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Ask HN: I suck at math, where to start?

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Re: Ask HN: I suck at math, where to start?

#131

Post by wyclif »

300bps wrote: post #75
dls2016 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I second the grind. There's not really a shortcut... like lifting weights or practicing scales/rudiments. I returned to grad school at 27 for math and had trouble passing qualifying exams. I ended up using spaced-repetition to memorize large sections of books and old questions. I had previously shunned memorization... but coupled with focused practice it is a powerful tool. Memorizing forces you to distill the materi…

There's not really a shortcut... like lifting weights And just like lifting weights, you will lose it when you stop doing it. I remember doing the CFA program which is math and formula heavy. I had hundreds of formulas memorized. I couldn’t tell you the formula to calculate the standard deviation of a portfolio of three assets now if my life depended on it.

And just like lifting weights, you will lose it when you stop doing it

While this is 100% true, I hate putting it that way because it makes weight training (and mathematics) sound like drudgery. The way I like to think about it is that if you want to stay strong, you have to push against resistance on a constant basis.

It's the same thing with math. You have to exercise that part of your brain with algebraic resistance.

Re: Ask HN: I suck at math, where to start?

#132

Post by mikub »

badactor wrote: post #41
upofadown wrote: post #7

Chances are you actually suck at algebra. I went through this issue when I started electrical engineering as part of an overly elaborate midlife crisis. I got the book in the bookstore that was supposed to bring you up to high school level and just did all of the exercises. Then I did a whole lot of exercises for the introductory university math courses. Basically it is something you have to grind at. Once you do eno…

The problem for me is identifying where exactly in my mathematical fundamentals things fall apart (like with prime numbers, some basic arithmetic, geometry) that makes higher-level math a struggle conceptually. It's always felt like there were holes in my fundamentals. I suspect the only way to figure this out is to go back and do everything again either through Khan Academy or books. Does anyone else have this issue…

I have the same problem as you, I just don't know the fundamentals at math. So I decided to start from the beginning with basic arithmetic. You probably should ignore book recomendations like Spivak for now. The books that I use right now are "Arithmetic for the practical man" by "J. E. Thompson" and "The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure" by "Hans Magnus Enzensberger" which is a childbook.

Re: Ask HN: I suck at math, where to start?

#133

Post by ivansavz »

vmilner wrote: post #33
bradleyankrom wrote: post #23

I was asking a similar question a few years ago and found Ivan Savov’s “No Bullshit Guide to Math & Physics” to be really helpful.

I really like the "placement exam" in this, that tells you where your weaknesses are and what to focus on. I feel like this is the kind of tool I want when someone says "I suck at X".

For reference, here is the placement exam from the front of the book preview: https://minireference.com/static/excerpts/noBSmathphys_v5_pr...

Re: Ask HN: I suck at math, where to start?

#134

Post by ivansavz »

bradleyankrom wrote: post #23

I was asking a similar question a few years ago and found Ivan Savov’s “No Bullshit Guide to Math & Physics” to be really helpful.

Thanks for the plug and I'm glad the book worked out for you.

I've been keeping the book up to date and "maintaining" by fixing typos and improving certain explanations. If anyone else is interested, you can see a extended preview here: https://minireference.com/static/excerpts/noBSmathphys_v5_pr... and the concept map from the book is here: https://minireference.com/static/conceptmaps/math_and_physic...

I also recently released shorter book focussing just on high school math chapter, for people who are not interested in calculus but still want a refresher on the basics. You can check it out here with fancy new cover design and website: https://nobsmath.com/ (it's basically Chapter 1 of the big book) Aussi disponible en Français https://nobsmath.com/fr/

Re: Ask HN: I suck at math, where to start?

#135

Post by jzer0cool »

For those with PHDs or of some high math credentials:

What would be the next subject to learn in math and why?

After having taken these, what's next? Probability Theory, Calc Series, Linear Algebra / Differential Eqs / Discrete Math.

Could you annotate something about the subject with an example?

Re: Ask HN: I suck at math, where to start?

#136

Post by Hermitian909 »

Start with algebra. As a former math educator and curriculum designer if you're an intelligent adult the best educational materials for this (and most basic subjects) ever created are from the navy.

https://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Basic-Math-Algebra-NAVEDT...

Generally other textbooks will assume you're a child or slow, these are no non-sense and to the point while being very well written. Good luck!

Re: Ask HN: I suck at math, where to start?

#138

Post by netmath »

Check out this courseware developed at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign. It was designed for students to proceed at their own pace and class sessions consisted of a computer lab with a professor available to answer any questions or as a distance learning course via IRC/email.

https://web.archive.org/web/20100610182422/http://cm.math.ui...

(Long since paywalled away once illinois.edu rolled out their own remote learning agenda...)

It requires Mathematica, which is not free software, but the approach to learning mathematics changed the world for me. I hope this message can inspire some others put off by the lecture format and get their hands dirty playing with math.

And it would be cool to port the notebook format to something supported by free software or write a similar courseware for physics.

Re: Ask HN: I suck at math, where to start?

#139

Post by srcreigh »

I learned math in uni. I respect your question a lot because it shows you want to learn more.

Math is not a topic. Math is an activity. A lot of "math" courses are memorization which completely defeats the purpose. It's like memorizing a few programs as a way to learn coding -makes 0 sense and it's kinda sad.

To learn math you need to know how to prove things (as with coding you need to know how to write programs). Proof techniques are the foundations of math. You have to practice proving things or else you simply don't know math.

(Math proofs are the format for Google code jam solutions for what it's worth.)

Last time someone asked this here I found this textbook[0] Please look, the world would be better if more people knew how to math.

You may need someone to evaluate your proofs for mistakes my email is on my profile.

[0]: https://courses.csail.mit.edu/6.042/spring17/mcs.pdf

Re: Ask HN: I suck at math, where to start?

#140

Post by rzz3 »

melenaboija wrote: post #18
upofadown wrote: post #7

Chances are you actually suck at algebra. I went through this issue when I started electrical engineering as part of an overly elaborate midlife crisis. I got the book in the bookstore that was supposed to bring you up to high school level and just did all of the exercises. Then I did a whole lot of exercises for the introductory university math courses. Basically it is something you have to grind at. Once you do eno…

3Blue1Brown series on linear algebra is an amazing resource as a starting point. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0-GT3co4r2y2YErbmuJw2L5t...

Not to pick on your response, but every time I see a thread about not understanding math, I think *my people!!!*. I come to these threads hoping to find answers, and all I see are “read this calculus textbook” or “3blue1brown”! I watched this whole linear algebra series about 7 times and I just don’t get it. There’s something about the way people explain math that just isn’t intuitive to me, like it’s too disconnected from reality or something. I wonder if I’m not the only one…
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