Learning mathematics in 20's

[Anonymous No.11254351]

HS drop out here. Looking to get A levels in UK as in my country I'd have to do everything linearly to get anywhere close to university. I'm learning mathematics and am seriously considering studying mathematics or a field related to it in university, however, how does one go about self teaching mathematics from the absolute basics? I'm going through and most of it is somewhat back in my head as I remember doing basic algebra, geometry and some trigonometry, but like I said, I'm almost a clean slate. Has there been anyone in similar situation as me? It seems very easy to be discouraged consider how much time has already been lost, however I am also very determined to see my goals meet my ends.

And no, I'm not a retard. To explain my situation, I'm also working nearly 70 hour weeks, but my schedule gives me lot of free time to study, which is a big part of the reason why I even started studying.

To ask more conrete questions, I am wondering how to:
>deal with gaps of knowledge effectively? Everytime I learn something new I realise there is something missing, so for every step forward there are at least two steps back.
>plan my studies? Any good websites with learning materials following their best logical order? I'm currently going through /sci/ wiki, but advice is always welcome as it cuts time planning and allows more time for actual studies.

[Anonymous No.11254365]

>>11254351
>goals meet my ends.
meet their ends.*

[Anonymous No.11254378]

my math was at an 8th grade level when i finished high school. i learned all of what i know about math in adulthood.

math is very abstract and i don't think we've actually "evolved" to learn math in the same way we're supposed to learn a language as a normal part of our development. in other words, i don't think it's much harder to learn math in adulthood. the only advantage people who learn it in childhood have is that they started earlier. anyone with a mid-high iq can learn it given enough time and motivation.

[Anonymous No.11254384]

>>11254378
What did you learn your maths for?

[Anonymous No.11254387]

>>11254384

i was uncomfortable in my ignorance.

[Anonymous No.11254395]

>>11254387
How much math did you learn in the end?

[Anonymous No.11254403]

>>11254395

at least as much as someone with a B.S. in mathematics from a public uni.

[Anonymous No.11254413]

and it's not "the end" until i'm dead. i'll keep studying it if i feel like it.

[Anonymous No.11254446]

>>11254403
>>11254413
This is very encouraging, anon.

[Anonymous No.11254452]

>>11254446

i hope it was. math is just gravy. we're not really supposed to learn it, so there's no specific stage of development where you "learn math". kids learn everything faster, but i don't think you have to start early to become an expert at math. i had the same concerns as you, but this is what i've concluded after thinking about it a bit.

[Anonymous No.11254595]

>>11254403
>a B.S. in mathematics from a public uni.
By the time I got my Bachelor in maths (public uni), I learnt about analysis (real analysis, measure theory, Lesbegue measure, complex analysis), probability/stats (in particular stochastic analysis, martingales, etc.), algebra (sylow theorems, PIDs/UFDs, module theory, exact sequences for free module resolutions), differential/Riemann geometry (vector bundles, de Rham cohomology in particular), algebraic topology (homology and homotopy, adjoint and derived functors, Mayer-Vietoris, etc.), algebraic geometry (schemes, Zariski topology), and basic applied stuff like ODEs/PDEs, linear algebra, optimisation, etc.

If you managed to learn it all by yourself, then definitely props to you. I would probably lose motivation if I weren't in a uni.

[Anonymous No.11254689]

>>11254351
>>>/adv/

[Anonymous No.11255074]

>>11254595

i can rattle off lots of different subjects i took as an undergrad too. how much do you actually remember?

[Anonymous No.11255113]

>>11254351
Here's what you do.
>Familiarize self with programming, contribute to open source project.
>Your choice on whether to get a bachelors. It's not useful really for codemonkeying but lots of companies will give you a free in for having a bachelors.
>Find software dev job, show them your open source project contributions and earn sweet 70k/year starting (or whatever it is in the UK).

[Anonymous No.11255136]

How old are you anon? Asking for motivation.

[Anonymous No.11255555]

>>11254351
>Has there been anyone in similar situation as me?
I was a high school drop out. I started studying math at age 25. I didn't even have as much experience as you. The most math I had seen was linear equations. Didn't even know what the Cartesian plane was or how to use it. I started with literal preschool math on Khan Academy. After about 4 years of studying, I'm at the Calc II level. Whether or not my progress was slow is kind of irrelevant. It is a huge improvement over where I was when I started. Take from this what you will.

[Anonymous No.11256417]

>>11254351
>I'm learning mathematics and am seriously considering studying mathematics or a field related to it in university, however, how does one go about self teaching mathematics from the absolute basics?

[Anonymous No.11256681]

>>11254403
are you sure you didn't just read about calculus/matrices and called it a day? A B.S in maths has fuckton of courses and they are not exactly easy to get into, either. Someone above has already listed some of the topics that are often covered by a maths B.S.
for instance, I didn't learn about Ext/Tor functors and schemes/ringed spaces until later (although it is definitely possible to cover sheaves during the last B.S year). And we didn't learn shit like martingales/PDEs at all since it was considered too applied. But overall this structure >>11254595 is similar to what I learnt in my first 4 years
there were even more topics like involution algebras, extensions of self-adjoint operators, commutative algebra, graph theory, Kahler manifolds, representation theory/root systems and spinors in particular, etc.

I don't mean to be offensive but it seems like you just don't know what a public uni math B.S means. This in no way diminishes your accomplishments, mind you. I just don't want anons to think that they can get easily get a maths B.S at home, and then become discouraged when they see the sheer volume and complexity of it all.
tldr don't mislabel/miscategorize, you are probably mistaken and it definitely won't help others when the actual reality.

To OP
>>11254351
It all comes down to one thing: time. When you are older and have a family + job, even if you have time sometimes you just want to relax or dedicate it to one of your other hobbies.
It is absolutely possible. It's not a competition so even if you spend 2 years on calculus it doesn't matter as long as you enjoy it and learn some fun stuff.
One advice I can definitely give you is this: do not listen to /sci/ including me. This thread alone shows that people probably don't even understand what mathematics is, besides applied shit.
You can google up reddit (yes, reddit is better for discussions than this meme-ridden cesspool, fuck off) and math.stackexchange. Something like r/learnmath.

[Anonymous No.11256691]

>>11255555
That's commendable but what's your end goal? Are you doing this solely as a hobby?

[Anonymous No.11256724]

>>11255074
I pursued career in academia so I have to remember most of it.

But that's irrelevant because I was just very surprised that someone managed to cover that on their own. Most likely is that anon (you?) underestimated how many courses a math undergrad program has. Don't do that. Anons here are grown adults and they will make better decisions if they have full information. I have experience (a little, admittedly) teaching second-year students and I saw many of them leave because they had a different image of a math degree and of associated hardships. Losing motivation when self-studying would be even easier.

[Anonymous No.11257052]

>>11256691
All of my life, people looked down on me and treated me with disrespect. I figured that if I conquered a field that most of them ran away from like cowards, I'd have a way of defending myself from their attacks. A retort. So, you could say I did it and continue to do it just to prove a point. I may well get my PHD at some point for the same reason. Just as a big middle finger to every asshole who ever doubted me.

[Anonymous No.11257059]

>>11257052
You think and sound like a child. Studying mathematics for someone like you will only bring pain and misery. You do not have the mind for it.
Although, as long as you pay good money to support the mathematical academia and people like me, we're glad to have you.

[Anonymous No.11257060]

tfw don't even know basic algebra

I will be novice, arithmetic level until I die.

[Anonymous No.11257069]

>>11257052
Autism

[Anonymous No.11257072]

>>11257060
I bet you don't even know arithmetic

[Anonymous No.11257081]

If your just some regular person don’t learn math unless you need it for your area of work or if you actually want to contribute to academia after 20 years of study. You’re fucking retarded

[Anonymous No.11257083]

>>11257072
you do?

[Anonymous No.11257105]

>>11254351
Are you in bongland? Buy practice books. The bong new bong specs are absolutely brutal. You WILL fail if you don't learn how the subjects tie into each other in questions

[Anonymous No.11257117]

>>11257083
More than you.

[Anonymous No.11257252]

>>11257117
>springer

I guess you are that type. The pseud narcissist who is only after money.

[Anonymous No.11257285]

>>11257252
>who is only after money
what do you mean?

[Anonymous No.11258381]

>>11256681
>>11256724

whatever you say anon.