How I Rewired My Brain to Become Fluent in Math
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Re: How I Rewired My Brain to Become Fluent in Math
#2As a thank-you present to our readers on HN, Nautilus wanted to give you exclusive full access to this Prelude article from our latest print Quarterly online "preview". Subscriptions to our print edition are how we make all our online content free. We thought the HN audience would like this piece so in appreciation for your traffic and your comments, here it is.
Re: How I Rewired My Brain to Become Fluent in Math
#3Case studies in education as applied to non-atypical brains are essentially worthless. You'd think that someone with a newfound scientific disposition might realize that you probably shouldn't make sweeping prescriptions based on personal anecdotes (though honestly, based on the quality of the educational literature I've seen, it's not uncommon even for professional education researchers).
Re: How I Rewired My Brain to Become Fluent in Math
#4Nice!
Re: How I Rewired My Brain to Become Fluent in Math
#5As a thank-you present to our readers on HN, Nautilus wanted to give you exclusive full access to this Prelude article from our latest print Quarterly online "preview". Subscriptions to our print edition are how we make all our online content free. We thought the HN audience would like this piece so in appreciation for your traffic and your comments, here it is.
I love Nautilus! Gorgeous layouts (print & online) with engaging and opinionated content.
I notice that you only sell print subscriptions. Do you plan on selling any digital-only subscriptions? I would sign up in a heartbeat because your online layout is Really That Good (TM).
Re: How I Rewired My Brain to Become Fluent in Math
#6As a thank-you present to our readers on HN, Nautilus wanted to give you exclusive full access to this Prelude article from our latest print Quarterly online "preview". Subscriptions to our print edition are how we make all our online content free. We thought the HN audience would like this piece so in appreciation for your traffic and your comments, here it is.
I became aware of nautilus via HN and subscribed a few weeks ago.
Please keep up the good work.
While print is exactly the medium I want for something of this sort, I do think it would be wise to look into some sort of digital subscription / supporter option.
Re: How I Rewired My Brain to Become Fluent in Math
#7What an incredibly short-sighted sentence: "Sorry, education reformers, it’s still memorization and repetition we need.".
I could not disagree more with this article. Memorization helps, but MAKING CONNECTIONS between concepts is _HOW YOU MEMORIZE EFFECTIVELY_.
Memorizing is great for learning different languages. NOT MATH.
Sure, maybe students are bullshitting in understanding concepts, and forgot quickly since they didn't learn anything. However, just memorizing shit doesn't do anything. So many students in other cultures are being forced to memorize everything, and since they don't understand the connections, they cannot come up with the answer on their own. There was a piece on HN about a math teacher that was amazed by how little students knew: They memorized how to solve a particular problem instead of actually knowing why something was true, and therefore couldn't work through basic proofs and stupidly basic, foundational stuff.
A terrible article!
Re: How I Rewired My Brain to Become Fluent in Math
#8Nice!
FYI: This comment will get downvotes. Not because people here are senselessly mean. But, because the HN community takes a strict approach to comments that add noise without contributing signal to the conversation. Downvotes on "Nice article!" comments frustrate many new users. So, here's your explanation. Welcome to Hacker News!
Re: How I Rewired My Brain to Become Fluent in Math
#9She never really gave a definition of "understanding". Personally, I see "understanding" as exactly the way she described her method of learning. When I learned f=ma I did it the same way she did, but I would've called it "understanding".
In fact, "rote memorization" is the opposite of how I'd describe her method of learning. She says she learns language by using it in many different situations and learning the situations when it's usable and when it's not to be used. That sounds exactly like a search for intuitive understanding to me.
Rote memorization is more like using flash cards or scanning over a list of words and memorizing their definitions.
Contrast this with her method. She's playing with the subject matter.
I find that playing with a subject is the best way to understand it and to be able to apply it.
Re: How I Rewired My Brain to Become Fluent in Math
#10As a thank-you present to our readers on HN, Nautilus wanted to give you exclusive full access to this Prelude article from our latest print Quarterly online "preview". Subscriptions to our print edition are how we make all our online content free. We thought the HN audience would like this piece so in appreciation for your traffic and your comments, here it is.
>I learned Russian by gaining fluency through practice, repetition, and rote learning—but rote learning that emphasized the ability to think flexibly and quickly. I learned math and science by applying precisely those same ideas. Language, math, and science, as with almost all areas of human expertise, draw on the same reservoir of brain mechanisms.
Author approached learning mathematics in the same manner as learning a new foreign language (Russian), and it served her well.
Student focus on maintaining grades throughout school is sadly a detriment to slow learners who actually do need to spend the time to absorb, savour, play with and drill new concepts. I used to think I was a smart, but after years of successfully guessing the teacher's passwords[1] in class and on exams, I realized I only short-changed myself. Comparing against others with the benefit of age and hindsight, I realize now that I'm one of the slow learners who actually need an inordinately longer duration to thoroughly understand concepts than others.
MOOCs and other forms of self-study are great in this regard since pace-setting is now controllable, but rarely lead to a degree or credential one can leverage later in life. I'm glad that the author was able to apply her effective language learning approach to mathematics and science presumably within course durations (all the way to her PhD).
[1] http://lesswrong.com/lw/iq/guessing_the_teachers_password/