the other way around? I'd guess people would cheat the system a bit too much.

[Anonymous No.5501602]

>>5501569
> I think it says a lot about the culture more than a particular space.

You're probably right. The habit of relying on industrial drugs is itself kind of a drug (and I speak as a citizen of a country formerly number one in drug consumption per capita). Not that house work isn't hard (with enough kids everything becomes a Herculean task) but being at home should offer more healthy way of keeping up.

[Anonymous No.5501618]

>>5501419
>>Your time spent in college will have served you well because you have by now become so use to the crushing pain of mental exhaustion that any time spent idle will trigger a panic attack due to your body being so ill-prepared for leisure.

Top of class STEM major here, and this really hit me. I've actually stopped working in addition to school since I had 0 free time, and the worst part was that I was USED to this, so that leisure actually felt unnatural to me. I'm trying to find some sort of balance but when I do nothing for a long period of time I lose all of my ambition, and when I do alot of things I get used to it and get anxiety if I have idle periods of time.

Right now my plan is to just say "fuck it" and graduate early and hopefully post-college life is better because I've fucking hated college so far. The worst part is that this was all brought upon me when I made the realization in highschool, as I was a loner with no friends then, that I really OUGHT to do well in college, and enjoy it, since surely then things will start looking up instead of spending my lunch period in the bathroom or walking around since I became some sort of sperglord in my later HS years. As I pass my halfway point at college and see that my view of the future as being finally OK was just a fiction I fed to myself to make the present more bearable, and I've been in a sort of crisis for the past couple months.

It's really weird to wake up and realize I don't enjoy anything in my life anymore, but I just keep on going because it's expected of me, and the thought of just casting away what I've worked for for the past couple years makes me depressed.

This isn't to say I want to do a humanities major, or anything, though. My goal in life at this point is to get a high-paying job and live really frugally so I can retire early and not have to put up with the wage slave bullshit. Maybe it's just another pipedream I tell myself so I have something to look towards, because there is nothing else.

[Anonymous No.5501636]

>>5501471
I've heard Georgia Tech is absolutely batshit insane workload from many people, and I don't even talk to people often. It makes me glad that I'm going to a mid-tier state flagship instead in Florida instead so I can just git my degree without the stress. I only slightly regret it because I like to think that going to an out of state college woulda been more fun and I wouldve met more people, but who am I kidding? I would just end up in my room posting on /lit/ and readan.

[Anonymous No.5501645]

>>5501585
I'm not familiar with the system, so I'm not sure I get what the numbers means. Is the total of 132 hours over one semester of one year, two semesters of one year, one semester of two years each ?

Anyway, the numbers of hours doesn't say much. 132 hours is what I would do in a month (counting only lessons, not homework) every year from highschool to college included. But 132 hours of first year undergrad is much less demanding than 60 hours in second year of masters degree.

The only thing I see here is plenty of subjects with little coursework each, which to me seem much less efficient than an handful of topics with significant coursework each, but again, I don't know how to make sense of the content of each.

Likewise, the B requirement is hard to make sense of, as grades don't mean anything outside of context (absolute difficulty of tests, relative difficulty to the material taught, grading standards of the teacher...).

[Anonymous No.5501653]

>>5501618
Yeah, all of my friends have described having similar experiences. Even on days when I don't have homework I need to work on, I feel panicked because I think I must be forgetting something and end up more stressed than usual.

>It's really weird to wake up and realize I don't enjoy anything in my life anymore, but I just keep on going because it's expected of me, and the thought of just casting away what I've worked for for the past couple years makes me depressed.

Welcome to masochism.

[Anonymous No.5501659]

>>5501645
132 hours is the total semester hours to get your degree at the end of 4 years. Each class has so many "hours" to it based on the time spent meeting for lectures. A class that is 3 "hours" is not actually 3 hours, more like triple that at least of actual time spent per week working on it.

[Anonymous No.5501667]

>>5501618
> when I do nothing for a long period of time I lose all of my ambition, and when I do alot of things I get used to it and get anxiety if I have idle periods of time.

You are basically an amalgam of me and my friend. I'm idle you and he's jumpy you. I'm proud that we're still friends.

[Anonymous No.5501674]

>>5501636
Being in another province isn't really the best thing, you get the feeling that you are doing your own life already (even though you'd get money from pop and mom) and fuck a lot of things up for yourself. At least that's my experience. The only our of town people I've seen really excelling are those who found something new in here and really devoted time to that new thing.
Maybe I just know losers.

>>5501653
Some times I wish I could get that stressed about stuff. I just quit as soon as there's some dificulty, and usually I invent those diffulties by ignoring thing I should do or just not paying enough attention. I just found out I'll have to do an extra semester next year to get my major because I somehow forgot to sign up for a class. I just want to die, and I have to see in most of my classes the same group of people who are all taking that other class and commenting on things they are doing and shit.

[Anonymous No.5501705]

>All this people having too much motivation
How do you even do it? I've blamed a lot of things, but the truth is that I can spend a full day doing nothing without any distraction and I hate it but I just can't do things. It doesn't help that I enjoy time wasters like 4chan and pot, but even when I'm completly free of those things I haven't done anything with anything.
When I started college, seven years ago (dirty pseudo socialit country, we don't pay for it so there's little hurry) I was sort of happy of getting a year of advantage over other people who traveled and shit. And now some of them are finishing their majors while having full time jobs on the side related to their studies. I feel I know I don't need to feel fulfilled by a job, but it sucks that I can't get one even if I wanted to. I wouldn't know what to do to be honest. I'm only doing three classes this year, that's absolutely pathetic, I'll never finish this way (other side of the free college coin, there is no minor title) But I can't do a shit, I can't remember what I need to remember, I can't articulate my thoughs, I can't finish a fucking ten page chapter of a class I've been trying to pass for three years already.

God, I'm sorry for the blog and rant, even for 4chan etiquette I suck.

[Anonymous No.5501716]

>>5501705
I'm not sure how I can help you. People think me having a high GPA and going to Tech means I have motivation or whatever. I honestly feel terrible because all I want to do is write good stuff, and even when I do have free time I don't write because I'm either too stressed or too lazy to get to it. Each day just marches on into the next and I don't feel that I accomplish anything. I just want to be done so much but I can't coast as I just failed a test and thus have to do well on everything else to get a B.

[Anonymous No.5501719]

>>5501705
Now think about what will happen when all these STEM people discover how to extend your lifespan to something like 1000 years. Just imagine how much pot you could smoke.

[Anonymous No.5501725]

My family group has seven kids.
Six majored in STEM and their first job beat the national GDP per capita.
I got an English degree and now I wash cars.
>You can be whatever you want to be.

[Anonymous No.5501750]

>>5501716
I feel the same way without doing anything. The rare days I do write I feel great for that short while, and the feeling seems enough as to push me through a couple days without doing anything so I lose any drive I could had had.
Following the Faulkner example, I guess that if you took part of your free time to write you'd find that it feels demanding in a different way and that your mind can rest without the need of products made for "entertainment". The idea of "turning your head off" is purely a product of television, 70 years ago no one would had though that was a good idea; instead they had those home electronic magazines and other productive hobbies. Fuck, people used to have engaging hobbies, what happened with that?
Also drinking, but you can sort of mix those things I guess.

>>5501719
I rarely can buy, I have problems with most dealers. I would hate living that much and I'm sure that if medicine peole really wanted that we could already live more than a hundred years. But instead they prefer to produce drugs to keep you tolerably happy, vaccines that hardly do what they have to do but get contracts with whole countries and new uses of old stuff to renew pattents.

[Anonymous No.5501752]

>>5501725
I guess your duty is to be wiser and happier than they are.
Can't you at least teach? How about a creative writing class?

[Anonymous No.5501828]

>>5500361

>tfw majoring in international relations with concentrations on insurgency/counterterrorism

>have a possession of paraphenalia charge on record because stood up for a friend so he didn't get charged.

>regret doing that

>ptobs not pass security shit because o that. So no job ever

>don't care because think U.S. foreign policy is pants on head anyway

>but no job

guess I'll just keep reading Paul Bowles

[Anonymous No.5501862]

lol i scraped by and barely passed a phys chem bsc and have no ambitions of going to grad school. no clue what i'm going to do with it but i paid off my student loans with menial jobs already so i'm not that concerned.

[Anonymous No.5501863]

>>5501828
:((((( damn that sucks man.

[Anonymous No.5501870]

>>5501828
Your friend better support you for the rest of your life.

[Anonymous No.5501872]

>>5501870
This. Don't ever stand up for any 'friends' in a situation like that. He should have taken the rap like a man and been held responsible for his actions.

[Anonymous No.5501883]

>>5501870


He's one of my best friends I've known him since elementary school, he's a self absorbed flute playing manlet though, I just steal stuff from him whenever he blacks out. Whatever job I end up resigning myself to would probably beat out his income.

[Anonymous No.5501971]

>>5501828
>international relations
is this a thing? what are you supposed to do with it?

[Anonymous No.5501987]

>>5501530
to enjoy life

[Anonymous No.5502004]

>>5501828
CIA doesn't give a fuck when you last smoked once you pass a piss test, it's the FBI that are uptight about that shit. I think it's five or seven years clean the Feds want applicants to have.

[Anonymous No.5502089]

>>5501971

go into a grad program that focuses on something more specific, publish something that isn't utter shit (or is), work for foreign affairs/(or better)diplomacy for your government, maybe intelligence stuff if you concentrated on the right things and where up to par, work for NGO's, or just stay in academia.

it doesn't have the biggest employment prospects but it isn't as bad a s say, majoring in something /lit/ related (nothing wrong with that thought).

If you are willing to do a lot of outside research, coupled with experienced profs it is a seriously great expansion of one's understanding of the world and how it actually functions. You can also just skate through and parrot what you learn from the news and exam handouts to form your entire understanding, and people get very far doing just that, so it isn't the hardest field. I personally just find it very rewarding to learn about. Though it can lead to some pretty nihilistic feels.

[Anonymous No.5502095]

>>5502004

oh man thats cool to hear. I would have been shooting for CIA anyway. Fuck the FBI, seen a bit of that and not an organization I would want to work for.

[Anonymous No.5502288]

>>5500389
>Just look at Lawrence Krauss.
>implying you are more well-read and understanding of philosophy than he is

[Anonymous No.5502350]

>>5502004
>I think it's five or seven years clean the Feds want applicants to have.
Not anymore though, It's been talked about in the news recently. It's supposedly rather impossible to find enough candidates for new positions that haven't smoked/imbibed some other drug during the last few months or a year at most.

[Anonymous No.5503719]

>>5501828
Can't you be a translator or journalist? Maybe into politics.

>>5501883
Do you at least touch him a bit while he's passed out?

>>5502095
The CIA is cool? The economic hitmen? The ones that are responsible for hundreds of thousands dead in latin america just because lol anti communism? Well, fuck you too.

>>5500389
It depends, I guess. Analytic phil. really stands on math, so if he had had a chance to check that out he might had gotten interested.

[Anonymous No.5503748]

>>5500389
i bet you brought up defining definitions and metaphysics

[Anonymous No.5503753]

>>5501445
I'm Mexican and I believe it. Many Mexicans can't plan strategies for shit. It's all about immediate pleasure.

[kitty !kitty/EnNg No.5503756]

>>5503753
you just were taught to self-loath

[Anonymous No.5503760]

>>5503756
maybe that too

[Anonymous No.5503765]

>>5501419
>you have by now become so use to the crushing pain of mental exhaustion that any time spent idle will trigger a panic attack due to your body being so ill-prepared for leisure
holy shit so much this

so much this whole post

[Anonymous No.5503767]

>>5503765
How do you justify /lit/ or 4chan in general then?

[Anonymous No.5503770]

>>5500563
bachelor - not at all MIT open courses are great, it might get harder after that i don't know, still getting bachelor myself

[Anonymous No.5503771]

But I am STEM master race.
>tfw based Civil Engineering
>tfw better at english than any of you losers

[Anonymous No.5503781]

>>5501354
Your dad molesting you doesn't count.

[Anonymous No.5503788]

>>5503767
i'm literally at work now

[Anonymous No.5503812]

>>5503771
Read the thread, it's mostle STEM guys talking about their lives.

[Anonymous No.5503819]

>>5501419
this so much
fuck everything

[Anonymous No.5503825]

>complain about lack of free time
>while posting on 4chan

kek

[Anonymous No.5503869]

>>5500361
I don't really care you know.

[Anonymous No.5503873]

>>5501659
>using 9 hours a week on a class ever
why the fuck would you do that to yourself?

[Anonymous No.5503879]

>>5500361
I'll never even be liberal arts sub-standard race

[Anonymous No.5503889]

>>5501419
>>5503819
>tfw english degree at durham
>wake up at 10 every day
>read a bit
>go for a casual stroll around the castle/woodland/riverbank
>meet some friends for a coffee or lunch around 2
>occasional lecture
>bit of writing in the evening (maybe half an hour)
>chilled parties/poetry society meetings in pub
>best non-oxbridge university in the country
>offered job at the bbc with salary of £29,000

[Anonymous No.5503893]

>>5503889
STOP IT

[Anonymous No.5503910]

>>5501419
>my brother-in-law's life to a T

I haven't really seen him in a few months, and before that a few month, whereas we my family meets up with my sister and nephew regularly.

Why are there no STEM unions?

[Anonymous No.5503930]

>>5503889
£29,000 = $47,000

[Anonymous No.5503933]

>>5503889
So, what's so bad in your life that you need to come and rub it on our faces?

[Anonymous No.5503940]

>>5503933
i'm gay

[Anonymous No.5503946]

>>5503940
I though britain was a bit more open with gays and trans and all those stealth minorities.

[Anonymous No.5503957]

>>5503946
it is

but i have a dating pool about a 5% of the size of straights

[Silverstein No.5503962]

I'd rather be waiting tables and attempt at writing than be a STEM faggot.

[Anonymous No.5503968]

>>5503957
doesn't tinder tip the scales on that pretty decisively? the whole stereotype about gays is that they're casual as fuck about hook-ups, from my experience none of the gays I've known have really struggled.

But that's in Canada, mind.

[Anonymous No.5503969]

>>5503962
this
i bet nobody can name as many engineers and scientists as writers, especially not post 1950
nobody cares about those losers

[Anonymous No.5503971]

>>5503968
>tinder
>not grindr

and yes, for hookups. but i would rather not just fuck everyone in the world and have a relationship instead

[Anonymous No.5503976]

>>5503962
This guy gets it. I'd do whatever it takes to accomplish my mission.

[Anonymous No.5503983]

>>5500361

STEM here.

college is miserable, engineering is saturated with calculators with stunted emotional growth. Which is very sad when during the last year, we got a taste of our own disillusionment, and the teachers are big manchildren who act like college and engineering academia is anything that resembles human life.

However, you get a good paying job, I guess, and you are guaranteed to have it within months of searching which is good (i'm not from the US). If you can get through college, and you choose a job which can give you free time, I guess living a normal life is possible and you have time to read and even write some.

[Anonymous No.5503993]

>>5503983
literally no job gives you no hours to read and write
say you work 7 am to 7pm, that's over 60 hours a week. you get home, have dinner, taking you to maybe 8pm. you still have three maybe four hours, making it possible to write a page or two and read half a novel each night. 4chan is just a drain

[Anonymous No.5504006]

>>5503957
Well, if you behave like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5djel73Pdc [sopiler]I could really be into you, but I'm pathetic[/spoiler]

[Anonymous No.5504008]

>>5503993

I live ten minutes worth of bus time from where I work. I work only 8 hours a day with a good pay for a starting engineer. I get home at about 5 PM and still have time to cook and enjoy some internet and reading. Work is alright. I'm already a very unambitious cunt so I don't really care for promotions as long as I'm performing average I don't think I'll be in the danger zone.

[Anonymous No.5504011]

>>5503993
people need downtime ameri-kun, without leisure life is not worth living

[Anonymous No.5504016]

>>5503993
>the only thing you need to do in your free time is make food and read

[Anonymous No.5504017]

>>5503957
Well, if you behave like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5djel73Pdc then I guess [Embed] I could really be into you, but I'm pathetic

[Anonymous No.5504021]

>>5501419
>>5501618
This makes me so glad to be NEET.

[Anonymous No.5504056]

>>5503889
>wanting to work at the BBC
>describing things as "chilled"

Weird to think my generation are the ones who are going to uphold a shitty, corrupt system

*tips fedora*

[Goodbye No.5504089]

>>5501618
You just summed up my life. Thanks faggot, now ill go hang myself.

[Anonymous No.5504110]

>>5501618
It gets better after college, trust me. Maybe not so much at first. There's the anxiety of having all the public documents needed, there're many interviews to be had, but you'll get there. You learn to gradually chill and you have time for yourself, and for your friends.

If anything, it's like being transferred to a less demanding uni but with more grounded superiors (which is most of the time), and you get paid. Will not be big as expected at first, but it will rise and you can live off of it. Unless of course you have loans, then that's a looming threat. Thank god for my parent's funds.

[Anonymous No.5504207]

>>5504110
>and you can live off of it. Unless of course you have loans
Is murrica really thisdystopian already? is being able to live off your top tier stem shit something to be grateful for?

[Anonymous No.5504214]

>>5504207
That's not the point. I was replying to the guy feeling awful about his career in stem. It's not something to be proud of, but getting a job in stem will help you do away with one of the worries of life which is financial.

[Anonymous No.5504406]

britbong here. Is America really this much of a shithole?

I live in Newmarket and am training as a farrier, I'm looking forward to start on a salary of £100,000 per annum as an in-house farrier at the races after i get my degree when i finish my apprenticeship. I wont have to go to uni and deal with pretentious intellectuals and annoying STEm manchildren. I wont be slaving away in a dim, ill-ventilated office and instead I'll be spending most of my days driving around the glorious British countryside.
And I'll have my own business so i wont be a corporate nob-gobbler and get away with paying minimal taxes on my property. Maybe convince my daddy to help me invest in some land when i hit 27 and start up a livery and riding school, hopefully retire at forty and live off my estate. Drive around in my land rover and spend time with my beautiful, long-haired, thick-thighed horse riding wife.

I'm living the dream here anons. Tell me what reason i could possibly have for going to uni and "fulfilling my potential".

I even plan on writing in my (copious) free time. Maybe one day write a popular novel about the country-life through the eyes of a friendly farrier that at least gets published.

this is, of course, assuming i don't get crippled by an angry horse over the next ten years

[Anonymous No.5504424]

>tfw you study mathematics (+ philosophy) and you get grouped together with the retards that study STE

"no"

[Anonymous No.5504447]

>>5504406
>[ spoiler ]
Can't you be an angry old man who warns the young ones and is roguh but real?

[Anonymous No.5504474]

>>5504406
>£100,000 per annum
50% tax tho

[Anonymous No.5504483]

Now why would i do that?

[Anonymous No.5504490]

>>5504056
>disliking the bbc

[Anonymous No.5504538]

>>5500361
But I study computer science, OP.

[Anonymous No.5504544]

>>5504538
He said STEM.

[Anonymous No.5504553]

>>5504538
>Science

no

>Technology

no

>Engineering

no

>Mathematics

no

[Anonymous No.5504574]

>My goal in life at this point is to get a high-paying job and live really frugally so I can retire early and not have to put up with the wage slave bullshit

audies plerosque dicentes: a quinquagesimo anno in otium secedam. sexagesimus me annus ab officiis dimittet. et quem tandem longioris uitae praedem accipis? quis ista sicut disponis ire patietur? non pudet te reliquias uitae tibi reseruare et id solum tempus bonae menti destinare, quod in nullam rem conferri possit? quam serum est tunc uiuere incipere, cum desinendum est? quae tam stulta mortalitatis obliuio in quinquagesimum et sexagesimum annum differre sana consilia et inde uelle uitam inchoare, quo pauci perduxerunt?

That's right, put off living. The gods are laughing...

[Anonymous No.5504584]

Can a 25 year old guy who was never interested in math, go to college and major in mathematics? Serious question. The more I understand about it(philosophically I guess you can say but that's not a good word to use) the more I want to actually study it. Is it plausible?

[Anonymous No.5504592]

>>5504544
>>5504553
If it's not science, technology, engineering or mathematics, then what is it? The only other groupings I can think of are informatics, which is only a part of computer science, and humanities, which has little to do with it.

Even though it's called computer *science* I fully accept that it's not actually a science, and being that it's not an engineering discipline (though software engineering is similar) I also accept that it's not engineering; but it originated as a branch of mathematics, and it's heavily involved in the study and development of technology.

[Anonymous No.5504594]

>>5504584
How much math do you know now?

[Anonymous No.5504608]

>>5504553
>technology

[Anonymous No.5504610]

>>5504594
Next to nothing(in terms of academic math it's been so long). I learn EVERYTHING incredibly fast, but math has never interested me. I'm absolutely positive that if I'm interested in it, I'll learn it fast too to catch up.

[Anonymous No.5504626]

>>5504610
>Next to nothing(in terms of academic math it's been so long).
binomial expansion? trigonometry? pythagoras? how little?

[Anonymous No.5504627]

>>5504610
What does that mean?

Do you know what the anti-derivative of e^x is? Do you know how to multiply 38 and 22? Are you working on Goldbach's conjecture?

[Anonymous No.5504639]

>>5501618
>My goal in life at this point is to get a high-paying job and live really frugally so I can retire early and not have to put up with the wage slave bullshit.

Why don't you just be NEET and retire right now. No different than living frugally.

[Anonymous No.5504644]

>>5504610
What does that mean?

Do you know the anti-derivative of e^x? What 22*23 is? Are you working on Goldbach's conjecture?

[Anonymous No.5504672]

>>5504644
>>5504626
I guess I'm fucked lol. Yeah Trig I remember some. Again I'd need a serious refresher. I'm sorry it was probably a stupid question but it's all so interesting to me.

[Anonymous No.5504680]

>>5504672
so you're at middle school level
all i can say is good luck

[Anonymous No.5504684]

>>5504672
You could train yourself up to last-years-of-highscool-level in a year.

As long as a university accepts you, I don't see why you wouldn't succeed.

[Anonymous No.5504720]

>>5504684
That's a comforting thought. Any books you'd recommend to get up to the level I need to be?

>>5504680
:(

[Anonymous No.5504729]

>>5504720
Again, you need to be more specific.

What do you know?

Tell me (just about) everything you know.

[Anonymous No.5504747]

>>5504474
what?
In the uk? Under a small, cash in hand autonomous business?

I don't think so m80

[Anonymous No.5504749]

>>5504729
Let's assume I don't remember anything from High school. That's not to say I didn't see it in high school so if I see it again, my brain will flick on(especially if I'm interested in it). I actually dropped out before and recently got a GED(had a mail-order diploma before that didn't work anymore lol) and I passed it very easily. The math was a bit difficult obviously since it's been so long, but it's not too hard because math is logical to me and thus easy to understand if I think about it that way.

tl;dr let's assume I know next to nothing

[Anonymous No.5504777]

>>5504749
See, that's not good enough. If we assume you know next to nothing, then I'll tell you to read lots of trivial horsecrap and that will bore the living shit out of you.

>General Educational Development

So you're from Canada and or/America?

Where do you plan to study math? What do they require that you know about math? Do they expect calculus? Linear algebra? Or just algebra and trigonometry?

[Anonymous No.5504784]

>>5504777
>and/

No idea why I said that, but w/e.

I'm trying to compile a list of books for you now, but please tell me where you'd like to start and where it ends (before university).

[Anonymous No.5504798]

>>5504777
>>5504784
Yeah 'Murrica fag here. I would plan to study(just to start) most likely at CUNY in New York. The problem with trying to tell you what I know is that I'm not even aware of the names for them. Sure I know what prime numbers are, elementary math, arithmetic, Pythagorean shit, etc. I don't mind the horsecrap honestly because it'll just remind me of everything(if anything I can skim through it and skip what I already know).

Yes they will expect calculus and linear algebra I'm sure. Either way, I'd like to expect those two things of myself so yes include that please. I appreciate it.

[Anonymous No.5504812]

>>5504798
Alright, give me some time. Captcha absolutely fucking related. You gon git gud at it.

[Anonymous No.5504823]

>>5504747
scum

[Anonymous No.5504826]

>>5504812
Awesome. Thanks anon I really do appreciate it.

[Anonymous No.5504844]

>>5501419
sounds like you went to a shit uni, my prof will always set aside to to work with you 1-on-1 and help you work through things you don't understand

[Anonymous No.5504871]

>>5504812
For entering students who intend to study calculus, but are not yet prepared for it, we offer two courses: Math 19000 (College Algebra and Trigonometry) and Math 19500 (Precalculus). Math 18000 (Quantitative Reasoning) and Math 18500 (Basic Ideas in Mathematics) serve students preparing for teaching in the elementary schools. Math 15000 (Mathematics in the Contemporary World) is the basic math core requirement for everyone else.

That's from their website for math students to give you an idea of what they require when you enter. I'd prefer to be prepared completely for everything they throw at me so definitely books on the more advanced maths would be much appreciated that way I can get versed in them before starting the class.

[Anonymous No.5504933]

>>5504826
>>5504871
http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Algebra-Self-Teaching-Second-Edition/dp/0471530123 Algebra, from Arabic al-Jabr meaning reunion of broken parts, something that will make sense after becoming gud at algebra, this book will teach you just about everything you need to know about high-school algebra

http://www.amazon.com/Precalculus-Mathematics-Nutshell-Geometry-Trigonometry/dp/1592441300 Pre-calculus, what you do before calculus, the mathematics of change, can probably skip some of the topics here after reading the Algebra book above
- If you have the time and/or you find the above difficult, go for James Stewart (longer read, but pretty darn thorough)
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BwCPreoqG6_cdTJhdV9hRFpUTFk/edit?pli=1

Judging by the description you gave me, you can stop here, but if you're a tough motherfucker, then continue reading

http://www.amazon.com/Calculus-4th-Michael-Spivak/dp/0914098918 Calculus, this is where you see why mathematics is so important in our daily lives etc etc etc etc bla bla
-Go for this one if you're a really badass motherfucker or you just really want a rigorous introduction to Calculus

- If you have the time and/or you find the above difficult, go for James Stewart (longer read, but pretty darn thorough)
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BwCPreoqG6_cYlNqZ2wtc3plWVU/edit?pli=1

-Extra info on Calculus, explains things better, also by Spivak, + a bit of history if you're into that
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0883858126/?tag=stackoverfl08-20

http://www.amazon.com/Calculus-Vol-Multi-Variable-Algebra-Applications/dp/0471000078 Multi-variable calculus, linear-algebra and differentials! A little bit of everything. Good as a general read, and pretty rigorous.


Also, Israel Gelfand's book on "basic" mathematics (algebra, trigonometry and geometry) are pretty nice. However, they are quite short so they probably serve best as refreshers.

While at uni, I recommend that you read Letters to a Young Mathematician by Ian Stewart. A book where he basically tells you about all the stuff he wish he knew when he was a mathematics undergraduate.

Will continue in next post.

[Anonymous No.5504955]

>>5504610
>>5504672
I´m studying math and when I started I didn't know any trig at all.

You'll learn so much, with such rigor, in such a short time that it really doesn't matter how much you know at the beginning. At least if you study math, not physics or some other science that uses applied math.

We started pretty much from zero, first logic, then axioms, then introducing numbers N Z Q R C, sequences, sums of sequences, Continuous function... and so on.

It´s all about proofs and not some shitty memorization.

Well, I could go on for quite some time but I have an exam tomorrow so I gotta go.

[Anonymous No.5504961]

>>5504933
Also, if you want to start early on the uni stuff, do it like this; single variable calculus, then linear algebra and multivariable calculus and then differential equations (assuming you won't be reading Apostol).
Once again, this depends on where you live. In Norway (where I live atm) you will have touched a bit upon all of these subjects before you hit university, but I'm just giving you a general guideline.

Always remember, mathematical proofs are good. Always look at them if they are offered. If you're going to be studying mathematics, then you'll be needing proofs. The earlier you get into them, the better. I don't think universities expect students to be experts on proofs, though, so no worries.

Also, do lots of excersies. You might think you understand the concept they present, but in "lower" mathematics we let the excersises decide that. Always challenge yourself etc. Remember that this about gitting gud, not about getting through it as painlessly and fast as possible.

But yeah, judging by the description you gave me, I don't think you need to know anything past pre-calculus.

And if you want to get all interactive and shit, I recommend patrickJMT (short(er) videoes) and KhanAcademy (long(er) videoes, but explains it so just about everyone can undestand it).

If you want to learn with a class or some gay shit, you could always hit up www.coursera.org.
You need to know high-school algebra, basic geometry and trigonometry. You search for this and you'll probably find something.

gl&hf, I will now take a shit and take a shower and then I'll come back to see if you've asked any questions

[Anonymous No.5504977]

>>5504490
I love bbc.

[Anonymous No.5504986]

>>5504933
Yes, read 6 or 7 books about math before you even start studying it.
What a load of bullshit.

[Anonymous No.5504997]

>>5504961
>>5504933
Awesome thanks for the books anon!

[Anonymous No.5505002]

>>5500361
One year to go. Still.

I feel like a fraud. I haven't learned much at my uni. Learning three days for exams was enough, most of the time. I'm considered on of "the smart people". The internet has destroyed my way of thinking, I can't think straight or focus anymore. I started to fall asleep in classes of 20 people, no matter how much coffee I would drink. Tiredness crept up and hit me like a cotton brick. I'm glad that I haven't slept during my intern. The company kept for writing a thesis. I don't know why they would do that, they could get anybody, they are a global leader. I feel like a fraud, waiting to be exposed. /lit/, how fucked am I?

[Anonymous No.5505028]

>>5504986
How the heck did you learn mathematics then?

And if you actually read the post, he only needs to read 2 books before uni, but the others were just extra (if he wanted to get ahead of the others etc).

[Anonymous No.5505353]

>>5505028
>How the heck did you learn mathematics then?

Paying attention in class and doing most of the homework assigned.