4 ms·
As someone doing a second master's degree in a mathematical field, I can't say I've found it 'mostly easy', or even mostly approachable. It can be fun once you'
by mjw 15y ago
As someone doing a second master's degree in a mathematical field, I can't say I've found it 'mostly easy', or even mostly approachable. It can be fun once you've developed strong intuitions for the material, but often a hard slog to get there.
Those who give the impression of finding it easy, I reckon tend to be either:
(a) freakish geniuses of the rare-even-in-academia variety
(b) modestly hiding the fact they've actually spent hours and hours of hard study to push past a series of brick walls in order to get here
(c) both the above
(d) overconfident and heading for a slip-up
(e) not challenging themselves enough.
- msluyter 15y ago"Mostly easy" was probably a bad way of putting it. Perhaps a better way would be that, at the outset, some students can handle mathematical challenges, even when they require hard work and perseverance; after a while, a positive feedback loop ensues, where being good at math makes it more enjoyable and finding it enjoyable makes you better at it. (That doesn't imply you'll never hit roadblocks.) If, early on, math is painful and frustrating (perhaps through no fault of your own), then that cycle never develops and you form an aversion to the subject.