Why is math hard for the general populace

[Amerikan Melanin]

Real talk being bad at math is what stopped me from becoming a master level drug dealer.

 

[Clayton Endicott]

They don't want to apply themselves.

This. I had a professor that broke algebra down for us, and made it a breeze. It's basically repetition. Folks look at basic math and think the same principles apply. Only a handful of people can give higher math levels a once over and excel at it. You got to put in work until you can do the concepts with no problems.

 

[BaldingSoHard]

What was your tipping point?

My sophomore year of college I took a physics class in Electricity and Magnetism. Fascinating shyt that taught me more about the world than anything else. The EM force is crazy. Anyway, the professor was this young cat who looked like he had just gone surfing every morning. Fatuzzo was his name.

One of the things that he did was before our exams, he told us that he would give us 80% of the points on a problem if we could just get to the equation. That is, if he asks us what's the flux of a material passing through a surface of area 10m^2, he would give us 80% of the points if we could write out the equation that would provide the correct answer. His reasoning was, "If you can get to the equation then you've understood the lesson. Solving the equation is just arithmetic and this isn't a math class." So this was radical departure from the standard way of teaching. Normally, you're asked to give a precise value for every answer... but in this case, he was more interested in the language of math instead of the arithmetic of math. So once I realized that the equation itself was the answer, I started seeing equations as not just a bunch of symbols and shyt, but as a description of a series of real-world values and events. I realized that you can write an equation to describe absolutely anything that you see. And once I understood that, it all fell in place.

 

[Dr. Acula]

They don't want to apply themselves.

Somewhat this. Also as I always say in these topics is that people don't know how to study in general. Studying is not just reading something once or even a bunch of times and hoping to understand the topic. Especially math. Studying is taking in material, examining, and then taking a conscious self look at what you grasp and what you don't. What you don't understand you diver further and more into. With math this means working problems, looking at examples, and reviewing your trouble issue. Working problems over and over again is your best bet.

Once you learn to do that it becomes a pretty easy to follow process you can apply every time no matter the subject.

I didn't really get this until I was in college lol.

 

[ThatTruth777]

From what I observed its mostly due to frustration. And instead of taking a breath or two then thinking about your options, people like build up an internal anger and/or that voice in their head saying they can't do it.

 

[old_timer]

its a language, like balding said

people emphasizing "basics" really miss the point
As if pantomiming drinking out of a cup while saying "aqua" repetitively is speaking basic Spanish

i mean, apply yourself to learning some peoductive skill that gives you traction in the life you aim to lead

You have to find a lane that works for you
Then focus on it

..but also a bit well rounded to respect and be aware of all the other lanes

 

[Scholar]

My sophomore year of college I took a physics class in Electricity and Magnetism. Fascinating shyt that taught me more about the world than anything else. The EM force is crazy. Anyway, the professor was this young cat who looked like he had just gone surfing every morning. Fatuzzo was his name.

One of the things that he did was before our exams, he told us that he would give us 80% of the points on a problem if we could just get to the equation. That is, if he asks us what's the flux of a material passing through a surface of area 10m^2, he would give us 80% of the points if we could write out the equation that would provide the correct answer. His reasoning was, "If you can get to the equation then you've understood the lesson. Solving the equation is just arithmetic and this isn't a math class." So this was radical departure from the standard way of teaching. Normally, you're asked to give a precise value for every answer... but in this case, he was more interested in the language of math instead of the arithmetic of math. So once I realized that the equation itself was the answer, I started seeing equations as not just a bunch of symbols and shyt, but as a description of a series of real-world values and events. I realized that you can write an equation to describe absolutely anything that you see. And once I understood that, it all fell in place.

You really about to have me enter the matrix with this shyt bro. I know if I wanna reach my goals I need to go back and do atleast up to linear

 

[BaldingSoHard]

You really about to have me enter the matrix with this shyt bro. I know if I wanna reach my goals I need to go back and do atleast up to linear

Hilarious because it was actually in 1999 when I had this revelation and my classmates and I made the same metaphor.

You can absolutely see the universe in math.

 

[unit321]

not saying i'm einstein or newton over here but i never found math that hard outside of word problems (Those shyts were the devil)

but for some reason people struggle with topics like algebra, calc, and geometery. most find it hard to grasp even though they aren't that abstract in nature

No one made sure they knew the basics. If you can't do algebra, you can't do calculus. If you can't multiply, there's no way you can do algebra. And so on.
How do you expect a seventh grade student to understand seventh grade math when they can't do sixth grade math? They are now, one step behind. This makes some concepts even harder to understand. Some college students have to get tutors to help with algebra.
I knew a dude like that, but he admitted that he "complained" enough to the high school teachers to get him to pass. Goofy Jewish kid. He shouldn't have cheated his way through high school, so it was in college that he got his just due. He couldn't do business calculus, which was a modified version of algebra, not real calculus. It was mainly word problems like, if a train is going 50 MPH, how long will it take to travel 50 miles?

 

[Emoryal]

I think because people, for the most part, don't understand what they're being taught.

Math isn't just a set of formulas and lemmas and postulates... it's a language. It's an extrapolation of the behavior of the universe.

I was HORRIBLE at math until I understood this. Then one day (during my 3rd attempt at calculus) the scales fell from my eyes and for just the briefest of seconds, I "saw the universe" and it all made sense. I have tried to help others have the same revelation, but really I think you just have to see it for yourself.

Once I realized what math was, it became easy.

I don't think so.

 

[Champagne Kudo]

Math outside of basic shyt has always been difficult for me when being taught in class. It wasn't until I got a tutor when my grades started to slip that I was really able to understand and grasp it. I do think there's a part to applying it also but that can be said for damn near everything.

And pretty much everybody knows that you probably won't end up having to use higher level mathematics in everyday life so alot of people are just like fukk it

 

[Freedman]

No one made sure they knew the basics. If you can't do algebra, you can't do calculus. If you can't multiply, there's no way you can do algebra. And so on.
How do you expect a seventh grade student to understand seventh grade math when they can't do sixth grade math? They are now, one step behind. This makes some concepts even harder to understand. Some college students have to get tutors to help with algebra.
I knew a dude like that, but he admitted that he "complained" enough to the high school teachers to get him to pass. Goofy Jewish kid. He shouldn't have cheated his way through high school, so it was in college that he got his just due. He couldn't do business calculus, which was a modified version of algebra, not real calculus. It was mainly word problems like, if a train is going 50 MPH, how long will it take to travel 50 miles?

I definitely experienced this as I went to one of the worst rated public schools in the state. Freshman Year had an old Pervert teacher for Algebra who gave All Girls As and Boys Bs or Cs depending on if you were acting bad in the class. Sophomore Year I took Geometry and the teacher was about to retire so she gave 0 fukks and passed everybody with As. And then Finally my Junior year I took Algebra 2 we got a guy from Teach For America program who actually gave a damn and basically he ended up having to cover all the shyt we should have learned in Freshman Algebra while Teaching us the 11th grade Algebra stuff too. AND he Basically did the same thing my Senior Year Precalculus class having to teach us basic geometry

 

[KevinDaRealest]

dunno breh

Ive always been a math genius

 

[315]

Just thinking about math makes my head hurt

 

[GoldCoastSaint]

Because you have to pay attention to details and stick to the script. Humans ain't on that anymore.