Unlock your inner math genius, in 4 minutes | Po-Shen Loh
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- Опубликовано: 22 окт 2023
- Yes, you CAN be a “math person” - as long as you follow these learning techniques.
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Po-Shen Loh is an International Mathematical Olympiad coach, and he challenges the notion that some people are inherently “not math people.” He believes that every one has the potential to understand mathematics, as long as they start with the desire to learn.
A unique aspect of mathematics is its reliance on a sequence of dependent concepts. Unlike subjects such as history, where concepts are broader and less interdependent, math involves a deeper chain of connected ideas. This makes the learning process fragile; missing a single concept can disrupt comprehension due to the interlinked nature of mathematical ideas.
Loh draws a comparison with a train journey: If there is a gap in the track (a missing concept), the train cannot proceed. He suggests a personalized learning approach, allowing individuals to learn at their own pace in order to fill gaps in understanding. With this approach, anyone can excel in math - and even find it easier than other subjects.
Read the full video transcript: bigthink.com/the-well/unlock-...
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Have you ever considered yourself to be a "math person"? What do you think is the biggest obstacle when it comes to learning mathematics?
This is true but he is missing the biggest link. True Math Talent never learns the connections made by others. They make them on their own. One does not need to be taught math. We need to figure it out ourselves. Dyscalculia is math talent who has been taught connections without context and so they forget them, just as Dr. Po-Shen Loh says. But they remain confused because they are never allowed to figure it out on their own. The reason the system would not want you to realize this is then who needs the system to learn math. You can learn al the math on your own and never go to school. The spatially gifted can do this. Our education system just gets in their natural way to learn.
I think one of the difficulties is in translating the language of a problem into mathematical symbols. Learning the vocabulary of math can be a challenge for those who have difficulty with language.
Whether your brain naturally likes maths or not and bad teachers.
Study the base of the matemática is truly important, and keep remembering the base
Hmmm… so what’s the chain of steps and dependencies to help us fill in the gaps!
I’m in my late twenties and re-learning math by myself from the very beginning. I’m actually interested and enjoying it very much despite it being my least favorite subject and loathing it in High school. I think the main reason for that was my teacher’s lack of enthusiasm in teaching math and I was absent from some fundamental understandings that it completely derailed my learning. I stopped understanding what we were learning and it made me feel stupid amongst my peers.
I'd like to do that. Are you using a book or a RUclips series, or...?
@@Enoo-Wynn the “everything you need to ace Pre-Algebra & Algebra 1 in one big fat notebook” by workman is a great book to learn. Provided you know basic math like addition, multiplication, division etc. once you learn everything in that book try finding some books on more advanced mathematics. Always reference khan academy if you get stuck with something and need someone to explain it to you
@Adrenachrome_Gumdrops Thank you so much! I'll look for it. Good luck on your math journey.
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Glad to see we exist..
The solution: Make math fun, but make math CONVENIENT. The fact that you can pull up a subject like mathematics, and have little to no inspiration - seeing dread in a lot of people's eyes when the subject comes up - that should tell you nearly everything you need to know about where we went wrong with the subject.
All math does is help give you a reference or perspective. Hence the earliest computers or uses of it would be to tell the crop seasons, or using stars for navigation, or finding ways to shortcut work in the cases of architecture such as the chapels, pyramids, or resource extraction.
If we really prepared people for math with subjects that are more related to them, and engaging interactive concepts that aren't monopolized by dated industries looking to exploit the education system - then I'm sure we'd get somewhere. But as it stands, a lot of math classes are hardly interactive, and don't appeal to all senses or references like you would see in subjects such as history, or science, which tend to be more on the 'fun' side.
A real shame, since that's generations of potential and inspiration that's being lost in this monotony.
As someone who never learnt maths in school, but whose partner is a great learner of maths, I can say that she is certainly in a new realm of thought. It's like logic is a superpower to her - makes life a lot easier.
Another issue entirely is that people get so distracted with arithmetic that they lose sight of the other things being studied. Anti-intellectualism is also a huge issue. Concepts don't get enough attention, either.
It would take mathematicians teaching the very young each step of the way, along his figurative railway of logic. Instead, we have well meaning, poorly equipped and underpaid caretakers, that very often find math their least favorite subject. By the time actual mathematics is attempted the vast majority of students are already avoiding it!
Truly on point. I used to like math and do most things by head, until I had a teaxhet that made me hate it. Took me quite a long time for me to perceive math as something good
True 👍
Title aside, the value of this video is that last part.
Really good advice for math educators and curriculum developers.
Thanks for watching!
What Mr. Po-Shen Loh told is very motivating; thank you! I am a slow learner and learning on my own pace is very satisfying and better in the long run.
I went back to college at 22 and it’s been a little bit since I’ve taken math.
I love math and I’m glad I’m back at it! I’m an engineering student and I definitely need it! I’m up for the challenge, this guy is awesome. !
"When was the war of 1812?" "1812!" 😂 I love it hahaha
Which war?
When I was in year 6 I got a bug that landed me in bed for about 1.5 weeks. And because of that illness I never learnt long division. It was from this point that maths became unattainable for me. Until recently deciding to homeschool my kids and I’m now learning long division along with them. They love being able to explain things to me and set me tasks and mark my work. Haha.
I love how a lot psychological philosophies and practices derive from logic problems/mathematical models in Mathematics. I’ve always enjoyed establishing the connections as new techniques are realized in the field. :)
Edit: just slapped “mathematical models” up ‘ere.
"What is mathematics? It is only a systematic effort of solving puzzles posed by nature." - Shakuntala Devi (also known as the "Human Computer") 💡
Brilliant is a great way to learn mathematics at any level. I hated learning mathematics in conventional environments, it helped me tremendously.
That is a spectacular video. Plus, I tuned in regarding mathematics and am walking away with a profound thought on pedagogy!
Wonderful! Glad you enjoyed it!
What a wonderful video. Thank you to all involved
We appreciate this! Thanks for watching!
this is so true i couldn't agree more i wish my highschool self knew this if only i knew this one year ago TwT altho i don't think i could've understand what he's saying you just need to do this yourself the best advice i can give is to selfstudy start from the scratch first u need to master arithmetic which gives u tools to play with numbers next algebra which just introduces abstractness then geometry which well until now you've been dealing with numbers and structures but it lets u play with 'space(s)' then calculus.. i don't have enough mastery to be worthy of explaining it but it's rate of rates also one thing u should know math has two 'parts' one is pure math(math for the sake of math) and the other is applied math(the useful kind they never taught u in school for a reason) furthermore there's 4 'parts' of pure math which are numbers, structures, space, and change you've only been taught the "level 1" of all these in school to introduce/prepare u for everything also math is the study of these 4 nssc so if anyone tells u they're good at math they are slave to the education system don't blame them for being wrong lastly this all this has nothing to do with the video he's talking about the logic and reasoning u learn with math which is really useful i could go on but lets not
I would like to see a visual tree of the requisites and prerequisites linked together
Very well articulated
Great teacher, very inspiring.
He's brilliant, isn't he?
@@The-Well absolutely!
He's very right, math, more than just figuring out numerical values, is deduction and critical thinking exercise
Ha! You said “more better”. My family says that for funsies. You’re great.
Math is progressive, where history or literature learning comprehension is not dependent on prior units of study within the subject.
A lot more focus is placed on reading literacy than math literacy, and that starts young.
Learning the
Alphabet comes with rewards of learning to spell ones name correctly, to read a story, to share a note of care with a loved one.
Learning to count, the early initial rewards are learning one's own age/ birthday (once per year),
Otherwise; height (growth spurts), how to read time, home address, or parent's phone number.. The socially built rewards for learning the fundamentals, are less rewarding. Time becomes a burden, learning personal information is for "in case of emergency"
Learning age (reward takes 364 days to pay-off)
Thank you for this vid!
But I want to object presented theory that in history you can just remember some date without adding it to your mental chain. I think, history as math has its mandatory chain too. You can’t understand and also remember what happened in 1812 without knowing where did it happen. I have a great concern that I am wrong or misunderstood you due to imperfect knowledge of the English language, if this is so, SOMEONE please correct me. And sorry for this mass of unfancy words😂
I think everything is a chain, or rather a network. History definitely is a network of deeply interrelated events.
Yet, it is true, that history can be accessed at any point, and traversed in any direction. Math cannot.
Yup! If there is causality, then yes, everything is a link in a chain, a chain that as far as we know began with the big bang (but perhaps I'm over invested in hard determinism).
I am a third year high school student ( I am arab btw ) math is my favorite subject and I always study it hard and I enjoy it despite the difficulties I face sometimes I think I can improve my level, this year I have final exams so I'm just finishing the year then I want to re-learn maths from skratch because I want to participate in international math olympiad so wish me luck
Maths and logic are good tools. Like other tools, they can be used good or bad/misleading. Erdos N is a number. Most people can do some math innately. Question everything, learn, and build up reasoning. How singularities are words for they don't know. Solution set's to false infinites. Natural cutoff points/energy regimes. Logic will get you from point A to point B. Algebra helps with compression and representations. C*D when everything has decayed into photons and time losses meaning. The size of the universe then as a natural cutoff in a cutoff regime. You can double it and put the sister universe next to ours. Then rewind to current time frame and you get a big distance. Black holes and the universe are finite systems with solution sets Even boltzmann time bombs can be calculated if finite cutoff regime. No FTL inflation in a vacuum. Never seen. Einstein rules work fine and tell anyone willing to listen to what the math is saying. Why the big bang had to only be radiation at first. Also why the virtual infinites pop up being proportional to time dilation factor. The more you throw in a black hole, the more time dilation at the center. Virtual infinity from a finite system. Schwartzchild for particle mapping and time slices. Kerr for G-flows and hyper surfaces and quantum boundaries. R=0 has solution sets for a black hole. R=0 for T=0 has a completely different set of solutions. Mapping black holes better let's you model big bang better. CERN has the info for particle zoo.
On paper, it sounds ideal -
Conceptually, it requires increased budgets, new curriculum & retraining.. Unfortunately, Parental, Political & Teacher's Union Concensus in today's "tense" social environment is an impossible TASK.
Mmm okay, I'll give it a try.
❤😊 nice 👍
like this!
Does anyone have a link to a good series breaking down these simple math concepts step by step?
3Blue1Brown, and visual math proofs.
PROFESSOR LEONARD…LOOK HIM UP…FROM BASIC TO ADVANCED MATH…GOOD LUCK…😊
Sadly my train stopped at long devision😢
I think if I had been taught differently in junior high school , I could have been much better at math. It was taught as a subject, not as a tool.
What do you think about the relationship between mathematics and statistics? Where do you think it is connected and where not connected?
I want to get into math I’m 26 and graduating with a finance degree and the area in finance I want to be in hires math and problem solving individuals not finance.
Exactly the same as Physics! Not grasping the fundamental concepts and other early deductions will be catastrophic at an even intermediate level.
sounds similar to mastery learning?
A lot of great points in this video, unfortunately the (North American) education system just isn't set up to teach math in the way he's describing.
I also don't completely agree with his take on history. He's just describing the teaching of history badly, which is the same problem he's trying to overcome in the teaching of math. The point of history is not to memorize facts and dates, just like how the point of math is not to solve word problems. Higher level history aims to understand why events happened to deduce how people in the past behaved and make inferences on the decisions they will make in the future based on those past decisions
I think it is re-upload
Yes it is! From 6 years ago☠️
That's what Salman Khan (Khan Academy) refers to as Mastery Learning. That's also how I go about learning.
Bro this is embarrassing. What about when people have a hard time not dropping links? Like and they spend a lot of hours studying the links. But then they keep getting dropped, or mixed around?
and i don't think math is problem solving rather a great tool for problem solving
Ok. What about the place of informed intuition in maths. The place where mathematicians go to to make more maths.
OR IF YOU WEREN’T LUCKY ENOUGH TO BE BUSED OUT TO A BETTER SCHOOL LIKE ME 😊
Nevermind. I thought it said meth genius.
Money is math. If you are bad at math, you will be bad at money. Even people who don't care about math should care about this.
What's funny is that the War of 1812 wasn't just in 1812 😂
Crying in Dyscalculia 😭
You just taught us a new vocab word!
😎 yo 😎😎
We can differentiate between real math and the academic math language. All living organisms are "math people" in the sense of processing data in relation to internal goals. In other words, doing math. The language that men invented for talking about data and processing it is a totally artificial thing, not capable of understanding reality that well.
This
He looks like Terence Tao, lol.
It is still difficult for people with stupid reasoning even if you break it down to components. I see some people having hard time assembling a Lego. Lol
Lol. There are techniques for teaching such people, specifically...
@sweetlohlah there are, but who will teach them? Most of the people are selfless Lol
Why everyone in America?😢 not applicable for the rest of the world?😢
Lol cuz Americans are terrible in math
Americans are already dumb as dirt and could use the help a little more that's all he meant
Math is a subject that many people fear in the whole world.
@@AdamFiregate right. But you would think Americans would have better math scores with all the money that is spent on education.
@@Lindsay4182 sadly the money isn't being spent on attracting well trained mathematics into the education field
Reupload
Based in reality…
… and non reality?
Z
@@eclectic_eyes NGL, I’m not very good at mathematics but I can sort of Z what you’re doing there.
🫠🐝💕
when was the war for 1812, it was 1812 duh..
Everyone is a powerlifter. They just need to try harder, really want it, and not miss any days.
Luls.
Certain things in math are just so dumb and boring. They are like hidden gates to solving problems.
Like they just add 1 and then subtract it later and the ehoke thing falls into place . The people who use such tricks just say it is practice and do not state the reason why they needed to do that
And also why the problem could not be solved in other ways .
Clever "tricks" can be frustrating, but they are also some of the most beautiful and creative parts of math. You're right that these kinds of manipulations should be presented less as "gotcha" problems and more as demonstrations of ways that we can use the basic facts of arithmetic to boil difficult problems down into very solvable problems!
@@CoCo_Krispy if you have studied physics or worked with physics problems in a practical sense , there is always a reason corresponding to common sense to why any answer is particularly correct and others are wrong .
There is also a good reason as to why some approaches work , others don't . It is a bit different from the competitive problems in math not like you do something that is out of the box and everything falls into place . In physics, every step has a reason .
That's why geometry , algebraic geometry make more sense to me, in particular . There has to be a form of in built logic that holds the entire mathematics in place , it is just the fact that it is not properly explored . There are these times when I get the logic but can't express it in mathematical terms .
An example is the quadratic formula , if you see the geometric interpretation, you will get a good reason as to why the person who invented it , solved it in that particular manner .
No just no
But the end was nice 😊
What are you noing at?
@@joakimjocka8022 what 🤨
@@GibranCamus-fh2wk I don't agree with what he sed in the beginning
I think it's completely wrong the ending was nice advice though
Math 🧮 is simply put numbers being calculated and he sed that there is almost no memorization in Math 😑 which is definitely wrong 😑(I mean the amount of theorems I had to memorise it seams infinite) 😑 so please don't judge my caracter by a comment. And it seems you got more attention 😂
@@GibranCamus-fh2wkand i don't think math is problem solving rather a great tool for problem solving
Well this isn’t encouraging at all..
Ok prof.... so you emphasize 0:15 "if they wanted to" as the key word then spend the rest of the video talking about the more obvious fact that math has deep dependencies. Like, c'mon, the most difficult part if how you bring yourself to want to go through all the troubl to learn about those dependencies, and it's the one that our education is failing on to teach kids!!!
It is so funny dude trying so hard to convincing us lmao.. He doesn't know the real problem , and is this: there is something called "distress", that condition in most humans, the less are genius.. is the issue ppl need to fix before trying to achieve geniuses stuff, like math.