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It also helps not to tell yourself "I suck at math", that's a very common self-fulfilling prophecy.

ianai 5y ago
Agree! I’ve seen many a mathematics professor struggle with math. It’s not innate to any of us. But certain of us have spent more time with it and seen more of it. The time and familiarity eventually goes a long way - to a phd, even.
kypro 5y ago
Agreed, although it's good to recognise what your strengths and weaknesses are. I would argue it's often better to focus on being great at the things you're good at than trying to be decent at stuff you really struggle with. If OP struggles with math they may be better off focusing on something else, at least if they're optimising for career success. If you're optimising for happiness and enjoy math problems then ability doesn't really matter.
- qsmi 5y ago
  I suppose depending on how extreme we're going with unfocusing on math. But one doesn't really get to ignore math in life because of money. You'll still need to figure some things out. I can say I'm a poor painter so I'm just going to ignore that and things will be fine. The cost of ignoring math can be quite high.
ur-whale 5y ago
> It also helps not to tell yourself "I suck at math", that's a very common self-fulfilling prophecy. Wholeheartedly agree, and this applies much more broadly than math. Once you've built the mental fence, breaking it down is a giant PITA.
the_only_law 5y ago
I am beginning to think “I suck at math” less and more of “I’ll never be good at it”, from the comments on this thread. I absolutely despise grinding and drilling uncontexualized and contrived problems and have never been able to maintain something stuff like that for very long. Which of course becomes problematic at I find myself interested in problems that require a decent grasp on some math.
- Jtsummers 5y ago
  The grinding is, by analogy, equivalent to the "reader" books in many languages. "See Spot. See Spot run. Run Spot, run!" level and then up. It's very hard (for most people) to jump from "I now know the English alphabet" to "I can read any article in a literary magazine." Many people forget that they went through that process because they did it so young, but also because language (written and spoken) is far more pervasive than mathematics. This pervasiveness means that you have less "grinding" to do, because you get to learn just by being in the environment the language is used in (if it's your native language, or if you can afford or are otherwise forced to move into an environment where it's the local native language). Unless you're like me as a kid, you don't look around and start counting, adding, and multiplying based on the objects or scenes that you see, and "thinking in numbers". Thus the need for grinding, you need some math fluency (which takes practice to develop and maintain, like any other domain) before you can move on to more advanced topics (at least easily). If you lack fluency, even at a low level, then you have to do a refresher every time you try and get to something moderately advanced. Which is frustrating, at least, if not demotivating to the point of causing most people to stop. The more fluent you are, the easier it is to pick up an arbitrary advanced topic (at least to read, if not to apply or extend).
qsmi 5y ago
Definitely. I think when people say they suck at math what they mean is; I find math homework extremely boring and unrewarding. Which perpetuates sucking at math and only compounds. Then things get worse as modern society works better for the individual when one does not totally suck a math. Kinda like, I suck at piano because I find practicing the piano boring and unrewarding, but without the ramifications of sucking at math.

Agree! I’ve seen many a mathematics professor struggle with math. It’s not innate to any of us. But certain of us have spent more time with it and seen more of it. The time and familiarity eventually goes a long way - to a phd, even.

kypro 5y ago

Agreed, although it's good to recognise what your strengths and weaknesses are. I would argue it's often better to focus on being great at the things you're good at than trying to be decent at stuff you really struggle with. If OP struggles with math they may be better off focusing on something else, at least if they're optimising for career success. If you're optimising for happiness and enjoy math problems then ability doesn't really matter.

qsmi 5y ago
I suppose depending on how extreme we're going with unfocusing on math. But one doesn't really get to ignore math in life because of money. You'll still need to figure some things out. I can say I'm a poor painter so I'm just going to ignore that and things will be fine. The cost of ignoring math can be quite high.

ur-whale 5y ago

> It also helps not to tell yourself "I suck at math", that's a very common self-fulfilling prophecy. Wholeheartedly agree, and this applies much more broadly than math. Once you've built the mental fence, breaking it down is a giant PITA.

the_only_law 5y ago

I am beginning to think “I suck at math” less and more of “I’ll never be good at it”, from the comments on this thread. I absolutely despise grinding and drilling uncontexualized and contrived problems and have never been able to maintain something stuff like that for very long. Which of course becomes problematic at I find myself interested in problems that require a decent grasp on some math.

Jtsummers 5y ago
The grinding is, by analogy, equivalent to the "reader" books in many languages. "See Spot. See Spot run. Run Spot, run!" level and then up. It's very hard (for most people) to jump from "I now know the English alphabet" to "I can read any article in a literary magazine." Many people forget that they went through that process because they did it so young, but also because language (written and spoken) is far more pervasive than mathematics. This pervasiveness means that you have less "grinding" to do, because you get to learn just by being in the environment the language is used in (if it's your native language, or if you can afford or are otherwise forced to move into an environment where it's the local native language). Unless you're like me as a kid, you don't look around and start counting, adding, and multiplying based on the objects or scenes that you see, and "thinking in numbers". Thus the need for grinding, you need some math fluency (which takes practice to develop and maintain, like any other domain) before you can move on to more advanced topics (at least easily). If you lack fluency, even at a low level, then you have to do a refresher every time you try and get to something moderately advanced. Which is frustrating, at least, if not demotivating to the point of causing most people to stop. The more fluent you are, the easier it is to pick up an arbitrary advanced topic (at least to read, if not to apply or extend).

qsmi 5y ago

Definitely. I think when people say they suck at math what they mean is; I find math homework extremely boring and unrewarding. Which perpetuates sucking at math and only compounds. Then things get worse as modern society works better for the individual when one does not totally suck a math. Kinda like, I suck at piano because I find practicing the piano boring and unrewarding, but without the ramifications of sucking at math.