Hi, I’m Alexandra. I’m turning 18 tomorrow, and I’m slowly coming to the conclusion that I have GOT to be more rigorous in my self-improvement if I’m going to manage to reach my ambitions.
I’m not quite a new member- I’ve lurked a lot, and even made a post a while back that got a decent number of comments and karma.
I discovered Less Wrong through HPMOR. It was the first time I’d read a story with genuinely intelligent characters, and the things in it resonated a lot with me. This was a couple of years ago. I’ve spent a lot of time here and on the various other sites the rationalist community likes.
I’m mostly posting this now because I’d like to get more involved. I recently read an article that said the best way to increase competency at a subject is to join a community revolving around the subject. I live in OKC, where I’ve never even HEARD of another student of rationality. The closest I’ve gotten is introducing my boyfriend to HPMOR.
I’m a biology student at a community college near my living space. I’m very good at biology, english, philosophy, etc. I’m really, REALLY bad at chemistry/physics and math. I’ve done some basic research into what makes a person suck at mathematical things, but it’s been frustratingly low on insights. Most of the time, it’s resulted in “you need to practice! you need to learn mathematical thinking!” which is objectively true, but practically, a little more detail in what to do about it would be nice. Practice hasn’t really seemed to help too much beyond working problems. Give me an equation and variables and I can do the math. But I can’t EXPLAIN anything, or apply it to non-obvious problems involving it. This is seriously getting in the way of both my biology studies and my study of rationality. I took general chemistry 1 twice to get a low B. I’m in the first two weeks of general chemistry 2 and it takes ages to get what seems like basic concepts. When I discovered I magically had a B in College Algebra, I suspected the professor curved the grade without telling us. I withdrew from precalc after three weeks because I realized I couldn’t cope.
I’m hoping to get into contact with some of the more mathematically inclined people here who are willing to help. I considered emailing a few of the higher-profile contributors to the community, but frankly, they’re intimidating and the idea is very scary to my inner caveman worrying about being kicked out of the tribe.
I have some pretty lofty goals for my future research- I want to go into genetically modified organisms, and try to improve nutrition and caloric intake in parts of the world where that sort of thing is difficult to get. Reducing scarcity in our society seems like a good start to a general boost in the “goodness” of the world. But there is absolutely no way I can succeed at this if I can’t get a good handle on math and chemistry. My skill at the lower levels of biology is only going to carry me so far.
I’ve probably rambled enough, so thanks if you took the time to read. If, for some strange reason, you feel a pull towards helping a struggling student get a grasp on abstract thinking, I urge you to give into the temptation because oh god I need the help.
I’m really, REALLY bad at chemistry/physics and math. … Practice hasn’t really seemed to help too much beyond working problems. Give me an equation and variables and I can do the math. But I can’t EXPLAIN anything, or apply it to non-obvious problems involving it.
Okay… I am one of those people who is really good at math. Of course, I cannot be certain, but I suspect that the trouble here might be that you failed to grasp some essential point way, way back at the early stages of your mathematical education.
So, let’s see how you handle a non-obvious problem. In answering this question, I’d like you to show me, as far as possible, your entire reasoning process, start to finish; the more information you can give, the more helpful my further responses can be.
The question is as follows: John is on his way to an important meeting; he has to be there at noon. Before leaving home, he has calculated what his average speed has to be to arrive at his meeting on time. When he is exactly half-way to his destination, he calculates his average speed so far, and to his dismay he finds that it is half the value that it needs to be.
How fast does John need to travel on the second half of his journey in order to reach his destination on time?
I also struggle with the math thing. My secret to success is practicing until I’m miserable, but these things also help:
Read layman books about mathematical history, theory, and research. It ignites enthusiasm. I recommend James Glieck’s [sp?] book Chaos, and his book The Information. He has a talent for weaving compelling narratives around the science.
Learn a little bit of programming. While coding is frustrating in its own right, I find that it forces me to think mathematically. I can’t leave steps out. I’m learning Python right now, and it’s a good introductory language (I’m told).
Explain it to your cat. I’m only mostly kidding. I’ve found that tutoring lower-level math has helped my skills in calculus and statistics. Learning to walk through the problems in a coherent way, so that a moody sixth-grader can understand it, is tremendously helpful.
I’d love to work together on exploring mathematical concepts. If you’d like to collaborate, hit me up sometime.
Also: if you like HPMOR, you should read Luminosity. It is a rationality-driven version of Twilight that’s actually really good.
I will do that. I think I may actually have a copy of Chaos lying around. I’ve actually read (most of) Luminosity- I lost my place in the story at one point due to computer issues and never got back to it.
I tried CodeAcademy once, didn’t find it that interesting. I don’t think it used python, though. I’ll check it out. Programming is in general very useful.
If I can find someone to tutor, I’ll try that. It certainly can’t hurt. Thank you!
When I discovered I magically had a B in College Algebra, I suspected the professor curved the grade without telling us.
Given that you are female, it’s likely that there are identity issues involved that make you worse at math than you would be otherwise. If you get a B take it as empiric evidence that your belief that you are inherently bad might be wrong.
While I agree that society tends to dissuade women from math, it doesn’t really work in my specific subset. I grew up with more female math-related role models than male. (Mom was chemistry major, dad majored in education partially because he sucked at math.) And the B is a massive outlier- it takes a lot of work for me to keep a C, usually. But thank you for the input.
Hi, I’m Alexandra. I’m turning 18 tomorrow, and I’m slowly coming to the conclusion that I have GOT to be more rigorous in my self-improvement if I’m going to manage to reach my ambitions.
I’m not quite a new member- I’ve lurked a lot, and even made a post a while back that got a decent number of comments and karma.
I discovered Less Wrong through HPMOR. It was the first time I’d read a story with genuinely intelligent characters, and the things in it resonated a lot with me. This was a couple of years ago. I’ve spent a lot of time here and on the various other sites the rationalist community likes.
I’m mostly posting this now because I’d like to get more involved. I recently read an article that said the best way to increase competency at a subject is to join a community revolving around the subject. I live in OKC, where I’ve never even HEARD of another student of rationality. The closest I’ve gotten is introducing my boyfriend to HPMOR.
I’m a biology student at a community college near my living space. I’m very good at biology, english, philosophy, etc. I’m really, REALLY bad at chemistry/physics and math. I’ve done some basic research into what makes a person suck at mathematical things, but it’s been frustratingly low on insights. Most of the time, it’s resulted in “you need to practice! you need to learn mathematical thinking!” which is objectively true, but practically, a little more detail in what to do about it would be nice. Practice hasn’t really seemed to help too much beyond working problems. Give me an equation and variables and I can do the math. But I can’t EXPLAIN anything, or apply it to non-obvious problems involving it. This is seriously getting in the way of both my biology studies and my study of rationality. I took general chemistry 1 twice to get a low B. I’m in the first two weeks of general chemistry 2 and it takes ages to get what seems like basic concepts. When I discovered I magically had a B in College Algebra, I suspected the professor curved the grade without telling us. I withdrew from precalc after three weeks because I realized I couldn’t cope.
I’m hoping to get into contact with some of the more mathematically inclined people here who are willing to help. I considered emailing a few of the higher-profile contributors to the community, but frankly, they’re intimidating and the idea is very scary to my inner caveman worrying about being kicked out of the tribe.
I have some pretty lofty goals for my future research- I want to go into genetically modified organisms, and try to improve nutrition and caloric intake in parts of the world where that sort of thing is difficult to get. Reducing scarcity in our society seems like a good start to a general boost in the “goodness” of the world. But there is absolutely no way I can succeed at this if I can’t get a good handle on math and chemistry. My skill at the lower levels of biology is only going to carry me so far.
I’ve probably rambled enough, so thanks if you took the time to read. If, for some strange reason, you feel a pull towards helping a struggling student get a grasp on abstract thinking, I urge you to give into the temptation because oh god I need the help.
Hi, Alexandria!
Okay… I am one of those people who is really good at math. Of course, I cannot be certain, but I suspect that the trouble here might be that you failed to grasp some essential point way, way back at the early stages of your mathematical education.
So, let’s see how you handle a non-obvious problem. In answering this question, I’d like you to show me, as far as possible, your entire reasoning process, start to finish; the more information you can give, the more helpful my further responses can be.
The question is as follows: John is on his way to an important meeting; he has to be there at noon. Before leaving home, he has calculated what his average speed has to be to arrive at his meeting on time. When he is exactly half-way to his destination, he calculates his average speed so far, and to his dismay he finds that it is half the value that it needs to be.
How fast does John need to travel on the second half of his journey in order to reach his destination on time?
Hello, Alexandra.
I also struggle with the math thing. My secret to success is practicing until I’m miserable, but these things also help:
Read layman books about mathematical history, theory, and research. It ignites enthusiasm. I recommend James Glieck’s [sp?] book Chaos, and his book The Information. He has a talent for weaving compelling narratives around the science.
Learn a little bit of programming. While coding is frustrating in its own right, I find that it forces me to think mathematically. I can’t leave steps out. I’m learning Python right now, and it’s a good introductory language (I’m told).
Explain it to your cat. I’m only mostly kidding. I’ve found that tutoring lower-level math has helped my skills in calculus and statistics. Learning to walk through the problems in a coherent way, so that a moody sixth-grader can understand it, is tremendously helpful.
I’d love to work together on exploring mathematical concepts. If you’d like to collaborate, hit me up sometime.
Also: if you like HPMOR, you should read Luminosity. It is a rationality-driven version of Twilight that’s actually really good.
I will do that. I think I may actually have a copy of Chaos lying around. I’ve actually read (most of) Luminosity- I lost my place in the story at one point due to computer issues and never got back to it.
I tried CodeAcademy once, didn’t find it that interesting. I don’t think it used python, though. I’ll check it out. Programming is in general very useful.
If I can find someone to tutor, I’ll try that. It certainly can’t hurt. Thank you!
Given that you are female, it’s likely that there are identity issues involved that make you worse at math than you would be otherwise. If you get a B take it as empiric evidence that your belief that you are inherently bad might be wrong.
While I agree that society tends to dissuade women from math, it doesn’t really work in my specific subset. I grew up with more female math-related role models than male. (Mom was chemistry major, dad majored in education partially because he sucked at math.) And the B is a massive outlier- it takes a lot of work for me to keep a C, usually. But thank you for the input.