What exactly makes Math hard to some people?

[Sebastian Francis]

I'm good at biology and terrible at math. They're only related if you have to do statistics, and fortunately probability was one of those few math areas I was good at.

There are people who will say that biology is not a "real" science, that the only "real" sciences are physics and perhaps cosmology.

I don't agree, mind you, but I've heard this before from physics-heads.

 

[Tinker Gnome]

There are people who will say that biology is not a "real" science, that the only "real" sciences are physics and perhaps cosmology.

I don't agree, mind you, but I've heard this before from physics-heads.

Hmmm, I suppose the reason for that being most people think of a scientists as someone who is a Physicist type, I know that is the stereotypical image I got in my head when I was younger. Anyways I took a Geometry test today, and I think I did fairly well on it.

We did some Trigonometry stuff before and it was easy for me, but that could be because we could use our calculators for Sine Cosine and Tangent.

 

[James Heard]

I've never had so much a problem with math as a problem with math instructors. I don't learn things by rote, I learn things for what they're for and what they're to do. Bad math instructors trying to teach things by memorization and for no apparent purpose ruined any desire to do math for years until I went back to college. Math isn't hard, it's just sitting through awful math classes that's hard.

 

[Angcuru]

I despise the study of mathematics. I appreciate what OTHER PEOPLE can do with it to help me, but once I am directly involved I feel like taking a sledge to . . . something mathematical.

For me, the difficulty is in remembering all of those damnable FORMULAS. Throughout my academic career, Mathematical subjects are the only ones that I have not gotten consistent A/B scores in.

Do a Psychological analysis of Joseph Stalin and Napoleon Bonaparte? Sure thing.

Write a flawless twenty page essay on some obscure subject I've never heard about? No sweat.

Argue other people into the ground over philosophical matters? Cake.

Math with letters? Kill me now.

There is no arguing or logic in math. It just is. There is only one answer, and if you are five billionths of a decimal off, you're still wrong. You still fail. And the professor looks at you like you're glowing hot pink in the middle of the sahara desert wearing a sailor suit and doing the electric slide. Bastards.

 

[Dakkareth]

The most common reason that people suck at math, or at least aren't better at it ...
... is that the first thing most people learn about math is that it's hard. The second thing they learn is that it's ugly.

I couldn't agree more.

Though I'm biased of course, being who I am and having the parents that I have. Predisposition probably plays some role, but education is imo the bigger factor. If you grow up learning, that math is about adding big numbers, you're hardly motivated to do the harder stuff. If you grow up learning about the interesting things hiding just below the surface of standard math, it's way different.

 

[Umbran]

Certain properties have to be present in a formal system for Gödel's Theorem to apply. There are some in which all propositions are decidable.

Yes, but the "some" do not include things like elementary arithmetic, or any system within which elementary arithmetic can be developed. Systems that cannot describe our current Universe need not apply

 

[Umbran]

...and that is the problem with logic! Why can't we all just be crazy and chaotic?

Because crazy and chaotic doesn't get wheat to the mill, and bread baked, and computers built. We are lucky to live in a society rich enough that we can afford to have a few loons around, because they enrich our lives. However, the loons need to be thankful for all the linear people who make their looniness possible.

 

[dvvega]

As someone who tutors mathematics to highschool students, I have found the biggest hurdle for most of them is that they don't really understand mathematics in a real context.

I was taught my multiplication tables by rote learning (repeat, remember, repeat). This helped me learn NOTHING. Not until one particular teacher said look ... and physically showed me how multiplication worked.

I took this lesson to heart and now teach that way. Show how maths fits into the real world. The light bulb goes on and they love maths after that.

 

[Algolei]

Don't laugh, but I can say without qualification that math has been the single most emotionally painful thing in my life (lucky, I know). I've broken down in tears many times over it, and fairly severely damaged myself in frustration. I don't know what it is about math, because I'm pretty smart; I get borderline genius results on all the intelligence tests I've ever taken, including one administered by a professional psychologist (or psychiatrist, I don't know). I can see that to some people, math is a beautiful and elegant thing, but I just can't see it. I can do low-level problems in my head, and I love proofs, but I just don't get most math. It took me 3 years to finish Algebra 1, and at 17 I still haven't gotten all the way through 2.

Hey, that sounds so much like me and English. I failed grade 12 English twice, but I passed the test to qualify for Mensa (that high IQ society everyone makes fun of, including me). People reading novels and "seeing" things that I just don't see--gah! Makes no sense to me. "Why did Iago hate Othello?" Hey, that's easy! 'Cause Iago was the bad guy!

...and Algolei scores another F....

 

[Tinker Gnome]

Another reason I brought this up was because I have to pass the exit level state standardized test in the spring. I do fine on all the subjects but math. It sucks that I have math right now, because by the time the test comes around I will have forgotten everything.