Math Is Fun Forum

PatternMan

Member

Registered: 2014-03-08

Posts: 199

Amateur

Thanks Shivam for helping me realize how much of a novice I am. Lol I don't even understand mathematics. I just oversimplified the rules in my head so that I could apply the rules without even knowing them. There is no definition or why in school. I'm finding the exercises in the book kind of hard because I'm not used to going from definitions to showing and proving. Usually I just copied the procedure to solve a problem. Proofs can be confusing especially since there are multiple ways sometimes.

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"School conditions you to reject your own judgement and experiences. The facts are in the textbook. Memorize and follow the rules. What they don't tell you is the people that discovered the facts and wrote the textbooks are people like you and me."

ShivamS

Member

Registered: 2011-02-07

Posts: 3,648

Re: Amateur

Thanks Shivam for helping me realize how much of a novice I am.

That scared me.

It's not your fault, blame the government.

PatternMan

Member

Registered: 2014-03-08

Posts: 199

Re: Amateur

I noticed old books seem to teach in a similar style but the new books I go through simplify everything and just show you the procedures. I can solve many of the problems but explaining why is new to me and I don't know why lol. Well there are some online resources like Kahnacademy & mathisfun to help me on parts if I get stuck. I like this book proves a lot from the ground up. It's just going to take me longer than expected. Also a lot at the back I haven't even covered before.

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"School conditions you to reject your own judgement and experiences. The facts are in the textbook. Memorize and follow the rules. What they don't tell you is the people that discovered the facts and wrote the textbooks are people like you and me."

Agnishom

Real Member

From: Riemann Sphere

Registered: 2011-01-29

Posts: 24,996

Website

Re: Amateur

The school cannot educate you. You'll have to educate yourself.

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'And fun? If maths is fun, then getting a tooth extraction is fun. A viral infection is fun. Rabies shots are fun.'
'God exists because Mathematics is consistent, and the devil exists because we cannot prove it'
I'm not crazy, my mother had me tested.

bobbym

bumpkin

From: Bumpkinland

Registered: 2009-04-12

Posts: 109,606

Re: Amateur

Obviously true and always has been true.

You can lead a horse to water but you can not make him drink.

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In mathematics, you don't understand things. You just get used to them.
If it ain't broke, fix it until it is.
Always satisfy the Prime Directive of getting the right answer above all else.

ShivamS

Member

Registered: 2011-02-07

Posts: 3,648

Re: Amateur

I noticed old books seem to teach in a similar style but the new books I go through simplify everything and just show you the procedures. I can solve many of the problems but explaining why is new to me and I don't know why lol. Well there are some online resources like Kahnacademy & mathisfun to help me on parts if I get stuck. I like this book proves a lot from the ground up. It's just going to take me longer than expected. Also a lot at the back I haven't even covered before.

Khanacademy and the MathIsFun pages are suited for specific US (and other) curriculum, so they do not prove a lot either (don't get me wrong, I really like MathIsFun and it is good at it's purpose - helping students studying in the US/other countries, but it is not rigorous in a sense).

At present, there is no online source available that provides mathematics at the high school level in a rigorous sense. It's unfortunate, but true.

Don't worry about how long the difficult books will take you. If you enjoy it, the time will pass quickly and at the end you will gain much more satisfaction.

PatternMan

Member

Registered: 2014-03-08

Posts: 199

Re: Amateur

At present, there is no online source available that provides mathematics at the high school level in a rigorous sense. It's unfortunate, but true.

Well I'm using them as a supplement to the books so it should be fine.

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"School conditions you to reject your own judgement and experiences. The facts are in the textbook. Memorize and follow the rules. What they don't tell you is the people that discovered the facts and wrote the textbooks are people like you and me."

ShivamS

Member

Registered: 2011-02-07

Posts: 3,648

Re: Amateur

Yeah, as a supplement they are great.

PatternMan

Member

Registered: 2014-03-08

Posts: 199

Re: Amateur

Something strange happened today. I had taken a day off from math. Today when I went back to the book it seemed kind of easy even though it seemed confusing before. I was easily doing what seemed confusing at first. This is the 2nd time this week this has happened. When you get stuck I would assume struggling to figure it out is the way forward. However I just skimmed over everything I had covered and went off to relax or do something else. Somehow it all made a lot more sense the next day. Weird right? I feel lazy stopping at every hurdle since it's slow progress but for some reason it works.

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"School conditions you to reject your own judgement and experiences. The facts are in the textbook. Memorize and follow the rules. What they don't tell you is the people that discovered the facts and wrote the textbooks are people like you and me."

bobbym

bumpkin

From: Bumpkinland

Registered: 2009-04-12

Posts: 109,606

Re: Amateur

Not weird at all.

The body sleeps, the mind never rests.

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In mathematics, you don't understand things. You just get used to them.
If it ain't broke, fix it until it is.
Always satisfy the Prime Directive of getting the right answer above all else.

PatternMan

Member

Registered: 2014-03-08

Posts: 199

Re: Amateur

Anyone use brilliant.org? There problems are entycing. I can't solve them half the time though xD Is that website a good test of mathematical skill?

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"School conditions you to reject your own judgement and experiences. The facts are in the textbook. Memorize and follow the rules. What they don't tell you is the people that discovered the facts and wrote the textbooks are people like you and me."

Agnishom

Real Member

From: Riemann Sphere

Registered: 2011-01-29

Posts: 24,996

Website

Re: Amateur

I am on brilliant. You should follow Calvin's 'Never seen this problems before?' Campaign to get an idea of how to improve

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'And fun? If maths is fun, then getting a tooth extraction is fun. A viral infection is fun. Rabies shots are fun.'
'God exists because Mathematics is consistent, and the devil exists because we cannot prove it'
I'm not crazy, my mother had me tested.

ShivamS

Member

Registered: 2011-02-07

Posts: 3,648

Re: Amateur

Anyone use brilliant.org? There problems are entycing. I can't solve them half the time though xD Is that website a good test of mathematical skill?

I am on it.

It is not an estimate of your mathematical skill - nothing is, to be honest. "Skill" is not well defined. It does reflect your problem solving skills and knowledge in a specific area of math, though.

However, high school math proficiency isn't really enough to estimate your skill.

bobbym

bumpkin

From: Bumpkinland

Registered: 2009-04-12

Posts: 109,606

Re: Amateur

Anyone use brilliant.org? There problems are entycing. I can't solve them half the time though xD Is that website a good test of mathematical skill?

The problems there can be difficult and Calvin is a good problem poser/solver. It will at least provide you with a quasi rating of your abilities. There is always Mathopolis and ganesh's problems too.

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In mathematics, you don't understand things. You just get used to them.
If it ain't broke, fix it until it is.
Always satisfy the Prime Directive of getting the right answer above all else.

PatternMan

Member

Registered: 2014-03-08

Posts: 199

Re: Amateur

ganesh's problems too.

Where can I find Ganesh's problems?

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"School conditions you to reject your own judgement and experiences. The facts are in the textbook. Memorize and follow the rules. What they don't tell you is the people that discovered the facts and wrote the textbooks are people like you and me."

ShivamS

Member

Registered: 2011-02-07

Posts: 3,648

Re: Amateur

In the Ganesh's puzzle section on the forum.