Ask HN: What's Wrong with Me? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What's Wrong with Me?

#11

Post by toop43 » Thu, Oct 03, 2019, 2:55 AM UTC

rasta wrote: post #6

> TWO PROBLEMS in 1 day One of the dirty little secrets of studying CS and math is that truly understanding 2 problems of the kind you've never seen before in 1 day is OK and expected. Hell, sometimes mere understanding of one single solution to a problem can take a week or longer. Most anyone who does better has either studied the (adjacent) material before or just trudging along half-understanding this bit and that…

I appreciate the thoughtful post, with links. Definitely one of the feelings I've had as I've approached these algorithms is that I MUST certainly be lacking in either experience, or a way of thinking, or both.

I'm certainly lacking in the experience boat. But, I've figured the "way of thinking" is likely that I am not thinking in an algorithmic / math fashion. I don't "see" the solutions in the same way that someone with a mind for math would. Instead I just see the brute force, "obvious" solution.

I'll definitely take a look at these resources.

Re: Ask HN: What's Wrong with Me?

#12

Post by mindcrime » Thu, Oct 03, 2019, 2:57 AM UTC

toop43 wrote: post #10

mindcrime wrote: post #7

An entire day goes by and I will have only struggled through 2 problems. TWO PROBLEMS in 1 day. There's nothing bad about that, especially if you haven't spent half your life focusing on those leetcode type problems. Consider that a typical undergraduate "data structures and algorithms" course runs for a whole semester and doesn't actually (usually) cover that many individual algorithms. You might study one DS / algo…

Maybe I am being too critical of myself. It's certainly a trait of myself that I'm familiar with. The problem is often that I don't know what's an acceptable expectation of myself. I've tried to be reasonable when it comes to approaching the study of algorithms, but maybe I've missed the mark? Two problems in 1 day seems like pretty dismal progress, especially when I'm not exactly memorizing / absorbing these problem…

Fair enough. I'd also rather not work a traditional job, but I take a slightly different approach... I try to go for a $DAYJOB that's as boring and stress-free as possible, while paying enough to pay the bills, and then use my side-project as my outlet for doing stuff I find actually interesting. But I understand that that approach isn't for everyone.

Re: Ask HN: What's Wrong with Me?

#13

Post by bpizzi » Thu, Oct 03, 2019, 3:14 PM UTC

toop43 wrote: post #3

doctorshady wrote: post #2

I can't offer any advice to your situation beyond trying to avoid being discouraged. There's a balance to confidence; too much or too little can be offputting, and it seems like you're hitting a low point that might make things harder for yourself. I would suggest not hanging yourself with your academic performance though. Some people work better with different methods of learning for example, and not all teachers re…

> In retrospect, you should ask yourself what specifically caused you to be a C average student. I appreciate your response. I'm 32 now, and I've had a long time to think about this question. Here's what I think is the answer: I lack the focus over time which is required to build a deep knowledge or skill. In other words, I get bored or frustrated quickly. Once bored, or frustrated, learning tapers off VERY quickly.…

> I'm not a child prodigy, so learning anything takes focussed effort over time.

Like (almost) everyone else here.

> The second it gets hard, or boring, my ability to stay on task diminishes rapidly.

Bis.

The thing is to be resilient: keep doing it (staying out of your comfort zone) and eventually you'll push your limits, like everyone else (just ignore the very few geniuses that clearly have some special genes).

The other thing is that it looks like you stayed in that comfort zone for a while, and 2 months is way too short for efforts to have effect. The hard truth is that you may have spent some years in that dreaded comfort zone, and those years are just gone. What you'll you with the incoming years is totally your own business, but whatever you do, just remember: you won the lottery the day your were born, just be happy with yourself for the simple fact that you live :]

Re: Ask HN: What's Wrong with Me?

#14

Post by ParkerContent » Thu, Oct 03, 2019, 3:23 PM UTC

Have you considered working with a tutor? Have you had any evaluations to determine if ADHD, processing speed (the human kind) or other issues play a role? A tutor would be able to tell you if your expectations are too high. An evaluation would be able to tell you if you need to adjust your learning methods.