Funny you should say that. In elementary school I tested well for abstraction but exactly in the 50th percentile for arithmetic skills. Just like rejecting how

Funny you should say that. In elementary school I tested well for abstraction but exactly in the 50th percentile for arithmetic skills. Just like rejecting how people taught me to tie my shoelaces, and figuring out something for myself, I fixed my arithmetic deficiencies. I went on to a PhD in math and I'm now a professor. People still think I tie my shoes funny, and I add funny. I think for myself. It's a crippling misconception that talent is natural. Michael Jordan made himself the athlete he became; many people had his body but never got as far. Good mathematicians take conscious control of how they learn and think. Our tendency to go "meta" isn't restricted to math; it's applied to ourselves.