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/sci/ - Science & Math

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10132076 No.10132076 [Reply] [Original]

Hello. I am probably one of the biggest brainlets on this board and i need your guyses help. I was a failure in school and learned only stuff up to 8th grade math when i got into drugs and shit (Really Really Rough area) Im trying to get my shit back together and i come here to see if i can learn anything, What i want to learn is understanding the equations you guys have on here. Complex stuff with greek letters. I want to understand stuff like that before i truely understand what the equations describing. Please help me out guys.

>> No.10132083

>>10132076
learn calculus
if that's too hard, there are many "pre-calculus" texts

>> No.10132085

>>10132083
thanks anon, any good book recommendations? im broke and know almost no math what so ever.

>> No.10132088

>>10132076
If you're serious, mathematics and physics is not just "something you finish." It is a lifestyle. Most people at universities and on this 4chan board are mathematically retarded, but they push forward for whatever reason at 1 mph.

What I'm saying is, unless you're capable of sitting down literally 6 hours a day with brain breaking concentration for the next 5 years, forget it. Because that's what it takes. It's not something you just "learn."

>> No.10132094

>>10132088
honestly i just want to get somewhere in life, "learn" enough so i can apply myself to something meaningful.

>> No.10132096

It's really remarkable how bad people are at mathematics. I met a professional tutor who didn't know what modular arithmetic was.

>> No.10132106

>>10132094
You want to "learn enough", but this will consist of so much study. The people who are really anywhere decent all started studying Junior level mathematics when they were 16 and 17.

It depends on your job, but whatever you do, it will consist of at least 4 hours of 5-6 hour a day brain breaking concentration. It isn't something you learn, it isn't just a passion, it's a way of life which changes who you are. Get your degree and get out and try to get some job I suppose.

I do not know what you mean by meaningful. What would this consist of?

>> No.10132110
File: 5 KB, 333x51, schrodingers equation.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
10132110

>>10132076
op here, a good example of what im wanting to understand are equations that look like Schrodinger's equation...

>> No.10132113

*4 years of 5-6 hours a day. Calculus, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, is considered top classes by many people and takes many 3 years to get. But these aren't even a start. I'm not even sure they can get you a job.

>>10132110
Why is Schrodinger's equation deterministic and time reversible if QM isn't?

>> No.10132117

>>10132106
i dont know honestly, i dont want to study some meme shit, i have a passion for physics and mathmatics, astrophysics stuff like that, but i only know "pop sci" shit when it comes to those topics.

>> No.10132120

>>10132113
inve no idea.. i just want to understand the equation, know what the letters mean and actually understand most of whats on this board.

>> No.10132138

>>10132085
a good start would be the khan academy series on math; you can start watching the videos online right now. i recommend watching it at 1.5x or 2x speed; if there is ever a point where that feels to fast, slow it down. otherwise, since most of the videos are quite slow, if you do not watch it at this speed you will get bored and unmotivated - i speak from experience. i recommend starting with these videos rather than with a textbook because sal khan's stress on intuition and his comments on the material will help give you an idea of how to approach the material. while watching, take notes and make sure you understand the material before moving on. there is no shame in rewatching the same video multiple times. to check if you truly understand the material, pretend you are an instructor and lecture yourself on what you have just learned. if you are capable of doingn this, you are ready to move on. once you have completed their section on geometry, i recommend reading an introductory textbook in discrete math rather than immediately jumping into calculus. i recommend discrete mathematics by susanna epp; it is a clear and very gentle introduction to logic and math. do every other problem until you get the idea of each chapter, then skip to the ones in the back of the problems list (those are the hard ones). there's no reason to keep doing problems if you already understand an idea; it'll only burn you out. once you are done with that, then do calculus. (in school, you do calculus first, but i think that's uninstructive.) remember that you can find just about any textbook pdf online for free on libgen; so do not ever fool yourself into thinking you can't math because you simply don't have enough money. good luck, be patient, and don't be too hard on yourself. math is difficult and very time consuming for everyone - even the basic stuff.

>> No.10132140

>>10132117
>>10132120
I'm certainly one of the strongest people on this board and have put in many thousands more hours than other's here. I'm going to tell you some things.
>talent matters
That's not to say a talented person can pick up things "like that." Everyone has to take it one step at a time no matter how much of a genius you are. Many go to universities for 4 years+ and come out still being idiots, not knowing how to do basic calculus integrals despite supposedly dedicating the previous 4 years of their life to learning. It is remarkable. You should take an IQ test or something or find out how strong your talent is. If it's strong enough you should feel fine, because you may not have anything better to do in life besides going into mathematics and physics.
>There is no enlightenment at the end of the tunnel
Just more shit to do. Once you get far enough there's no turning back and it becomes who you are.
>Age matters
It's not just about learning at a young age while your brain is young, but because it takes so many years to learn. This is why so many great mathematicians started at such a young age.

If you really want to commit yourself to this lifestyle, the first thing you need to do is learn how to work your ass off. I don't mean being obsessed and only living for mathematics. I mean just thinking really fucking hard 6 hours a day and keep it up for years. No bullshit internet memes, no slacking, etc... If you don't have this in you, then forget it because you won't get anywhere. Mathematics doesn't complete suck, but thinking this hard for so many hours straight does.

If you have talent and the right disposition, despite your late age approaching mathematics, it may be the best option in your life. That is, you don't have anything better to do. You will have to judge this yourself.

>>10132138
Even just learning Khan Academy and Calculus 1 will give you a perspective of what's to come. Solve lots of brain teasers for now.

>> No.10132145

>>10132113
they’re considered top level for people who aren’t doing physics or mathematics

>> No.10132154

I'm going to go now. If you want to begin on this journey, here is your first task.
>Start learning algebra from Khan academy and really understand it
>Start solving brain teasers and math puzzles like Martin Gardner at least 2 hours a day
At this point solving brain teasers is more valuable than anything else since it teaches you how to think. However you need algebra to solve many brain teasers.

Good luck.

>> No.10132157

>>10132154
god speed to you and thank you for all of this

>> No.10132159

>>10132113
>Why is Schrodinger's equation deterministic and time reversible if QM isn't?
QM is deterministic, in a way. If we could fully describe each situation with one quantum-mechanical wavefunction, it would be fully deterministic. It is only when you add interaction with classical elements causing wavefunction collapse that it becomes nondterministic.

>> No.10132164

>>10132159
Schrodinger's equation and it's analogs for multiple particles does not result in explosively random singularities. It is a very nice function.

>> No.10132173

>>10132140
Op here, i took an iq test online on mensa norway and my iq is 103, if that matters.

>> No.10132198

>>10132173
it is meaningless. in fact, i encourage you to [-] every post you see with the word "iq."

>> No.10132201

>>10132110
You should first learn calculus, a tiny bit of linear algebra and then vector calculus, I would say this is the path to knowing the most normie impressing symbols with the least amount of prerequisites and difficulty. You will be able to understand the meaning of fancy equations that look like that. Get a basic calculus textbook, idk Stewart or something for engineers, maybe Strang's linear algebra (but this will cover much much more than you need, don't read it all). Finally you can pick up something easy like "div grad and curl and all that". Just pirate all the books noone has time for shelling all that money. You can probably get through this all in 3 months if you properly study through the material, otherwise maybe a year if you just do it at a relaxed pace.

>> No.10132206

>>10132201
Khan academy seems mentioned alot on this board and i was wondering if i could use that to learn calculus.

>> No.10132207

>>10132201
oh yeah assuming you didnt learn how to add and shit because you were living in the hood you should probably read something like Lang's basic mathematics, you need to be able to manipulate fractions with variables and be comfortable with exponentials and logarithms.

If you want to continue after the vector calculus then basic PDEs and complex variables are probably the next simplest things which have wacky symbols

>> No.10132209

>>10132207
thanks anon

>> No.10132213

>>10132206
It would probably be helpful, but I'm not sure what the range of topics Khan academy covers. At the very least get a book/pdf to get a checklist of stuff you should be learning and use Khan to learn it.

>> No.10132248

>>10132213
>>10132206
Khan academy covers everything from arithmetic to multivariable calculus, linear algebra, and differential equations. It would definitely be a good start since it focuses on intuition and understanding but not necessarily on rigor.

>> No.10132250

>>10132206
>>10132213
>>10132248
>>10132154
>Let me tell you about my favorite videos on math.
>Khan.... let me just write that out here...Khan... I'll do this in Purple. Khan...Academy.... You know, let me write Academy in Green. Khan... Academy.
>And you know, let me give you an intuitive sense as to why Khan Academy is useful.
>*COUGH*
>Let me write out my reasons over here in red..
>No, you know, blue is better.
>One reason is that he makes it simple
>Let me tell you why it's simple
>*writes out simple very slowly* Simple... Simple... You know what, let me write this out with every letter having it's own color.
>Let me tell-
>Let me tell you why it's simple.
>**Sal wrote out simple in 6 different colors, he meant to do it in 7** dialogue box pops out
>And if you could donate to Khan Academy.. Let me spell that out for you.
>Khan.... This time I'll do it in pink...... Academy....
>If you could-
>If you could donate to Khan Academy, see I spelt it out here
>*circles the pink Khan Academy*
>If you could donate that'd be great.
>I hope you have an intuitive sense of why his videos are so great.

>> No.10132265

>>10132173
Yes, that is pretty serious. I'm going to lay it down right here. You are going to struggle. All of us struggle. The best are the one's who are most determined. The problem is that you may struggle and not get much reward for it.

You can work your way through algebra and calculus to get an idea. These people talking about "linear algebra, differential equations, vector calculus" are being pretty optimistic. That's well over a year down the road for you, if ever.

>>10132198
Yea, tell yourself whatever you want. But suppose for instance that you wanted to assess people's ability to solve logical problems? What would you do? Well you'd make up a test of course with logical problems to be solved and assign people a score. Of course you made several tests and came to something pretty interesting: people have consistent scores from one test to the other! That is, the ability to solve logical problems is in some way universal!

Now, of course all you've done is make a little game which by definition tests how clever people are at solving shit. However people insist that this "score" is meaningless and has no meaning whatsoever. It's some random number with no correspondance to reality whatsoever. That is, a person's ability to solve logical problems has no meaning whatsoever.

Maybe if your IQ was a little higher you would be able to solve the meaning of IQ tests as well.

>> No.10132278

>>10132265
>>10132209
I don't want to crush your spirit OP, because maybe you enjoy doing a bit of mathematics here and there. Just because you aren't talented doesn't mean you can't learn enough interesting things, enjoy solving problems, etc... I want you to do these things to see what's out there.

I'm just saying for a way of life? For an ambitious pursuit? To go to university for it or actually become some way "pretty good at it." I just can't see it happening.

>> No.10132285

>>10132278
>>10132265
The #1 thing you can do right now is start solving brain teasers. This is also more fun than learning mathematics. Okay? :)

>> No.10132287
File: 16 KB, 399x400, 1511984715326.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
10132287

>>10132106
>4 hours of 5-6 hour a day

>> No.10132294

>>10132076
Go back to school, start with adult high school and then go to college and then get your master's.
Thats the minimum amount of education you need to even potentially be considered smart.

>> No.10132353

if you want any consolance, plenty of people with a completely normal IQ go to college. They struggle, but we all do really. It's still possible you have nothing better to do with your life than learn about meaningful things. You will have to decide this for yourself. Godspeed to you.

>> No.10132443

>>10132088
>>10132096
>>10132106
>>10132113
>>10132140
>>10132154
>>10132265
>>10132278
>>10132285
>>10132353
What a ray of sunshine you are.

>> No.10132483

>>10132088
>needing 5 years to get from 8th grade/basic math to calculus
No dude, try like a year at most with honest effort put into it

>> No.10132501

>>10132443
He's not wrong, though.
t. average IQ struggler