/sci/ - Science & Math

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Anonymous Mon May 16 23:32:33 2011 No.3070351 [Reply] [Original]

So,

If I'm forcing myself to like and study math, how long do you think it will take before I am incapable of doing the required work necessary to pass a class assuming math is inherent?

>>	Anonymous Mon May 16 23:33:33 2011 No.3070357 what?

>>	Anonymous Mon May 16 23:33:33 2011 No.3070354 Oh my god, you are stupid.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 16 23:36:33 2011 No.3070367 All math is logical. Logic is known from birth. Therefore, you should know everything to do with math intuitively. Unless you are an ESFP. Fucking feelings faggots.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 16 23:38:33 2011 No.3070375 Dunno about pure math or physics, but many people get engineering degrees even though they hate it. You just have to work hard.

Anonymous Mon May 16 23:40:07 2011 No.3070385 [DELETED]

But I make a lot of simple mistakes when doing math and explaining my work to other people. I also miss some concepts here and there but try to understand and go back over what I do not understand.

But shouldn't I be picking them up the first time around?

It's really confusing for me to figure out a weak area. My transcript has a bunch of As and two Bs and one C: college algebra, English I, and general chemistry I. CA and English I were taken the same semester but I've made As in every other math course besides that chemistry course.

I definitely know chemistry is my weakness but sucked at math in high school and am suddenly doing well in it now that I am attempting to understand (and do my homework).

But English-related subjects have always come easier to me.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 16 23:42:33 2011 No.3070393 >>3070385 Do more problems so that you won't make simple mistakes

Anonymous Mon May 16 23:42:33 2011 No.3070396

But I make a lot of simple mistakes when doing math and explaining my work to other people. I also miss some concepts here and there but try to understand and go back over what I do not understand.

But shouldn't I be picking them up the first time around?

It's really confusing for me to figure out a weak area. My transcript has a bunch of As and two Bs and one C: college algebra, English I, and general chemistry I. CA and English I were taken the same semester but I've made As in every other course besides that chemistry course (this includes math courses up to DEQ/Calc III).

I definitely know chemistry is my weakness but sucked at math in high school and am suddenly doing well in it now that I am attempting to understand (and do my homework).

But English-related subjects have always come easier to me.

Is this a sign of just being well versed in multiple subjects or is it a sign of me trying to force an interest in math?

Anonymous Mon May 16 23:44:33 2011 No.3070404

>>3070393

They're basic algebraic mistakes usually. I feel like I have a very weak grasp of algebraic concepts but higher level mathematical concepts always come relatively easy to me.

But I'm also told this is generally the case: that the algebra is the hard part about upper-level math courses.

And I do quite a few problems. I do all my homework and always make sure to mark problems that I could not quite get without external help. I bring them to the professors during office hours and have them explain fully to me.

Sometimes those explanations work...sometimes they go right over my head.

>>	Anonymous Mon May 16 23:46:33 2011 No.3070414 >>3070367 ENFP, here. I can't logic, but I can sell you anything and get any woman I want. Let's agree not to be jelly.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 17 00:00:33 2011 No.3070488 So all you mathematical people just 'get' math for some reason?

Anonymous Tue May 17 00:05:33 2011 No.3070511

>>3070488
No, bro. You have to struggle with it.
That's what it always comes down to, the first time you see new material.
After a year or two, you might understand conceptually what's going on. But I don't think most people (even math majors) get stuff the first time around.

Anonymous Tue May 17 00:08:33 2011 No.3070521

>>3070488
>>3070351

Yes, I've almost always thought math was easy.

If you're going to get good at it, you need to go back to the basics. You wouldn't try to play a concerto before you learned to read music. You wouldn't try to write a novel in Spanish before you learned verb conjugations. You aren't going to be able to do your field's math until you are extremely comfortable with algebra, necessary geometry/trig, and graphs. There's no shame in taking a class twice if you need it, but don't go through life not knowing the stuff you want to know. I'm repeating a ball-busting graduate stats class (even thought I got a b) because I didn't get it real well on the first run.

ISTJ since we're comparing notes

Anonymous Tue May 17 00:18:33 2011 No.3070545

<span class="math">\bf{DO~WORD~PROBLEMS~AS~MUCH~AS~POSSIBLE.}[/spoiler]
seriously, i learned up to Calculus 3 and then discovered that I couldn't figure out basic shit like:
"if bob can paint a house in 4 hours and jack can paint the same house in 5 hours, how long can both of them working together paint a house"

>>	Anonymous Tue May 17 00:19:33 2011 No.3070547 File: 38 KB, 251x194, hruuhraruahh.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>3070545

Anonymous Tue May 17 00:20:33 2011 No.3070552

>>3070511

I see. I was under the impression that they did and I was missing something.

>>3070521

I would love nothing more than to go back and take Algebra I. I got a B in English I and Algebra I because I just didn't give a fuck that particular semester. It was my first and I wasn't serious about college.

I can't really afford (money) to go back and retake it. But I am tutoring some trig and precalc that I am comfortable with. I can help people with some calc I and II but...

Ok let's take series tests as an example. You know the ratio and root tests that often involve exponential manipulation and combination? Well, that's often the trick in applying those particular tests.

I get them /now/ but had to refresh my memory when I got to them the first time around because I had completely forgotten how to deal with combining exponents/factorials/etc.

It's a lot like that. I've read Feynmen's basic lecture on the proof of Euler's identity and formula. He covers logarithms and how they are the 'inverse' exponential functions.

This makes sense graphically. This doesn't make sense to me analytically.

Other areas:

-Absolute value evaluation...which comes up in Power/Taylor-McLaurin Series (and piece-wise)

-Simple division and multiplication that should be easy to do in my head but it isn't

Sure you learn a few sets that come up often (<span class="math">\displaystyle 4^3 = 64[/spoiler] and other such shortcuts..but it seems like my peers can do this math much more quickly in their heads than I can.
There are a bunch of other minor steps in trig. that get me caught up and the same is true for stat.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 17 00:22:33 2011 No.3070560 >>3070545 trig's a bitch because your constant of a circle <span class="math">\pi[/spoiler] represents half a turn of the circle so you're doing everything in halves instead of wholes

>>	Anonymous Tue May 17 00:23:33 2011 No.3070561 >>3070545 And this. I am so bad at word problems. Every time I see them I just get lost. You name it: optimization, any chemistry problem (hence the problems with chem), related rates, etc. And binomial series.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 17 00:24:33 2011 No.3070566 >>3070560 That's only part (hurr) of it. Applications of trig. drove me nuts. Angles of elevation, angular speed, radio tower problems, etc.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 17 00:27:33 2011 No.3070578 i read the op at least 10 times and i have no idea what he is asking.

Anonymous Tue May 17 00:29:33 2011 No.3070584

Mathgradfag here. Mathematics is not to be taken lightly. I continue to struggle with even basic concepts once in a while.

Also, depending on the field you're in, pure mathematics is much different from the algebra-calculus kind you learn in high school. If you genuinely do not like math, the best you can probably do is drag your way through calculus and be an engineer. I've had a significant number of kids in my classes who've done exactly this.

This being said, don't get too upset about things and just keep working at it. One of my favorite professors from my undergraduate used to say something like,

"If you are making an A in a class, then you should not be in it."

It is unfortunate that universities are so grade-crazy. It is unfortunate that, say, psychology majors and mathematics majors are graded the same way. but that's how it goes.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 17 00:31:33 2011 No.3070594 KhanAcademy.com I used to be indifferent about math. Then I met Khan, and I finally see the beauty. /thread

>>	Anonymous Tue May 17 00:32:33 2011 No.3070602 >>3070594 fuck khan and fuck khan academy. it's an indian guy on mspaint. go to fucking office hours.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 17 00:35:33 2011 No.3070626 >>3070602 >indian guy on MsPaint >inb4 shitstorm Yes, office hours are good if you're currently taking a class. But it's summer. Which is why we're left with an indian guy on MSPaint.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 17 00:39:33 2011 No.3070645 >>3070602 u mad

Anonymous Tue May 17 00:44:33 2011 No.3070681

>>3070645

i am mad.

khan academy is the source of at least 60% of the faggotry on this board. i couldn't count on one hand the number of threads i see here weekly from people who think they're autodidact polymaths because they watch this guy's videos.

they're meant as supplemental material, and are not an adequate substitute for formal teaching. i watched some of his videos and 90% of the content could have come STRAIGHT from the course text. he's a nigger and the production quality on his videos is shit, fuck him.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 17 00:45:33 2011 No.3070686 >>3070578 I'm asking for advice. Read on to see some elaboration. >>3070584 Thanks. That quote made me smile.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 17 00:47:33 2011 No.3070691 >>3070681 >i watched some of his videos and 90% of the content could have come STRAIGHT from the course text. he's a nigger and the production quality on his videos is shit, fuck him. Fuck off.

>>	Anonymous Tue May 17 00:53:33 2011 No.3070727 >>3070681 i don't even know what to say to this retardation a guy who helps thousands of people by explaining math in a lucid and intuitive way should fuck off because a lot of people like him and because it isn't formal?

>>	Anonymous Tue May 17 00:54:33 2011 No.3070734 >>3070681 >pretentious teen detected

>>	Anonymous Tue May 17 00:58:33 2011 No.3070750 >>3070681 Mad you had to pay twice for course when khan could of helped you with your pre-algebra along kiddo?

>>	Anonymous Tue May 17 01:07:33 2011 No.3070783 >>3070750 actually your parents paid for me to learn that because unlike most of the retards on this board i took "pre-algebra" in the public school system as a fucking child. where it's supposed to be learned.

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