Great article. I'm in the same boat (though luckily not translating Russian on the Bearing sea) as the author. Grew up getting a fantastic literary education wh

Great article. I'm in the same boat (though luckily not translating Russian on the Bearing sea) as the author. Grew up getting a fantastic literary education while positively flunking all math classes. In my case, I actually think I failed because teachers only focused on rote mechanics with no attempts to develop understanding. This just made the entire enterprise entirely boring for me as a student. You really do need both. These days I spend my free time reading books on higher mathematics and mathematical logic. Doing exercises certainly is the key to solidifying insight. I've also found adopting an old practice from my literary school days, writing essays, to be extremely helpful. There is a certain sense in which Wittgenstein's later "language is use" philosophy is deeply true when it comes to mastery of any intellectual material. The brain really does work just like the body—if you hit the gym each day you will build muscle and retain it, if you stop you won't.