I grew up struggling with math most of my life. Fast forward and I'm 36, taking physics and calculus in university and I'm doing well. The problem most people have is they never learned the foundations so they struggle.
@@SeanChampion-Taylor you got this! The trick is to start at your weakest point and work your way up. For me that was fractions. I really struggled with fractions until I grinded and learned as much as I could about them. From there you would be amazed how quickly I was able to develop my math skills in order to get to the level I am at now.
Not sure that everyone can do it, but more can do it than think they can't - to a reasonable level at any rate. I was very poor at maths until well into high school (secondary school in the UK). Then something clicked and I was eventually able to do an engineering degree. I do think the way it's taught is a problem. In my case, the "click" was grasping basic algebra. Then most other math branches ultimately require algebra as a "glue," so that then made it easier to learn those.
@@kevinmcfarlane2752 absolutely right. Each person has a sticking point. It could be basic division and multiplication. The point is once you figure out your sticking point and working through it, then you can progress to the next level. Unfortunately the pace of education typically moves people through a program so fast that they never work through their sticking points and just move past them. By the time they get to the next thing they never really grasped the previous thing and the issues begin to compound. I just hope people find their sticking point and work through it rather than being hindered by them.
Those are the teachers that say ”you don’t need to understand why, just remember it”. Ehhh??!😮 I’m taking a guess now, but students would probably remember IF they understood what they are doing instead of tubling around in a fog filled with numbers and problems they don’t know how to tackle.
Yes! I was naturally pretty good at math but got completely disinterested in it after asking my teacher why a certain thing worked and they replied with "don't worry about that, it just is". 20 years later I'm finally picking math up again now I have the resources to ask why and get an answer.
It's often times the "why" that's hard to understand for some people, myself included, and I went through 4 years of undergrad and 2 years of grad school in engineering. Some people are just not mathematically-minded (me) no matter how it's taught. They have a harder time than their peers getting it (me), and it is dry material to them (me). That's okay. Just like not everyone can be artists. The aptitude to learn a particular subject varies across minds.
@@soilgrasswaterair The reason for that is because understanding the proof of something is much, much more difficult than simply accepting it and applying it as is. Comprehending and believing that pi is infinite and nonrepeating can be done in the fifth grade or even earlier. Understanding the proof is way, way above the skill level of a fifth grader.
I LOVE how you approached the question. I have failed math courses 8 times in college, and yet I managed to go on with my graduate studies, and became a faculty member at university. Later in my life I was diagnosed with ADHD, and found new intreset in math, that I spend a lot of time learning math from foundation of mathmatics to number theory and topology. Hell, I even tried to prove Riemann hypothesis.
This video made me realize I was never actually good at math, I was just really good at memorizing patterns/answers for math exams. Only to forget all of it soon after, since I don't get to use that level of math often. I'm definitely interested in learning it now, since my future career requires it (3D software engineer).
To give you a feedback regarding the question if anyone can do math... I suck at math. Always hated it. But currently working on a pretty sophisticated procedural modelling algorithm for Blender that requires fair amount of mathematical thinking regardless. Am I good at math? Hell no. But just like it was already said in the video, I sit down and work it anyway. Results are there and they keep me motivated to work it further even more every day.
Just this. Like, in order to pay something I am low at calculating how much I'll spend and how much I will get in return But i do a lot of programming, from working with Python to handling Differential Equations on Matlab and I get pretty good at the concepts and abstractions, but i left the computing part to the computer to get those numbers
@@Nuss-j4syes, proving it yourself. People forget that when studying math by yourself, you have to be sure of the correctness of your answer. Which is the hard part. You can't simply always ask or find answers online for every math problem you do
Loved this! I never (to my perception) displayed any natural talent or innate ability for doing mathematics, but through persistence and gaining some confidence in the subject, I managed to become pretty decent at mathematics. I wrote a great master's thesis which was to a large degree expository, but which also had some novel aspects. For me, this was a logical conclusion to studying mathematics for a living, but I believe I probably could have gone on to do more if I had been motivated to do so. I believe that most people, if introduced to mathematics in the right way, would be able to get pretty far in learning the subject. As was the case for me, I don't think that everyone should reach their potential zenith of mathematical ability, but math develops a lot of transferable skills like problem-solving and logical thinking that are useful in a lot of different contexts. So it's unfortunate that math widely has gotten a reputation as something unpleasant that just needs to be gotten over with.
Arithmetic.. yes, most people can carry out basic operations. "Mathematics," as in professional research? I'm not sure, because it takes an incredible amount of creativity to discover new relationships between mathematical objects.
and that amount of creativity will come from hard work and grit and by these you build a talent for yourself. Some people are naturally talented although, I personally don't think that it makes sense that reaching a high level of something is only exclusive to naturally talented people, As in if Bob is naturally talented and Pop is not talented as Bob, Bob might be able to learn topic X in a year while it may take longer than that for Pop.
I think it's numbers and the relationship between the numbers. Then it's about looking around you in the world and thinking about how to describe the things around you as numbers and relationships.
@@cosmicspectrum4507 All math is modeling. No "branch" of mathematics is not modeling. The problem is that teachers taught you the wrong way to think about it. Math is a way to precisely communicate about phenomena by creating simplified models of said phenomena to reason about them. For example, numbers are an abstraction we use to describe quantity. But math is capable of far more complex modeling such as formal grammars, equations, matrices, etc..
Awesome video. I was really bad at math in high school, I was really good at other subjects but really disliked and was bad at maths. When I started uni I realized how important maths are and I changed my toughts about it, started studying computer science and now I currently really like pure mathematics and using proof assistants like Coq, Agda and Lean to formalize mathematics and software. I know a lot of people like me that was good/normal at humanities but hated maths. I think if you want to be good at it you can. But tbh i think the reason many dislike maths or think that they aren't good is that even at the level of linear algebra, calculus, etc. the subjects are boring. I think it only gets interesting after that when you have "mathematical maturity" and can formalize (or make mathematical models) and prove stuff by yourself: it becomes like a second language.
I think this is the best video I've ever seen on RUclips. I'm not even kidding. I've struggled with math since I know myself, so I got into Social Sciences in college and I was on fire. I understood every theory, every aspect of it, even if I didn't like a particular notion, like Anthropology. But I was giving 100% of myself on that. Due to depression, I was never able to graduate and the thought that I was never good enough about anything just increased. And it lead me into a hole where I just cry for waking up. This whole video is an EXPERIMENTAL CASE. It's science, just like I've learnt at school. You did science. You surveyed, you interviewed people and you came to a conclusion. It's science to the most. And it just proved me that, if I go for it, I'll do it. Thank you. I think you just saved my life. I'm not kidding.
For many decades, I was The Guy Who Hated Math. I worked around needing it. When I eventually, very late in life, was in a place where I had to learn some, I was old enough to be able to see math in a way that worked for me. I was able to see the actual FUN in it. Sadly no school can really teach to each individual directly. Math suffers from this more than a lot of other things.
It’s like asking “are you good at sports?” Certainly, a few would be fairly good for several disciplines, while a good number would be good just at one (ask MJ if he’s good at baseball compared to basketball)… we all have that basic or innate survival skill to identify and compare quantities… from there, a great majority can learn to count then arithmetic and basic operations… some will be filtered before algebra, then some will be directed (if interested) into geometry, statistics or calculus… or today’s most advanced theories. It will depend tons on who guided our first steps and/or who our first role models were… aside of our own ideals and interests. But long story short, ALL PEOPLE IS ABLE TO LEARN MATH AT SOME LEVEL. How difficult would it be? It will strongly depend on how you perceive it.
00:04 Struggling in math is often due to lack of effort or understanding 02:12 Many people miss out on improving themselves due to self-limiting beliefs in math 06:31 Math skills are not innate but can be learned 08:36 Hackers stole American Social Security numbers and released them online for free. 12:36 People can improve at math with the right approach. 14:55 With time, effort, and consistency, nearly anyone can learn math. 18:48 Most people can improve in math with appropriate support and resources. 20:50 Negative emotions hinder learning math 24:33 Talent is not a requirement for learning math 26:32 Learning style preferences do not necessarily lead to better learning outcomes. 30:10 Believe you're good at math to improve skills. Crafted by Merlin AI.
Been on a kick of watching videos on this topic and yours is probably the most thoughtful and well studied I’ve watched so far. I’m one of those who has attempted to learn math time and time again but hit a deadlock at anything above college Algebra (and I only passed that out of pity from the professor). Took me a while to narrow my bereft down to complex fractions, logarithms and weirdly any geometry beyond like “find the area”. Then I come to recall that every one of those subjects was the favorite “you fail this test” topics of Ms. May the misanthropic High School Geometry teacher. Math trauma is a real thing, sadly, and because of her I can find no fulfillment in math beyond a certain point. Luckily I went into the trades and have not graphed or factored anything the past 20 years, and May died just a few years ago.
Lol, sadly too many people have had parents like this which is no way to make someone get better. Once my dad went on a walk to calm himself down, when he tried to teach me about some historic event for an upcoming exam in high school. Why is the go to thing ”shouldn’t you know this”, when there still is a struggle. So mean😂❤
I’ve been trying to find the same answer about programming-not hardcore system or game engine programming, but just the basic concepts. I thought the answer was "yes"-yes, a normal, average person could learn it. But then I failed to teach it to everyone. Not because it was impossible to learn, but because they lost interest. I guess it was still too much "brain work" for them? That kind of brainwork is like going to the gym. Most of us, as average people, should be perfectly capable of achieving a very athletic body, but very few have the passion, willpower, or whatever it takes. I myself struggled for years, just going through the first 100 pages of programming basics and stopping there (those 100 pages were literally just about variables and maybe for-loops), Then next year read those same pages and so on. Then someone gave me a chance to learn for money, so it was now or never. I studied hard for many hours a day and finally broke through that thick 'entry' wall. Continuing from that point was quite easy because I was finally 'in.' I learned most of the basic concepts of OOP and data structures and became capable of writing programs that did things. I became like a tiny sapling of a programmer-now growth felt both natural and necessary. So I would say people need some very strong kick, push, or pull to get through that first, what I call, blizzard. Once you make it to the other side, it’s quite manageable-sunshine, even. And if it’s not sunshine sometimes, you already know how to endure the blizzard. For some, even the first phase can be 'fun,' especially if they’re a child with natural talent, for example. But for most people, I think there’s a very strong, hard-to-overcome barrier/wall/blizzard, if you will. PS: But then again, maybe it might be nonsense. As someone once told me, "I underestimate my own abilities and overestimate the abilities of others," so who knows, I think I am not underestimate them ..
I had a similar breakthrough as a self taught programmer, for the first year or two I couldn't connect some of the concepts together and by just reading and trying stuff one day it suddenly clicked. From there on it was a breeze. Obviously it depends on how deep you want to understand programming, I really wanted to get down to the core.
My experience of learning how to program was that it really tires your brain in a rather unique way, and having to fight yourself to go against that unpleasant feeling in your head is... Not fun if you already feel tired. That being said, I'm also a stubborn bastard in that regard, that perhaps I'll take a month or two break, after which I'll try again. That's how I learned programming in C and Algebra at 21, software engineering at 28, and have learned Calculus at 35, and am now learning probability and statistics as preparation for a machine learning course. Shout out to MIT to all the free videos! Play them at 1.5x speeds. Spend 1 hour per day, and you can crush a course (skipping exercises, because I'm just here to understand the theory) in about 4 to 6 weeks. If you start getting headaches you may be wearing yourself out and you'll need to take a break for your mental health.
As you mentioned I dont trust myself or have confidence my solutions. I have a problem with the correctness of math solution/method. Which is the hard part for me. I can't simply always ask or find solutions online to verify every math problem I do. I will be sure of myself that the solution is correct only to be proven wrong which then leaves me with doubt for future math problems I solve.
Great video! I was always bad at math. I was able to solve a simple math problem only if I had already seen a solution to an almost identical problem before. And even then I would not understand what I'm even doing. Math just seemed pointless at school. Why would I need to calculate an area of a triangle? What the heck is PI? Are we just imagining stuff at this point? That was my understanding of math back then. Couple of years ago I read a book "How Not to Be Wrong" by Jordan Ellenberg (which I strongly recommend even if just for fun) which blew my mind. I started to realise that math is an amazing tool to understand the stuff around us. I started learning basic arithmetic and then basic algebra and year later I was able to solve several algebra problems from the final school exam, which I never imagined I could even understand, let alone solve. All in all , I'm still bad at math...but I'm good enough now to understand what I'm bad at exactly and how to improve further.
Most people can learn up to Calculus given enough time. The biggest problem, I think, is that education the way it is set up today leaves gaps in your math education. "We don't have time to learn EVERYTHING so we only focus on the important bits!" Well... If you are working in trigonometry you need Square Roots, Square Exponents and a good knowledge of what a function is. You need to learn the mathematical definition of a line, a coordinate system and geometric shapes. You need to know fancy words and letters like Pi, Radius, Area, Quotient, Polygon, Isosceles, Equilateral and a host of other words. Which ones of those are important? All of them. And that is just one field that we get introduced to in middle school. So all of math up to Calculus is important and I believe we would be better off aiming everyone to learn Calculus, today. Would you hire a carpenter that only know two tools? No? Then why the heck are we setting people up for failure in math?
Mathematicians don't consider high school calculus as serious mathematics. All you really have to do is to learn half a dozen rules for derivatives and integrals and that's pretty much it. Neither are they teaching you geometry in school. They are teaching basic trigonometry. That's not what geometry is to a mathematician.
This is such a great video Most of my education experience was like: “You don’t need to memorise the formula. You just have to understand it” But when it comes down to show how to understand it or learn it - nothing That is one of the great things about the internet where you can find good learning opportunities
I joined a data science team this year and had to re-learn math; I started back at the basics and now that I'm older I find it fun and engaging. The big change for me though is that I don't view it as this scary thing, I view it like learning a language.
Thanks for sharing. I want to add something special about math that I don't hear many people talking about when studying and learning mathematics: MATH IS A PYRAMID. If you want to solve advanced problems, YOU HAVE TO KNOW THE FOUNDATIONS of previous levels, and so on. That's the core of about 90% of mathematical proofs, with the remaining 10% being about intuition and innovation."
I feel like this is the video I needed. Had damn near a mental breakdown studying and failing the first Calc II test of the semester yesterday. I've been out of practice and college so it's a struggle to derust
I have ADHD and trouble learning, but I'm very good at math. In fact I was by far the best at Highschool. I won many math competitions, I even often beated the older students. I even corrected some mistakes in the books and helped explain some concepts to my classmates.
I'll say this video was perfect for me. I'm extremely logical thinking and analytical but I have always struggled with doing or enjoying math. When it comes to feeling good about myself, I'm not very good at that lol lately it feels like I'm bad at learning as I get older. It is so nice to see some form of data, as well as personal reports, about this subject as that is what specifically speaks to me. Not "i believe" or some woowoo - just raw data and multiple anecdotal experiences on it to show what may be truer. It shines through uncertainty for me; and uncertainty is a bitch.
When I was younger I absolutely hated maths and could not see the point of the importance given to it. After I left the formal education system, I came across material on the internet that simply but effectively explained the background behind a number of mathematical concepts. I started to appreciate and even love mathematics. I believe that most people find difficulty because they dont understand what they are doing. In many instances maths is taught like a recipe..do this after this after this without explaining the "why" rather than ĺimiting to the "how". Maths needs to be taught in an appealing and interesting manner esp to young children.
Hey Maria, I just wanted to say how much I admire your work! Your creativity and passion really shine through, and it's hard not to have a little crush on the amazing content you create. Keep being awesome! I think I'm in love❤
All my life I was thinking that I'll never learn English. But around 10th grade I found my favourite music band for the first time. Firstly I was only listening, then I start to learn the lyrics. But still, I finished my school with bad marks, and I have like 25/100 point in my finall exams in English. But I continue to seacrch, and learn. And 2 years later I had to take the exams again, and a month before I decided to practice on tasks from previous years. And I was shocked that I can understand around 90% of the tasks and words in general. Even though I did't learn any grammar rules intentionally, and pretty much didn't know it. But only my vocabulary grow over the years, and it maked me feel like I able to learn. So that mounth I spent learning rules and some specific useful words. And eventually I have 71/100 points which is huge thing for me. I still use Google translate to spell everything somehow correctly, but at least I can watch videos like this without it, and understand 95% of it. When it comes to the math - I was average in it. But now I'm studying at "Applied mathematics" faculty and what I found - it really depend how much time you put into learning, what your souces are, how familiar with basics you are. Usually, to understand something I need to search for 2-3 days whatching different explanations, and etheir I find really good one, or it all just added up. But, I believe, in less advanced topics and basic math most of the people could be better. They just don't know it =)
I always saw myself as someone who couldn't do math, growing up with undiagnosed ADD(ADHD without the hyperactivity) and being unable to hold many numbers in my head while calculating I found math extremly boring as it was always going so slow. Imagine having to do long equations but every time you add two numbers like 9+4 you have to count from 9 to 13 and maybe even use your fingers. (im a little better now than when I was a kid tho). It wasn't until I started programing that I saw the logic behind formulas and found a way math could be fun and fast. I could just write the logic for how I wanted something to move and the computer did all the work for me and somehow I've used an mathematical formula!? Magic! Sad part is that ignoring a much math as possible through your childhood leaves gaping holes in you math understanding and trust me, college was hard trying to do calculus without having heard about integrals before. But I passed my bachelors and got my ADD diagnosis on the same day so I guess math wasn't impossible, just had to be learned in a different way
Somebody who have a attentive disorders may face a problem in maths. More specifically maths requires a memory of storing temporary things. And collection and linking form a final product. Its difficult
people that have had a bad childhood would end up having weaker brains from underdeveloped nerve connections in their brains, its very hard for them to learn maths
found ur account yesterday and i ended up here because i was tryna figure out is it only me who struggles with cs and coding or is it everyone else as well and after watching your last video im damn sure its a universal thing. lovee youu
*Is math an innate ability?* No, math itself is a learned skill. The cognitive abilities that allow us to do math however, are baked into us. Numerosity Perception, Memory, Pattern recognition, Possessing speed are all examples of things effected by natural variation. *Can anyone learn math?* Can anyone build muscle? There is natural variation to how much muscle people have without working (we all know that person who is ripped without exercising). There is natural variation to how fast people can put on muscle (you might be naturally skinny/fat but once you start working out, notice an immediate difference). There is natural variation in how much muscle each person can put on (no matter how much you work out, you will likely never be Olympic level). There are outliers who can't put on any muscle no matter how hard they try, but without trying would never know. All of these variations are also mutually exclusive. You might have someone who is naturally ripped but unable to put on muscle and visa versa. This natural variation is obvious for physical variations, but it is a decent assumption to make that it also holds true for cognitive variations. That the exact same variation in building muscle exists for doing math. *Learning styles?* In my experience tutoring students in math, it is beneficial to explain concepts in as many different ways as possible and link them together. It's in those links that memories are formed. You don't want to explain something just visual or physically but preferably both. Explain a concept both in words and text, then do a live demo of that concept. Show all the different ways a concept can be understood and link them together (e.g. teach integration as aria under a graph, the anti-derivative, and adding lots of small things together; then do an experiment to show this). That being said, learning styles do definitely exist. Some kids get motivated by winning, and so you want to break down a concept as much and as simply as possible and make learning each part feel like a massive win. Some kids get motivated by challenge, and so you want to frame the concept as a puzzle for them to solve and once they get it, have them solve an even harder puzzle. Different kids have different styles of motivation that will require a different teaching style. Some kids might be better at memorizing, so teach them the formula and how to apply it. Once they get the formula, show them why it exists. Some kids might be better at pattern recognition, so teach them how to get to the solution, then teach them the formula as a shortcut to speed them up. Different kids have different cognitive abilities that will require a different teaching style.
I had a chemistry teacher who was a great explainer. Whenever he wrote the symbol for an element on the board, like 'H,' he'd make sure we remembered it was the symbol for hydrogen. He always took the time to explain everything thoroughly, but he never let it slow down the lesson. Thanks to his dedication, I ended up with a perfect score in chemistry.
And I am sure you also survived the university level practical organic chemistry class that required you to execute a 112 step reaction with a prescribed yield over the course of the semester? Oh, wait... you aren't talking about university level chemistry. You are talking about memorizing high school chemistry (H is for hydrogen and S is for sulfur). ;-)
When I was an undergrad, there was one math professor who taught one section of the required College Algebra each semester. As far as I could tell, every semester, al least one of his students went on to become a math major - usually older students who had always "been bad" at math. I think that the major problem with math education is that brains mature at different rates, but math education is paced with age. Learning new math concepts also is based on previous knowledge - and if you missed a prerequisite concept, you are going to struggle with the new concept. My core observation is that an individual's capability for abstraction develops through getting older. Trying to push someone when they aren't ready elicits the negative experiences. (B.S, Math, Ph.D. Computer Science)
In my case I can manipulate numbers and values really easily and have good logical thinking. I play a lot of puzzle games. Like I know whats going on in each step and I can visualize in my head but my working memory is terrible. It takes me some extra time to do math in my head which is why I use a calculator even for simple steps. just wanted to share my experience with math.
depends on the motivation, like a year ago, i had no motivation in life, i was gonna draft in a branch of military that had extremely low life span average, then i was rejected for eye sight, so i decided to learn math (yes, i am still not sure how i came to that conclusion ),and now a year later, i went from barely knowing what an x is in math, to easily doing calc 1, and can actually do that shit, all on my own!, ( thank you professor leonard), now i am trying to lean physics, and cs, so as long as you have the right motives you can do anything
It depends - which levels of math are we talking about? Some people may be capable of learning basic arithmetic and nothing beyond that. For those who feel like they are bad at math, they may have not applied themselves enough. It can also take time for them to understand things - often things end up clicking at some point.
Añadiría que en la sociedad actual hay un miedo y rechazo (viscerales) a equivocarse cuando aprendes algo nuevo, lo quieren aprender todo al momento, y eso es imposible, ni los más grandes genios se salvan de equivocarse cuando aprenden algo nuevo. Se ha instaurado en la sociedad el "fast food" a la hora de aprender. Y esto no sólo se refleja en las matemáticas, también en el área de las letras. Este rechazo conlleva a la frustración cuando eres pequeño o joven, es algo natural; y difícil de combatir. Espero haberme explicado. No nacemos enseñados, aprendemos a estar "enseñados" a lo largo de nuestra vida. Thanks!!!!
your professor: Just remember we all start from the same place! also your professor not two minutes prior: Mozart was writing symphonies at age 4 I may not be a math genius, but something doesn't add up 🤔
It's like any other language, anything can be written with mathematics, when you learn enough they are beatiful. it can be expressed in mathematics or the same in a very very long text, they are a way of abbreviating.
It depends on the kind of mathematics. Basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, yes. Anything above that then it becomes more difficult for people. I am not mathematically minded and it doesn't bother me. I know enough to survive in life and that's all you need, really.
PhD, electrical engineering with a focus in applied math here (not to toot my own horn). What I tell people is that math is inherently mentally toxic - the people that are good at it are only good because they've built up a heavy tolerance. It's not a perfect analogy, but it does help people feel less frustrated when they get to their wits end with the subject. You will get to a point in the day where you've math'ed more than you should and your mind just starts rejecting it, and that's normal
I was a math major.. the difficulty level jumps up a lot junior/senior year. You have to discard old ways of thinking, which is hard to get over because it seems wrong at first. Sometimes finding the right book makes all the difference, too. Many textbooks are terribly written. Mistakes all over the place and no real explanation of the material.
Regarding the "stats" part of the video, IMHO the point is that the US import most of their talents from Asia and Europe and thanks to their talents they boost their stats. MIT, Stanford, Princeton etc. have high international reputation solely because of their research output, but on a closer look one would soon find out that most of the people producing this research are Asian (Chinese and Indians, mostly) and sometimes European (German, Italian, or French typically). I can't recall a single paper in the field of Computer Science that I've read in the past 10 years not being authored by somebody named Chen, Liu, Lin, Zhang, Huao, Kumar, Singh, etc. (among the authors). When I visited Princeton in 2022 I realized that there are some labs *entirely* populated by Asians (PI, PhDs, postdocs, research fellows). Long story short, Americans are not good at math and science on average (despite they used to be around 50 years ago) and the American education system is really average. But you guys got the big M and so skilled people come there to work for you making your richer and more influent. Final note: *this is by no means a racist comment.* On the other hand I was *praising* Asian people, of which I sincerely admire the intelligence, workaholism and commitment to their work. I've surrounded myself with them because of this.
I'm quite good at math, and I've learned enough math to study quantum mechanics. But I don't have good enough conscientiousness skills to see things through to the end. My "math muscles" are only useful for solving problems (like in the context of a project). I'll quite literally solve the problems in my subconscious. But once the problem is solved, that's it. All of my passion is gone and I end up bouncing around to the next problem...usually in a subject I already know. This is probably due to being tired from solving problems at work as well. I've been trying to study finite element analysis for months now, but my career doesn't require it, so I'm never driven enough to see it through. I can't count how many times I've reviewed the first chapter of my FEA textbook. Most problems that you get paid for don't require high-level math unfortunately.
Great topic and video but I hoped you'd talk about the "nerdy" side of being good at math and the "cool" side of being average/struggling. It was especially the case for me at high school and people seem to keep this feeling for a long time as adults. You want to be part of a certain "cool" group and for that you have to be labelled as not nerdy so you start to convince yourself you are not good at it and ultimately you lack the confidence in learning math. Some people overcome this feeling in their adult life and others don't? Curious to hear the experience of others on this topic
I've seen a bunch of videos like this and I'm disappointed that the discussion was still pretty surface level. You even went to the effort of conducting interviews, which was cool, but every time your professor brought up a good point, you didn't meaningfully elaborate on it (e.g., that there are different levels of math, and various levels of intellectual disability). What are the different types of intellectual disability (e.g., ADD/ADHD, autism, down syndrome, stroke, various TBIs) and how does each type affect the level of math you can understand? What fraction of the population suffers from each type? The video's final conclusion was effectively "if we ignore those disabled people, then everyone can do math", which is so reductionist. - What does it mean to be able to do math? For each type of intellectual disability, maybe we can quantitatively/qualitatively describe the math they can do. Also, for the general population (both disabled and non-disabled), you could ask: - What fraction of people can count to 10? What fraction of people can count arbitrarily high? (i.e., record and read numbers in some number system) - What fraction of people can add/subtract? Multiply/divide? Of those people, how many will be able to go through school-level algebra, trigonometry, geometry? - Out of the people who can do school-level math (algebra/trig/geometry), what fraction would be able to do university level math? Get a degree in math? - Is your ability to do math directly related to your ability to understand language? Presumably there are people who can follow single-step implications like "A implies B" (which we'd consider an integral part of being able to carry a conversation), but an intellectual disability might limit them from following longer chains of reasoning ("A implies B implies C implies D, and so A implies D"). Is being able to follow a long, abstract chain of reasoning a necessary and/or sufficient condition to be able to "do math"? I wasn't really convinced by your final conclusion; you could have been much more critical. The question you're trying to answer is incredibly deep and it deserves a deeper video. I'd be interested in seeing you revisit the topic in a future video.
I agree that my video could've been more detailed, but I choose to keep the video shorter since I can see that most people cannot get through a video longer than five minutes unfortunately. (According to my RUclips statistics) I cut out segments where I go more into detail, which is unfortunate but I felt as if my teacher summarized it enough in his segments. I will keep your critique in mind for a future video though, so thank you for sharing your thoughts!
Maria, Mathematics is all about learning behavior at extreme cases, if you do not include extreme cases in your 'can everyone learn math' question, perhaps instead of changing the criterion, change the question.
I have adhd and autism. I am kind of good at math, but I don't feel like I am Autism really helps me to dive in math topics and really put everything to structure Adhd just prevents me from starting learning (on daily basis)
Hate programming? Try cyber security. I got my associates in psych and my bachelors in programming, now I work as a cyber security analyst. I hated coding, sucked at it. Was decent at QA and fixing other people's code, but put a blank IDE in front of me and my mind goes even blanker. I got one coding job that didn't even last 6 months, then went back to school in a cyber security boot camp. Security is more fun, for me. I've got a lot of debt to dig out from under from all that schooling, but it's going steadily. Even bought a house. If you know what you like then go for it, don't be too afraid to try other things though.
If you love abstract ideas and can think abstractly, then learning Mathematics becomes a Joy! But if you don't...? I taught STEM for 20+ years in the UK... And in my experience, some students had a knack for abstract ideas and some simply did not! Some also had the ability but were too lazy to apply it... And some were eager to really try their BEST to grap abstract ideas, with mixed results! I think so long as you have a sound mind and are willing to work really hard at it, then you can grasp abstract ideas, even if you don't naturally have a knack for it! But can ANYONE learn Maths? Well... We can all learn languages right? So theoretically yes! But mileages will vary WILDLY!!
My take is that it's that most maths teachers lack imagination. I've been taking some maths class as of recent and had serval different tutors. They talk like "x equals this and so on." But really, why is x important? why are lines important? What can you do with this? Programmers, on the other hand, are very creative because they can turn a sequence into something tangible
It's such a vague question. You have to ask to what level. Obviously some people are more cognitively capable than others. I think the large majority or people can lean maths to at least to a high school level (calculus etc.) Obviously it will be easier for some people than for others.
This reminds me of the time a comp-sci prof got all hopped up on pharmaceuticals and published The Camel Has Two Humps, claiming his test could determine the final scores of incoming introductory comp-sci students. He later retracted and apologized, recognizing it was the failing of the comp-sci field to discover how to teach comp sci that he was in denial of
Basic math concepts take awhile for me to get especially how we get a bell shaped curve through a negative exponential gaussian distribution, but I would prefer symbols than doing proofs in maths. Man, did I do bad in proofs class. I guess I just will never understand the logic connected to mathematics. I'm sticking with graduate Economics where I learn concepts such as economic growth, which is really just derived from the biological sciences. But economics is nice cause it's like applied math where you can learn math not only from equations, but learn about it along with the graphs behind them.
2:57 not surprising! The way they’re teaching kids basic maths nowadays is crazy! Instead of carrying the one, it’s “friends” with the other number and that other Number wants him to come over and visit or some crap like that! Actually, pretty sad! I’m sure anyone can find a video of what I’m talking about on RUclips or social media! Edit: the channel that post one of the videos I’m talking about The Ruben report, I tried to post the link, but RUclips flagged that!
its true i went to further maths and mechanics 1- 3 night classes just to see how far i could push myself and wrote my national exams in 2 years and passed with B's @ age 26
It has to be said that those stats don't mean anything without the accompanying demographics. It makes sense for the US to be below all of Europe because it's much more diverse than Europe and there are significant IQ differences between groups. You can't really just compare the stats sadly, not even with other American stats when there are millions immigrating yearly.
@@reaperanon979 it means [insert race here] is inferior/superior because of genetic reasons. Whether we look at culture, technology, education or elsewhere, their difference in outcomes from other races all mainly stem from genetic makeup of the population. With this, they argue whites societies are destroyed by non whites "invading" them.
From my personal experience "more advanced math" like trigonometry is hard because you're never shown practical use cases which help you spot the patterns in which these tools become useful.
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I grew up struggling with math most of my life. Fast forward and I'm 36, taking physics and calculus in university and I'm doing well. The problem most people have is they never learned the foundations so they struggle.
I’m a late bloomer in math. This is very encouraging to read.
@@SeanChampion-Taylor you got this! The trick is to start at your weakest point and work your way up. For me that was fractions. I really struggled with fractions until I grinded and learned as much as I could about them. From there you would be amazed how quickly I was able to develop my math skills in order to get to the level I am at now.
@@luiegiii thank you 🥺
Not sure that everyone can do it, but more can do it than think they can't - to a reasonable level at any rate. I was very poor at maths until well into high school (secondary school in the UK). Then something clicked and I was eventually able to do an engineering degree. I do think the way it's taught is a problem. In my case, the "click" was grasping basic algebra. Then most other math branches ultimately require algebra as a "glue," so that then made it easier to learn those.
@@kevinmcfarlane2752 absolutely right. Each person has a sticking point. It could be basic division and multiplication. The point is once you figure out your sticking point and working through it, then you can progress to the next level. Unfortunately the pace of education typically moves people through a program so fast that they never work through their sticking points and just move past them. By the time they get to the next thing they never really grasped the previous thing and the issues begin to compound. I just hope people find their sticking point and work through it rather than being hindered by them.
That thumbnail is fiiiire
She looks like max caulfield
@@berserker3778 wait you're so right omg
Why
Seems elementary
Real
the big problem (imho) with math is that teachers (mostly) dont explain "why"
if u get the "why", it's beatiful (and easy)
Those are the teachers that say ”you don’t need to understand why, just remember it”. Ehhh??!😮
I’m taking a guess now, but students would probably remember IF they understood what they are doing instead of tubling around in a fog filled with numbers and problems they don’t know how to tackle.
Yes! I was naturally pretty good at math but got completely disinterested in it after asking my teacher why a certain thing worked and they replied with "don't worry about that, it just is".
20 years later I'm finally picking math up again now I have the resources to ask why and get an answer.
When they try to explain why, they get complaints that it's too abstract, get to the point, just tell us how to do it...
It's often times the "why" that's hard to understand for some people, myself included, and I went through 4 years of undergrad and 2 years of grad school in engineering. Some people are just not mathematically-minded (me) no matter how it's taught. They have a harder time than their peers getting it (me), and it is dry material to them (me). That's okay. Just like not everyone can be artists. The aptitude to learn a particular subject varies across minds.
@@soilgrasswaterair The reason for that is because understanding the proof of something is much, much more difficult than simply accepting it and applying it as is. Comprehending and believing that pi is infinite and nonrepeating can be done in the fifth grade or even earlier. Understanding the proof is way, way above the skill level of a fifth grader.
I LOVE how you approached the question. I have failed math courses 8 times in college, and yet I managed to go on with my graduate studies, and became a faculty member at university. Later in my life I was diagnosed with ADHD, and found new intreset in math, that I spend a lot of time learning math from foundation of mathmatics to number theory and topology. Hell, I even tried to prove Riemann hypothesis.
This video made me realize I was never actually good at math, I was just really good at memorizing patterns/answers for math exams. Only to forget all of it soon after, since I don't get to use that level of math often. I'm definitely interested in learning it now, since my future career requires it (3D software engineer).
I’m a data scientist, I love math so much but i am currently struggling in learning maths 😢
"Young man, in mathematics you don't understand things. You just get used to them." - John Von Neumann
To give you a feedback regarding the question if anyone can do math... I suck at math. Always hated it. But currently working on a pretty sophisticated procedural modelling algorithm for Blender that requires fair amount of mathematical thinking regardless.
Am I good at math? Hell no. But just like it was already said in the video, I sit down and work it anyway. Results are there and they keep me motivated to work it further even more every day.
Just this. Like, in order to pay something I am low at calculating how much I'll spend and how much I will get in return
But i do a lot of programming, from working with Python to handling Differential Equations on Matlab and I get pretty good at the concepts and abstractions, but i left the computing part to the computer to get those numbers
don't forget to prove correctness of your algorithm 😛
@@Nuss-j4syes, proving it yourself. People forget that when studying math by yourself, you have to be sure of the correctness of your answer. Which is the hard part. You can't simply always ask or find answers online for every math problem you do
When you think you are bad at something and you want to get better at it, that is when patience comes in to play.
Loved this! I never (to my perception) displayed any natural talent or innate ability for doing mathematics, but through persistence and gaining some confidence in the subject, I managed to become pretty decent at mathematics. I wrote a great master's thesis which was to a large degree expository, but which also had some novel aspects. For me, this was a logical conclusion to studying mathematics for a living, but I believe I probably could have gone on to do more if I had been motivated to do so. I believe that most people, if introduced to mathematics in the right way, would be able to get pretty far in learning the subject. As was the case for me, I don't think that everyone should reach their potential zenith of mathematical ability, but math develops a lot of transferable skills like problem-solving and logical thinking that are useful in a lot of different contexts. So it's unfortunate that math widely has gotten a reputation as something unpleasant that just needs to be gotten over with.
Arithmetic.. yes, most people can carry out basic operations. "Mathematics," as in professional research? I'm not sure, because it takes an incredible amount of creativity to discover new relationships between mathematical objects.
Definitely takes interest, hard work, curiosity and exploration to develop deep math skills.
and that amount of creativity will come from hard work and grit and by these you build a talent for yourself.
Some people are naturally talented although, I personally don't think that it makes sense that reaching a high level of something is only exclusive to naturally talented people, As in if Bob is naturally talented and Pop is not talented as Bob, Bob might be able to learn topic X in a year while it may take longer than that for Pop.
math isnt just numbers, its also logic and pattern recognition which everyone uses everyday.
pattern recognition = memorize the techniques to solve that problem .
I think it's numbers and the relationship between the numbers. Then it's about looking around you in the world and thinking about how to describe the things around you as numbers and relationships.
math is modeling things with mathematical structures, such as numbers, equations, matrices, graphs, geometry, etc..
you would be surprised how many people use as little logic and problem solving skills as they can
@@cosmicspectrum4507 All math is modeling. No "branch" of mathematics is not modeling.
The problem is that teachers taught you the wrong way to think about it. Math is a way to precisely communicate about phenomena by creating simplified models of said phenomena to reason about them.
For example, numbers are an abstraction we use to describe quantity. But math is capable of far more complex modeling such as formal grammars, equations, matrices, etc..
Awesome video. I was really bad at math in high school, I was really good at other subjects but really disliked and was bad at maths.
When I started uni I realized how important maths are and I changed my toughts about it, started studying computer science and now I currently really like pure mathematics and using proof assistants like Coq, Agda and Lean to formalize mathematics and software.
I know a lot of people like me that was good/normal at humanities but hated maths. I think if you want to be good at it you can.
But tbh i think the reason many dislike maths or think that they aren't good is that even at the level of linear algebra, calculus, etc. the subjects are boring. I think it only gets interesting after that when you have "mathematical maturity" and can formalize (or make mathematical models) and prove stuff by yourself: it becomes like a second language.
I think this is the best video I've ever seen on RUclips. I'm not even kidding.
I've struggled with math since I know myself, so I got into Social Sciences in college and I was on fire. I understood every theory, every aspect of it, even if I didn't like a particular notion, like Anthropology. But I was giving 100% of myself on that.
Due to depression, I was never able to graduate and the thought that I was never good enough about anything just increased. And it lead me into a hole where I just cry for waking up.
This whole video is an EXPERIMENTAL CASE. It's science, just like I've learnt at school. You did science. You surveyed, you interviewed people and you came to a conclusion. It's science to the most.
And it just proved me that, if I go for it, I'll do it.
Thank you. I think you just saved my life. I'm not kidding.
For many decades, I was The Guy Who Hated Math. I worked around needing it. When I eventually, very late in life, was in a place where I had to learn some, I was old enough to be able to see math in a way that worked for me. I was able to see the actual FUN in it. Sadly no school can really teach to each individual directly. Math suffers from this more than a lot of other things.
It’s like asking “are you good at sports?” Certainly, a few would be fairly good for several disciplines, while a good number would be good just at one (ask MJ if he’s good at baseball compared to basketball)… we all have that basic or innate survival skill to identify and compare quantities… from there, a great majority can learn to count then arithmetic and basic operations… some will be filtered before algebra, then some will be directed (if interested) into geometry, statistics or calculus… or today’s most advanced theories.
It will depend tons on who guided our first steps and/or who our first role models were… aside of our own ideals and interests. But long story short, ALL PEOPLE IS ABLE TO LEARN MATH AT SOME LEVEL.
How difficult would it be? It will strongly depend on how you perceive it.
00:04 Struggling in math is often due to lack of effort or understanding
02:12 Many people miss out on improving themselves due to self-limiting beliefs in math
06:31 Math skills are not innate but can be learned
08:36 Hackers stole American Social Security numbers and released them online for free.
12:36 People can improve at math with the right approach.
14:55 With time, effort, and consistency, nearly anyone can learn math.
18:48 Most people can improve in math with appropriate support and resources.
20:50 Negative emotions hinder learning math
24:33 Talent is not a requirement for learning math
26:32 Learning style preferences do not necessarily lead to better learning outcomes.
30:10 Believe you're good at math to improve skills.
Crafted by Merlin AI.
This is so weird i spent the day relearning linear algebra and other math topics and she drops this. 😂
Saame, struggling..
"My focus goes away"
same bro, same💀💀
Been on a kick of watching videos on this topic and yours is probably the most thoughtful and well studied I’ve watched so far.
I’m one of those who has attempted to learn math time and time again but hit a deadlock at anything above college Algebra (and I only passed that out of pity from the professor). Took me a while to narrow my bereft down to complex fractions, logarithms and weirdly any geometry beyond like “find the area”. Then I come to recall that every one of those subjects was the favorite “you fail this test” topics of Ms. May the misanthropic High School Geometry teacher. Math trauma is a real thing, sadly, and because of her I can find no fulfillment in math beyond a certain point. Luckily I went into the trades and have not graphed or factored anything the past 20 years, and May died just a few years ago.
Most people can learn math with proper guidance and dedication, up to some extent. Beyong that, having talent is must.
this
Being really stubborn helps too 😂
Lol, sadly too many people have had parents like this which is no way to make someone get better.
Once my dad went on a walk to calm himself down, when he tried to teach me about some historic event for an upcoming exam in high school.
Why is the go to thing ”shouldn’t you know this”, when there still is a struggle. So mean😂❤
I’ve been trying to find the same answer about programming-not hardcore system or game engine programming, but just the basic concepts. I thought the answer was "yes"-yes, a normal, average person could learn it. But then I failed to teach it to everyone.
Not because it was impossible to learn, but because they lost interest. I guess it was still too much "brain work" for them? That kind of brainwork is like going to the gym. Most of us, as average people, should be perfectly capable of achieving a very athletic body, but very few have the passion, willpower, or whatever it takes.
I myself struggled for years, just going through the first 100 pages of programming basics and stopping there (those 100 pages were literally just about variables and maybe for-loops), Then next year read those same pages and so on.
Then someone gave me a chance to learn for money, so it was now or never. I studied hard for many hours a day and finally broke through that thick 'entry' wall.
Continuing from that point was quite easy because I was finally 'in.' I learned most of the basic concepts of OOP and data structures and became capable of writing programs that did things.
I became like a tiny sapling of a programmer-now growth felt both natural and necessary.
So I would say people need some very strong kick, push, or pull to get through that first, what I call, blizzard. Once you make it to the other side, it’s quite manageable-sunshine, even. And if it’s not sunshine sometimes, you already know how to endure the blizzard. For some, even the first phase can be 'fun,' especially if they’re a child with natural talent, for example. But for most people, I think there’s a very strong, hard-to-overcome barrier/wall/blizzard, if you will.
PS: But then again, maybe it might be nonsense. As someone once told me, "I underestimate my own abilities and overestimate the abilities of others," so who knows, I think I am not underestimate them ..
you make a lot of sense
I had a similar breakthrough as a self taught programmer, for the first year or two I couldn't connect some of the concepts together and by just reading and trying stuff one day it suddenly clicked. From there on it was a breeze. Obviously it depends on how deep you want to understand programming, I really wanted to get down to the core.
My experience of learning how to program was that it really tires your brain in a rather unique way, and having to fight yourself to go against that unpleasant feeling in your head is... Not fun if you already feel tired.
That being said, I'm also a stubborn bastard in that regard, that perhaps I'll take a month or two break, after which I'll try again. That's how I learned programming in C and Algebra at 21, software engineering at 28, and have learned Calculus at 35, and am now learning probability and statistics as preparation for a machine learning course.
Shout out to MIT to all the free videos! Play them at 1.5x speeds. Spend 1 hour per day, and you can crush a course (skipping exercises, because I'm just here to understand the theory) in about 4 to 6 weeks. If you start getting headaches you may be wearing yourself out and you'll need to take a break for your mental health.
As you mentioned I dont trust myself or have confidence my solutions. I have a problem with the correctness of math solution/method. Which is the hard part for me. I can't simply always ask or find solutions online to verify every math problem I do. I will be sure of myself that the solution is correct only to be proven wrong which then leaves me with doubt for future math problems I solve.
Have to relearn Calculus ... this vid came at the right time. Thank you!
Great video! I was always bad at math. I was able to solve a simple math problem only if I had already seen a solution to an almost identical problem before. And even then I would not understand what I'm even doing. Math just seemed pointless at school. Why would I need to calculate an area of a triangle? What the heck is PI? Are we just imagining stuff at this point? That was my understanding of math back then. Couple of years ago I read a book "How Not to Be Wrong" by Jordan Ellenberg (which I strongly recommend even if just for fun) which blew my mind. I started to realise that math is an amazing tool to understand the stuff around us. I started learning basic arithmetic and then basic algebra and year later I was able to solve several algebra problems from the final school exam, which I never imagined I could even understand, let alone solve. All in all , I'm still bad at math...but I'm good enough now to understand what I'm bad at exactly and how to improve further.
Most people can learn up to Calculus given enough time.
The biggest problem, I think, is that education the way it is set up today leaves gaps in your math education. "We don't have time to learn EVERYTHING so we only focus on the important bits!"
Well... If you are working in trigonometry you need Square Roots, Square Exponents and a good knowledge of what a function is. You need to learn the mathematical definition of a line, a coordinate system and geometric shapes. You need to know fancy words and letters like Pi, Radius, Area, Quotient, Polygon, Isosceles, Equilateral and a host of other words.
Which ones of those are important? All of them. And that is just one field that we get introduced to in middle school. So all of math up to Calculus is important and I believe we would be better off aiming everyone to learn Calculus, today.
Would you hire a carpenter that only know two tools? No? Then why the heck are we setting people up for failure in math?
Mathematicians don't consider high school calculus as serious mathematics. All you really have to do is to learn half a dozen rules for derivatives and integrals and that's pretty much it. Neither are they teaching you geometry in school. They are teaching basic trigonometry. That's not what geometry is to a mathematician.
This is such a great video
Most of my education experience was like:
“You don’t need to memorise the formula. You just have to understand it”
But when it comes down to show how to understand it or learn it - nothing
That is one of the great things about the internet where you can find good learning opportunities
I joined a data science team this year and had to re-learn math; I started back at the basics and now that I'm older I find it fun and engaging. The big change for me though is that I don't view it as this scary thing, I view it like learning a language.
Quality of her videos is just awesome.. one can see amount of work she puts, in creating these..
pause your math questions everybody, projectMaria just dropped another one
Thanks for sharing.
I want to add something special about math that I don't hear many people talking about when studying and learning mathematics: MATH IS A PYRAMID. If you want to solve advanced problems, YOU HAVE TO KNOW THE FOUNDATIONS of previous levels, and so on. That's the core of about 90% of mathematical proofs, with the remaining 10% being about intuition and innovation."
I watched this to feel more motivated for my stats/probability course. Now I feel motivated ;)
I feel like this is the video I needed. Had damn near a mental breakdown studying and failing the first Calc II test of the semester yesterday. I've been out of practice and college so it's a struggle to derust
I have ADHD and trouble learning, but I'm very good at math. In fact I was by far the best at Highschool. I won many math competitions, I even often beated the older students. I even corrected some mistakes in the books and helped explain some concepts to my classmates.
Right now I am struggling through Calculus I, this video couldn't drop at a better time 😅
Start with basics, Frist mastered the four arithmetics addition, Substraction, multiplication, division. I promise with this is all you need.
I couldn't help but notice that you have a massive passion for space. It would be cool if you could build a project around it...
Thanks for the video!
I'll say this video was perfect for me. I'm extremely logical thinking and analytical but I have always struggled with doing or enjoying math. When it comes to feeling good about myself, I'm not very good at that lol lately it feels like I'm bad at learning as I get older. It is so nice to see some form of data, as well as personal reports, about this subject as that is what specifically speaks to me. Not "i believe" or some woowoo - just raw data and multiple anecdotal experiences on it to show what may be truer. It shines through uncertainty for me; and uncertainty is a bitch.
When I was younger I absolutely hated maths and could not see the point of the importance given to it. After I left the formal education system, I came across material on the internet that simply but effectively explained the background behind a number of mathematical concepts. I started to appreciate and even love mathematics. I believe that most people find difficulty because they dont understand what they are doing. In many instances maths is taught like a recipe..do this after this after this without explaining the "why" rather than ĺimiting to the "how". Maths needs to be taught in an appealing and interesting manner esp to young children.
Hey Maria,
I just wanted to say how much I admire your work! Your creativity and passion really shine through, and it's hard not to have a little crush on the amazing content you create. Keep being awesome!
I think I'm in love❤
All my life I was thinking that I'll never learn English. But around 10th grade I found my favourite music band for the first time. Firstly I was only listening, then I start to learn the lyrics. But still, I finished my school with bad marks, and I have like 25/100 point in my finall exams in English. But I continue to seacrch, and learn.
And 2 years later I had to take the exams again, and a month before I decided to practice on tasks from previous years. And I was shocked that I can understand around 90% of the tasks and words in general. Even though I did't learn any grammar rules intentionally, and pretty much didn't know it. But only my vocabulary grow over the years, and it maked me feel like I able to learn. So that mounth I spent learning rules and some specific useful words. And eventually I have 71/100 points which is huge thing for me.
I still use Google translate to spell everything somehow correctly, but at least I can watch videos like this without it, and understand 95% of it.
When it comes to the math - I was average in it. But now I'm studying at "Applied mathematics" faculty and what I found - it really depend how much time you put into learning, what your souces are, how familiar with basics you are. Usually, to understand something I need to search for 2-3 days whatching different explanations, and etheir I find really good one, or it all just added up.
But, I believe, in less advanced topics and basic math most of the people could be better. They just don't know it =)
I always saw myself as someone who couldn't do math, growing up with undiagnosed ADD(ADHD without the hyperactivity) and being unable to hold many numbers in my head while calculating I found math extremly boring as it was always going so slow. Imagine having to do long equations but every time you add two numbers like 9+4 you have to count from 9 to 13 and maybe even use your fingers. (im a little better now than when I was a kid tho). It wasn't until I started programing that I saw the logic behind formulas and found a way math could be fun and fast. I could just write the logic for how I wanted something to move and the computer did all the work for me and somehow I've used an mathematical formula!? Magic! Sad part is that ignoring a much math as possible through your childhood leaves gaping holes in you math understanding and trust me, college was hard trying to do calculus without having heard about integrals before. But I passed my bachelors and got my ADD diagnosis on the same day so I guess math wasn't impossible, just had to be learned in a different way
Somebody who have a attentive disorders may face a problem in maths. More specifically maths requires a memory of storing temporary things. And collection and linking form a final product. Its difficult
people that have had a bad childhood would end up having weaker brains from underdeveloped nerve connections in their brains, its very hard for them to learn maths
found ur account yesterday and i ended up here because i was tryna figure out is it only me who struggles with cs and coding or is it everyone else as well and after watching your last video im damn sure its a universal thing. lovee youu
Man I can't believe that earlier today I was thinking to myself "oh, I need to check if there's a new projectMaria video" and there really was.
*Is math an innate ability?*
No, math itself is a learned skill. The cognitive abilities that allow us to do math however, are baked into us. Numerosity Perception, Memory, Pattern recognition, Possessing speed are all examples of things effected by natural variation.
*Can anyone learn math?*
Can anyone build muscle? There is natural variation to how much muscle people have without working (we all know that person who is ripped without exercising). There is natural variation to how fast people can put on muscle (you might be naturally skinny/fat but once you start working out, notice an immediate difference). There is natural variation in how much muscle each person can put on (no matter how much you work out, you will likely never be Olympic level). There are outliers who can't put on any muscle no matter how hard they try, but without trying would never know. All of these variations are also mutually exclusive. You might have someone who is naturally ripped but unable to put on muscle and visa versa.
This natural variation is obvious for physical variations, but it is a decent assumption to make that it also holds true for cognitive variations. That the exact same variation in building muscle exists for doing math.
*Learning styles?*
In my experience tutoring students in math, it is beneficial to explain concepts in as many different ways as possible and link them together. It's in those links that memories are formed. You don't want to explain something just visual or physically but preferably both. Explain a concept both in words and text, then do a live demo of that concept. Show all the different ways a concept can be understood and link them together (e.g. teach integration as aria under a graph, the anti-derivative, and adding lots of small things together; then do an experiment to show this).
That being said, learning styles do definitely exist.
Some kids get motivated by winning, and so you want to break down a concept as much and as simply as possible and make learning each part feel like a massive win. Some kids get motivated by challenge, and so you want to frame the concept as a puzzle for them to solve and once they get it, have them solve an even harder puzzle. Different kids have different styles of motivation that will require a different teaching style.
Some kids might be better at memorizing, so teach them the formula and how to apply it. Once they get the formula, show them why it exists. Some kids might be better at pattern recognition, so teach them how to get to the solution, then teach them the formula as a shortcut to speed them up. Different kids have different cognitive abilities that will require a different teaching style.
This video is so great! Thanks a lot!
I had a chemistry teacher who was a great explainer. Whenever he wrote the symbol for an element on the board, like 'H,' he'd make sure we remembered it was the symbol for hydrogen. He always took the time to explain everything thoroughly, but he never let it slow down the lesson. Thanks to his dedication, I ended up with a perfect score in chemistry.
And I am sure you also survived the university level practical organic chemistry class that required you to execute a 112 step reaction with a prescribed yield over the course of the semester? Oh, wait... you aren't talking about university level chemistry. You are talking about memorizing high school chemistry (H is for hydrogen and S is for sulfur). ;-)
When I was an undergrad, there was one math professor who taught one section of the required College Algebra each semester. As far as I could tell, every semester, al least one of his students went on to become a math major - usually older students who had always "been bad" at math. I think that the major problem with math education is that brains mature at different rates, but math education is paced with age. Learning new math concepts also is based on previous knowledge - and if you missed a prerequisite concept, you are going to struggle with the new concept.
My core observation is that an individual's capability for abstraction develops through getting older. Trying to push someone when they aren't ready elicits the negative experiences.
(B.S, Math, Ph.D. Computer Science)
In my case I can manipulate numbers and values really easily and have good logical thinking. I play a lot of puzzle games. Like I know whats going on in each step and I can visualize in my head but my working memory is terrible. It takes me some extra time to do math in my head which is why I use a calculator even for simple steps.
just wanted to share my experience with math.
Better safe than sorry…
@@richardnicholas2957 With the calculator you mean?
Explain to me how did you get so good 😢😢 I love math so much but I’m struggling
depends on the motivation, like a year ago, i had no motivation in life, i was gonna draft in a branch of military that had extremely low life span average, then i was rejected for eye sight, so i decided to learn math (yes, i am still not sure how i came to that conclusion ),and now a year later, i went from barely knowing what an x is in math, to easily doing calc 1, and can actually do that shit, all on my own!, ( thank you professor leonard), now i am trying to lean physics, and cs, so as long as you have the right motives you can do anything
It depends - which levels of math are we talking about? Some people may be capable of learning basic arithmetic and nothing beyond that.
For those who feel like they are bad at math, they may have not applied themselves enough. It can also take time for them to understand things - often things end up clicking at some point.
Añadiría que en la sociedad actual hay un miedo y rechazo (viscerales) a equivocarse cuando aprendes algo nuevo, lo quieren aprender todo al momento, y eso es imposible, ni los más grandes genios se salvan de equivocarse cuando aprenden algo nuevo. Se ha instaurado en la sociedad el "fast food" a la hora de aprender. Y esto no sólo se refleja en las matemáticas, también en el área de las letras. Este rechazo conlleva a la frustración cuando eres pequeño o joven, es algo natural; y difícil de combatir. Espero haberme explicado. No nacemos enseñados, aprendemos a estar "enseñados" a lo largo de nuestra vida.
Thanks!!!!
your professor: Just remember we all start from the same place!
also your professor not two minutes prior: Mozart was writing symphonies at age 4
I may not be a math genius, but something doesn't add up 🤔
It's like any other language, anything can be written with mathematics, when you learn enough they are beatiful. it can be expressed in mathematics or the same in a very very long text, they are a way of abbreviating.
It depends on the kind of mathematics. Basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, yes. Anything above that then it becomes more difficult for people. I am not mathematically minded and it doesn't bother me. I know enough to survive in life and that's all you need, really.
PhD, electrical engineering with a focus in applied math here (not to toot my own horn). What I tell people is that math is inherently mentally toxic - the people that are good at it are only good because they've built up a heavy tolerance. It's not a perfect analogy, but it does help people feel less frustrated when they get to their wits end with the subject. You will get to a point in the day where you've math'ed more than you should and your mind just starts rejecting it, and that's normal
I was a math major.. the difficulty level jumps up a lot junior/senior year. You have to discard old ways of thinking, which is hard to get over because it seems wrong at first. Sometimes finding the right book makes all the difference, too. Many textbooks are terribly written. Mistakes all over the place and no real explanation of the material.
8:20 don't you skip it...... I long pressed the screen to watch the sponsor section with 2x speed 😶🌫️
Yooo, that's a power move!
Regarding the "stats" part of the video, IMHO the point is that the US import most of their talents from Asia and Europe and thanks to their talents they boost their stats.
MIT, Stanford, Princeton etc. have high international reputation solely because of their research output, but on a closer look one would soon find out that most of the people producing this research are Asian (Chinese and Indians, mostly) and sometimes European (German, Italian, or French typically).
I can't recall a single paper in the field of Computer Science that I've read in the past 10 years not being authored by somebody named Chen, Liu, Lin, Zhang, Huao, Kumar, Singh, etc. (among the authors).
When I visited Princeton in 2022 I realized that there are some labs *entirely* populated by Asians (PI, PhDs, postdocs, research fellows).
Long story short, Americans are not good at math and science on average (despite they used to be around 50 years ago) and the American education system is really average. But you guys got the big M and so skilled people come there to work for you making your richer and more influent.
Final note: *this is by no means a racist comment.* On the other hand I was *praising* Asian people, of which I sincerely admire the intelligence, workaholism and commitment to their work. I've surrounded myself with them because of this.
I'd be firmly in the camp of almost anyone can at the least learn more math then they know now, I think that is the best way to word it.
Amazing study! 🔥
This is an awesome topic ty. To quote John Von Neumann " In mathematics, you dont understand things; you just get used to them."
I'm quite good at math, and I've learned enough math to study quantum mechanics. But I don't have good enough conscientiousness skills to see things through to the end. My "math muscles" are only useful for solving problems (like in the context of a project). I'll quite literally solve the problems in my subconscious. But once the problem is solved, that's it. All of my passion is gone and I end up bouncing around to the next problem...usually in a subject I already know. This is probably due to being tired from solving problems at work as well. I've been trying to study finite element analysis for months now, but my career doesn't require it, so I'm never driven enough to see it through. I can't count how many times I've reviewed the first chapter of my FEA textbook. Most problems that you get paid for don't require high-level math unfortunately.
Great topic and video but I hoped you'd talk about the "nerdy" side of being good at math and the "cool" side of being average/struggling. It was especially the case for me at high school and people seem to keep this feeling for a long time as adults. You want to be part of a certain "cool" group and for that you have to be labelled as not nerdy so you start to convince yourself you are not good at it and ultimately you lack the confidence in learning math. Some people overcome this feeling in their adult life and others don't? Curious to hear the experience of others on this topic
What does it mean to "learn math" ?
1 + 2 = 3 ?
Or do we need a PhD in algebraic geometry ?
You got it. When serious people talk about math they mean the latter. :-)
Learn calculus and everything that you need to learn calculus.
@@Simon-xi8tb Calculus is easy.
x = [2, 7, 6, 3, 4, 5, 10, 2, 4, 9]
d(x) = [2, 5, -1, -3, 1, 1, 5, -8, 2, 5]
i(x) = [2, 9, 15, 18, 22, 27, 37, 39, 43, 52]
Figure out the pattern. What is i(d(x)) ? What is d(i(x)) ?
There -- now you know math.
@@davidespinosa1910 Thank you for teaching me maths. Now I know all the maths there is. Ed Witten is now going to collaborate with me.
Great video, glad I could contribute :)
Doing Calculus by Now! Beautiful :)
I've seen a bunch of videos like this and I'm disappointed that the discussion was still pretty surface level. You even went to the effort of conducting interviews, which was cool, but every time your professor brought up a good point, you didn't meaningfully elaborate on it (e.g., that there are different levels of math, and various levels of intellectual disability).
What are the different types of intellectual disability (e.g., ADD/ADHD, autism, down syndrome, stroke, various TBIs) and how does each type affect the level of math you can understand? What fraction of the population suffers from each type? The video's final conclusion was effectively "if we ignore those disabled people, then everyone can do math", which is so reductionist.
- What does it mean to be able to do math? For each type of intellectual disability, maybe we can quantitatively/qualitatively describe the math they can do.
Also, for the general population (both disabled and non-disabled), you could ask:
- What fraction of people can count to 10? What fraction of people can count arbitrarily high? (i.e., record and read numbers in some number system)
- What fraction of people can add/subtract? Multiply/divide? Of those people, how many will be able to go through school-level algebra, trigonometry, geometry?
- Out of the people who can do school-level math (algebra/trig/geometry), what fraction would be able to do university level math? Get a degree in math?
- Is your ability to do math directly related to your ability to understand language? Presumably there are people who can follow single-step implications like "A implies B" (which we'd consider an integral part of being able to carry a conversation), but an intellectual disability might limit them from following longer chains of reasoning ("A implies B implies C implies D, and so A implies D"). Is being able to follow a long, abstract chain of reasoning a necessary and/or sufficient condition to be able to "do math"?
I wasn't really convinced by your final conclusion; you could have been much more critical. The question you're trying to answer is incredibly deep and it deserves a deeper video. I'd be interested in seeing you revisit the topic in a future video.
I agree that my video could've been more detailed, but I choose to keep the video shorter since I can see that most people cannot get through a video longer than five minutes unfortunately. (According to my RUclips statistics) I cut out segments where I go more into detail, which is unfortunate but I felt as if my teacher summarized it enough in his segments. I will keep your critique in mind for a future video though, so thank you for sharing your thoughts!
@@pr0jectmariaDo you have an uncut version by any chance? Maybe you can post it on a second channel or in a playlist accessible only by link
@genericperson3122
Can you recommend any videos on this or adjacent topics that go into deeper levels of discussion?
Maria, Mathematics is all about learning behavior at extreme cases, if you do not include extreme cases in your 'can everyone learn math' question, perhaps instead of changing the criterion, change the question.
I have adhd and autism. I am kind of good at math, but I don't feel like I am
Autism really helps me to dive in math topics and really put everything to structure
Adhd just prevents me from starting learning (on daily basis)
Thanks for the video Maria. I also plan on studying computer science. Any advice for a freshman
Hate programming? Try cyber security.
I got my associates in psych and my bachelors in programming, now I work as a cyber security analyst.
I hated coding, sucked at it. Was decent at QA and fixing other people's code, but put a blank IDE in front of me and my mind goes even blanker.
I got one coding job that didn't even last 6 months, then went back to school in a cyber security boot camp.
Security is more fun, for me. I've got a lot of debt to dig out from under from all that schooling, but it's going steadily. Even bought a house.
If you know what you like then go for it, don't be too afraid to try other things though.
" It doesn't mean I don't know them, I just didn't trust myself ". Instantly subscribed and clicked the bell icon. Because it's me also
If you love abstract ideas and can think abstractly, then learning Mathematics becomes a Joy! But if you don't...?
I taught STEM for 20+ years in the UK... And in my experience, some students had a knack for abstract ideas and some simply did not!
Some also had the ability but were too lazy to apply it... And some were eager to really try their BEST to grap abstract ideas, with mixed results!
I think so long as you have a sound mind and are willing to work really hard at it, then you can grasp abstract ideas, even if you don't naturally have a knack for it!
But can ANYONE learn Maths? Well... We can all learn languages right? So theoretically yes! But mileages will vary WILDLY!!
Define math. Calc One ? Or real analysis ? Differential geometry? Algebraic topology?
damn it was like you were watching me. as soon as I tried to skipd that add part. that was well timed.
abstraction is key, understand the abstract concept allows you to understand its use
Sure. Let me see how you are solving non-linear and non-separable partial differential equations with that technique. :-)
My take is that it's that most maths teachers lack imagination. I've been taking some maths class as of recent and had serval different tutors. They talk like "x equals this and so on." But really, why is x important? why are lines important? What can you do with this? Programmers, on the other hand, are very creative because they can turn a sequence into something tangible
Some people learn faster than others. The ones that learn at a slow pace need to practice more. Motivation plans an important role too.
The problem isn’t that certain people can’t learn math or even that math is hard, the problem is we aren’t teaching math the proper way
It's such a vague question. You have to ask to what level. Obviously some people are more cognitively capable than others. I think the large majority or people can lean maths to at least to a high school level (calculus etc.) Obviously it will be easier for some people than for others.
This reminds me of the time a comp-sci prof got all hopped up on pharmaceuticals and published The Camel Has Two Humps, claiming his test could determine the final scores of incoming introductory comp-sci students. He later retracted and apologized, recognizing it was the failing of the comp-sci field to discover how to teach comp sci that he was in denial of
Basic math concepts take awhile for me to get especially how we get a bell shaped curve through a negative exponential gaussian distribution, but I would prefer symbols than doing proofs in maths. Man, did I do bad in proofs class. I guess I just will never understand the logic connected to mathematics. I'm sticking with graduate Economics where I learn concepts such as economic growth, which is really just derived from the biological sciences. But economics is nice cause it's like applied math where you can learn math not only from equations, but learn about it along with the graphs behind them.
It’s fascinating how similar the mindeste of learning mathematics is to learn drawing or an musical instrument :)
2:57 not surprising! The way they’re teaching kids basic maths nowadays is crazy! Instead of carrying the one, it’s “friends” with the other number and that other Number wants him to come over and visit or some crap like that! Actually, pretty sad! I’m sure anyone can find a video of what I’m talking about on RUclips or social media!
Edit: the channel that post one of the videos I’m talking about The Ruben report, I tried to post the link, but RUclips flagged that!
Thanks for this video :)
Good teachers and relentless steadfastness give you the edge to overtake the logic of math. With this understanding, anything is possible, i believe.
Everyone, learns best from multiple learning channels, audio, text, or kinetic; when those channels are used together.
It's a shame there was no mention of dyscalculia.
its true i went to further maths and mechanics 1- 3 night classes just to see how far i could push myself and wrote my national exams in 2 years and passed with B's @ age 26
Ever since studying maths at univercity level, I now just cross my eyes whenever I see an equation and think "yeah, that makes sense."
im taking pre calc right now and I'm actually having fun and doing well. i thought i'd be pretty bad at it
It has to be said that those stats don't mean anything without the accompanying demographics. It makes sense for the US to be below all of Europe because it's much more diverse than Europe and there are significant IQ differences between groups.
You can't really just compare the stats sadly, not even with other American stats when there are millions immigrating yearly.
So you're a race realist?
@@chickenstrangler3826 Dunno what that means, are there people who believe it's "not real"? lol
@@reaperanon979 it means [insert race here] is inferior/superior because of genetic reasons. Whether we look at culture, technology, education or elsewhere, their difference in outcomes from other races all mainly stem from genetic makeup of the population. With this, they argue whites societies are destroyed by non whites "invading" them.
A blessing from the gods. Also, lego space fan?
From my personal experience "more advanced math" like trigonometry is hard because you're never shown practical use cases which help you spot the patterns in which these tools become useful.
First time I didn’t skip an ad. She meant business!!
My brain physically wont let me skip the sponsor after you said I would get cursed. lmao
but its a matter of environment youve had, when.. ..not even only childhood...you know just like arts
Im sorry. The phrase "It's just factoring" triggered tf out of me. I'm glad we all share the same trauma from middle school algebra.
It'd about learning curve. You can learn anything you want. It will just take some really telong time.