How come I can program for fun but I can't math for fun?

[Turion]

I've been programming for fun as a hobby for years, but with math, I have to put in so much effort and I get exhausted so easily. Why is that?

 

[Magna Visus]

It's all about you, and your interests. For other people it's the other way around, heck Aristotle and Plato wrote the most influencial books of philosophy because they like what they're doing, but I'm sure it will be a cold day in hell before Aristotle challenges Plato for a game of streetball (if it would have existed back then) the other thing around can be said of current NBA players

 

[jackmell]

but with math, I have to put in so much effort and I get exhausted so easily. Why is that?

That's because you don't see the beauty. Captain Butler was an able pilot. Taught others to fight. Then one day he got in a plane, dropped his bombs and smashed his plane into the side of a mountain. They couldn't figure out why. One possibility is he ran into a critical point up there, the straw that breaks the camel's back, a catastrophe, a sudden, abrupt, qualitative change in his world and simply snapped. There lies the secret to many of the puzzling phenomena in life. When you understand this secret, a marvelous, beautiful sense of Nature emerges. And there is no other way to see it than mathematics.

Seek to find and understand that beauty and your effort will become less laborious.

 

[ZombieFeynman]

Captain Butler was an able pilot. Taught others to fight. Then one day he got in a plane, dropped his bombs and smashed his plane into the side of a mountain. They couldn't figure out why. One possibility is he ran into a critical point up there, the straw that breaks the camel's back, a catastrophe, a sudden, abrupt, qualitative change in his world and simply snapped. There lies the secret to many of the puzzling phenomena in life.

I don't understand what this has to do with recreational mathematics.

 

[dlgoff]

I've been programming for fun as a hobby for years, but with math, I have to put in so much effort and I get exhausted so easily. Why is that?

Maybe you just need to find a connection between the two. e.g. Computational science

 

[Mk]

Depends on where you start. Some parts of math might seem inherently interesting to you... others may interest other people!

If you want to like math, try talking to some of your friends who really like math. They'll show you where the fun stuff is hiding :)

 

[UltrafastPED]

Try boolean logic, number theory, or numerical analysis - they all connect up with computer programming quite well.

Or perhaps graph theory, though it is a bit abstract for starters.

I started with the boolean logic and number theory before I learned to program.

 

[MathematicalPhysicist]

I believe because you're using your mental capacity to its limits.

There are a lot of books in maths, and a lot of pages to read and exercise (depending on your maturity).

For me computer programming basically I just need to know the syntax, the rest is plain logic.

 

[lpetrich]

You could try some computer algebra software. I've found it VERY helpful in my work, and for what's recreational mathematics to me.

It's not just algebra, of course. You'll also get trig, calculus, etc.

 

[Adyssa]

Perhaps you could combine your interests? :)

http://projecteuler.net/

 

[Dembadon]

Perhaps you could combine your interests? :)

http://projecteuler.net/

+1 for that site!

Turion, you also might want to look into combinatorics, which has many applications in computer science.