Think you don't like maths?

[robsol]

Then maybe this will change your mind.

I came across A Mathematician's Lament on this site: http://betterexplained.com/articles/a-gentle-introduction-to-learning-calculus/

I have taught maths and I really feel for the essay linked to below, also called Lockharts Lament. Maths are fulfilling simply for their own sake - just like the arts - and do not have to have a purpose, apart from making us better at dealing with problems... some of them at least.

https://www.maa.org/external_archive/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf

[blue hell]

Ah yes .. how some education works to kill the joy .. I had to go to music school at some stage .. one of the main initial complaints of the teacher was that I didn't position the notes nicely on the bars .. which taught me that music was about making the drawings nice .. boring stuff .. better quit it.

Anyways .. math is like art, yup :-)

Will read some more from those links later.

[AlanP]

http://thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=math

The author is something of an asshole, but this is along the same lines.

[robsol]

[MusicMan11712]

[blue hell]

Hah, that PDF was a great read - everyone should have teachers like that :-)

[blue hell]

[AlanP]

His point was that if you can't do the problems in a textbook, it's because you didn't read HOW to do them at the start, the same way that if you can't cook, it's because you can't follow written instructions in a cookbook.

And I do appreciate that the article is on a decidedly different angle to the OP.

[MusicMan11712]

Let me add another 2 cents worth to the discussion:

In a way, it's like the nature v. nurture argument--i.e., a straw man. It's BOTH and in each individual for some aspects of experience on some days in some contexts, sometimes nature prevails and sometimes nurture prevails and sometimes we take deliberate measures to counterbalance one and/or the other when we are aware of what is at play.

To use the cooking analogy, I know how to read, I have many cookbooks, and sometimes in my life I have followed recipes. I also have handwritten recipes from my mom. Nevertheless, I have developed my own method of looking at numerous recipes (nowdays on the internet, not in cookbooks), distilling the essence (what is essential, what is optional, what is constant or near constant, what is variable, etc.), understanding the process, internalizing all that, and then making my own recipe.

I feel fortunate that I watched mom cook and even helped sometimes in the process of food preparation. I am fortunate that I sat down with her when I was older and discussed how she made things.

So, from both nature and nurture I can tweak mom's recipes to make vegetarian variations--sometimes without even reading the recipe.

For natural learners, all education is self-education. Maybe this is true even for non-natural learners, too.

Of course, some people don't cook for whatever reason(s) they have.

OK. That's my 2 cents worth. Thank you for reading it.

[robsol]

Everybody learns stuff differently, just as they solve problems in different ways. Some people may have a problem learning how to do something in a textbook, step-by-step way.

What I get from Lockhart's Lament is that you can learn to solve mathematical problems the "messy" way, not the way that they teach you in school. I find it liberating, and look at maths in a new light, although I have already used this approach in my daily life. Not trying to convert anyone though!

[MusicMan11712]

[robsol]