Self Teaching, and entering University.

[Scribner]

Hello,

I'll start off by introducing myself, I'm a high school graduate who barely passed any form of Mathematics, I struggled even on some of the most basic of Math. My grades never passed the C - range (50%~). I have been self teaching myself for the last 2~ years. I have currently worked myself into the basics of Algebra.

Is Physics an Innate talent? Do I have any chance of ever preforming on a university level? I have no intention of stopping my interest in Math, even as hard as it it for me. I'm currently entering University for English and Anthropology. But my true interest lies in Astronomy. My fear is that I will be so far behind when I enter that I will have to drop the course.

Has anyone ever struggled this much with Mathematics and been able to self-teach themselves to a University level? I have no doubt that this isn't possible, my interest in Mathematics is incredible, and most people do not understand why I have such a fervour to understand something that is so foreign to me.

Does Astronomy contain physics that would be far beyond my current level of understanding?

Is this a fools task? Or am I on the right track? I can think of no better place to ask.

Thank you,

S.

 

[phyzguy]

Not to discourage you, but I would say if you struggle this much with math, you will have a very hard time with physics and astronomy, which use math as a tool for almost everything they do. What part of math is it that is difficult for you? Calculations? Concepts? All of it?

 

[Scribner]

Not to discourage you, but I would say if you struggle this much with math, you will have a very hard time with physics and astronomy, which use math as a tool for almost everything they do. What part of math is it that is difficult for you? Calculations? Concepts? All of it?

No discouragement here, I know what I'm up against. I would, for posterity say all of it. Although the concepts are slowly catching on. I have trouble with the calculations for the most part.

 

[Cod]

Since you enjoy astronomy, but feel math could be a problem, have you looked into a space studies program? I know American Public University, regionally accredited, offers a B.S. in Space Studies. Here's the link if interested: http://www.apu.apus.edu/space-studies?GCID=S15412x009&KEYWORD=space%20studies&MATCHTYPE=search&gclid=CLfu7NKG2qECFSI55QodPEKgKg (earned entirely online)

 

[Mu naught]

Since you enjoy astronomy, but feel math could be a problem, have you looked into a space studies program? I know American Public University, regionally accredited, offers a B.S. in Space Studies. Here's the link if interested: http://www.apu.apus.edu/space-studies?GCID=S15412x009&KEYWORD=space%20studies&MATCHTYPE=search&gclid=CLfu7NKG2qECFSI55QodPEKgKg (earned entirely online)

Not to be insulting, but is a degree like that really worth the paper it's printed on? Why would anyone hire someone with an internet degree when there are thousands of grad students around the country looking for work?

My advice to the OP is stay far far away from anything like the above quoted program. If you struggle with math, get a tutor, read some books aimed at people who need extra help with math, practice lots of problems, but DON'T go for some dubious online degree.

 

[Scribner]

Not to be insulting, but is a degree like that really worth the paper it's printed on? Why would anyone hire someone with an internet degree when there are thousands of grad students around the country looking for work?

My advice to the OP is stay far far away from anything like the above quoted program. If you struggle with math, get a tutor, read some books aimed at people who need extra help with math, practice lots of problems, but DON'T go for some dubious online degree.

Thank you, I have never considered a tutor.

Thank you for posting the link, but I, as Mu naught insists, would not consider studying online.

Would anyone who has any knowledge of the "For Dummies" series of books recommend them? I have thus far stuck to Online resources (A huge thank you to this website)

I'm open for all criticism, it would seem my teachers did not want to somehow discourage my interest in academia and would tell me I can do whatever I want. Tell me truthfully!

Thank you advance, and to all who have posted.

 

[twofish-quant]

Not to be insulting, but is a degree like that really worth the paper it's printed on?

It's regionally accredited by North Central Association, which means that its legit. It looks like a decent program to me.

My advice to the OP is stay far far away from anything like the above quoted program. If you struggle with math, get a tutor, read some books aimed at people who need extra help with math, practice lots of problems, but DON'T go for some dubious online degree.

There are a lot of dubious online degrees, but the one that you referenced isn't one of them.

Also the problem with reading books on your own is that most people want to monetize their knowledge which is one of the functions of a university.

 

[kylem]

I've looked at the calculus for dummies book. It doesn't really "teach" you calculus as much as it teaches you how to solve the problems. It also only cover the major topics.

It summarizes each major sections of a real calc book into a one or two sentence explanation that is very easy to understand.

 

[twofish-quant]

I have currently worked myself into the basics of Algebra.

Cool.

Is Physics an Innate talent? Do I have any chance of ever preforming on a university level?

There is a minimal set of math that you need to do physics research. This involves calculus, partial differential equations, and some linear algebra. One thing about physics research is that it's sort of an "infinite well." No matter how much you know, you end up meeting people that are much better at math.

I have no intention of stopping my interest in Math, even as hard as it it for me.

One thing about math is that a good tutor makes a huge amount of difference.

My fear is that I will be so far behind when I enter that I will have to drop the course.

This is one of the things about learning math is that there is a huge emotional aspect to it. Some people do learn math more quickly than other people, but you can get into a bad situation in which you are forced to learn math against a deadline, and that causes enough anxiety so that you freeze. What I'd advise if you run into this problem is to try to get some math classes out of the way before you enter college, so that you don't hit the anxiety barrier.

Does Astronomy contain physics that would be far beyond my current level of understanding?

If you can get partial differential equations and linear algebra, then you will be able to follow about 75% of the astrophysics research out there. There is some weird stuff that I have trouble understanding.

 

[Cod]

Not to be insulting, but is a degree like that really worth the paper it's printed on? Why would anyone hire someone with an internet degree when there are thousands of grad students around the country looking for work?

My advice to the OP is stay far far away from anything like the above quoted program. If you struggle with math, get a tutor, read some books aimed at people who need extra help with math, practice lots of problems, but DON'T go for some dubious online degree.

I don't understand why you say an "internet degree" is worthless. You can an earn an engineering masters from Georgia Tech and Applied Math masters from University of Washington? Are those degrees just worthless paper too since earned completely online? Also, no diploma states whether it was earned online or not. Employers are going to have to actually dig into coursework, which is rare in the industry I'm in (federal government).

 

[twofish-quant]

I don't understand why you say an "internet degree" is worthless.

Heaven help you if you mention that you think that internet degrees are worthless in front of some HR person that is or will soon get a degree from University of Phoenix.

 

[MisterMan]

Your enthusiasm for sticking with Maths regardless of its difficulties is really refreshing, as long as you are prepared to work at it and keep up this attitude I don't see why you can't give Astronomy a go. You may also benefit from taking a course on Mathematics to strengthen your understanding, it's alright learning on your own but seeking professional teaching shows how much you truly understand and they will be able to advise you on what to work on, etc.

I've heard good reviews of the Demystified series of books, I believe they offer a Calculus text but I'm not sure what other titles they provide. The level of detail will be a starting point and once you have that book completed you can gradually build up to more advanced topics.

Hope this helps

 

[Mu naught]

I don't understand why you say an "internet degree" is worthless. You can an earn an engineering masters from Georgia Tech and Applied Math masters from University of Washington? Are those degrees just worthless paper too since earned completely online? Also, no diploma states whether it was earned online or not. Employers are going to have to actually dig into coursework, which is rare in the industry I'm in (federal government).

Because I believe staring at a screen is no substitute for human interaction in a classroom. It's also just my experience from taking two online classes before that were both garbage compared to normal classes.

 

[Acut]

@Mu naught
I've learned all I know about Physics by myself. My resources were essentialy a few textbooks and a LOT of screen time: from MIT's OCW to individual pages. No teachers. I've reached the fifth place in national physics olympiad (it's true that I had nearly no practice with laboratory/experimental part - which was the reason why I haven't entered the team to IPhO).
So I must disagree with your commentary - human interaction may help a lot, but the absence of it doesn't make your learning garbage.

@Scribner
I've found most who succeed in science competitions aren't particularly talented: they were lucky to be in a particular geographical position and a socioeconomic level. But all students I've met who have reached very far in those olympiads are very dedicated. So I've came to the conclusion that putting effort and dedicating yourself matters a lot more to learning physics than having a particular talent/ability (although having them will surely help).

I've also struggled a lot with math before. I was lucky to have a math teacher who inspired me and constantly gave me challenges. That encouraged me to study by myself and to use my free time to study math. Nowadays, I find math really fun! I wish you luck in your studies! If Astronomy is what you really want to do, go for it. Use your free time to learn more and to get ahead in math - I'm sure you won't regret!

 

[Noxide]

I didn't go through the US public school system, but you should invest in an algebra 1 textbook. Go through it, then get an algebra 2 text and go through that.

Algebra can be taught/learned in a day. Just make sure you get good definitions and theorems. Memorize those and you're set. This assumes that you've mastered addition and multiplication.

 

[bignum]

So all your grades were C or just Math? Did you even try?

 

[Mu naught]

@Mu naught

I've also struggled a lot with math before. I was lucky to have a math teacher who inspired me and constantly gave me challenges. That encouraged me to study by myself and to use my free time to study math. Nowadays, I find math really fun! I wish you luck in your studies! If Astronomy is what you really want to do, go for it. Use your free time to learn more and to get ahead in math - I'm sure you won't regret!

Didn't you just get through lecturing me how teachers aren't important?

 

[hgfalling]

I don't understand why you say an "internet degree" is worthless. You can an earn an engineering masters from Georgia Tech and Applied Math masters from University of Washington? Are those degrees just worthless paper too since earned completely online? Also, no diploma states whether it was earned online or not. Employers are going to have to actually dig into coursework, which is rare in the industry I'm in (federal government).

I have an MS in Applied Math from Columbia (earned online), which doesn't seem worthless to me!

 

[lisab]

Hello,

I'll start off by introducing myself, I'm a high school graduate who barely passed any form of Mathematics, I struggled even on some of the most basic of Math. My grades never passed the C - range (50%~). I have been self teaching myself for the last 2~ years. I have currently worked myself into the basics of Algebra.

Is Physics an Innate talent? Do I have any chance of ever preforming on a university level? I have no intention of stopping my interest in Math, even as hard as it it for me. I'm currently entering University for English and Anthropology. But my true interest lies in Astronomy. My fear is that I will be so far behind when I enter that I will have to drop the course.

Has anyone ever struggled this much with Mathematics and been able to self-teach themselves to a University level? I have no doubt that this isn't possible, my interest in Mathematics is incredible, and most people do not understand why I have such a fervour to understand something that is so foreign to me.

Does Astronomy contain physics that would be far beyond my current level of understanding?

Is this a fools task? Or am I on the right track? I can think of no better place to ask.

Thank you,

S.

I think it's great that you're so self motivated. Just curious, have you considered taking math classes at a community college?

 

[Moonbear]

Because I believe staring at a screen is no substitute for human interaction in a classroom. It's also just my experience from taking two online classes before that were both garbage compared to normal classes.

Some people may not be able to learn well without human interaction, but that doesn't by itself make online courses worthless. A bad experience with an online course or two also doesn't mean they are all worthless. For example, the department I work in offers an online version of the course I teach. Guess what's offered in the online course? Yep, recordings of the lectures given by myself and the other lecturer in that course. So, the students get the exact same lectures as if they attended in person, but also get some additional online self-evaluation type resources and study aids to help them study when they can't just ask questions after lecture. Plus, they still have the phone or email to contact the person who runs that course and ask questions.

Of course, it's a different situation when a course requires labs. Then I think there is a need to be in a physical classroom. Still, if someone can take most of their classes online, and then just come into campus one day on the weekend for lab courses, that's much more possible for the person who really is trying to learn from home.

Anyway, that's a tangent from the original question.

If you need to brush up on some basic math courses, in addition to getting a tutor, you can also take a community college course. They always offer those types of courses, for students in similar situations who just didn't learn it in high school for any variety of reasons from not trying/ not caring when young and foolish, to not having the best of teachers, to not having the study skills yet, to just not having the aptitude for it.

That will be the best way to determine if your struggle with it is something OTHER than aptitude for math that you've since overcome. If you do well in those courses that you've previously struggled with, you'll know you can do it and just needed a few more years of maturity under your belt to be ready to tackle it.

If it turns out that you really just don't have the aptitude for math, that doesn't mean you NEVER can take an astronomy course, but might mean you shouldn't major in it. Major in what you're better at and take an introductory/survey type astronomy course aimed toward non-science majors (again, this is something you can find at most community colleges if the university you attend doesn't offer something appropriate to your level). That way, you can learn more about a subject that interests you, but aren't overwhelming yourself with needing math skills you just don't have.

 

[Acut]

Didn't you just get through lecturing me how teachers aren't important?

I never said teachers aren't important (I've even said human interaction is helpful - quoting myself: So I must disagree with your commentary - human interaction may help a lot, but the absence of it doesn't make your learning garbage.). However, to consider that distance or non-assisted education is garbage, just because you couldn't adapt to it is wrong! Many people perform well with them - so I believe that the if Scribner has enough perseverance, he can succeed in a online course. He shouldn't discard it for your personal tastes, Mu Naugh!

I think, however, that we have already departed from what the original poster wanted.

 

[FieldDuck]

As many people here are pointing out that if you have someone who is there to help you learn mathematics, there's no reason why you can't overcome your obstacles and eventually succeed. However, even if you don't have someone in person, you have a community of people here who can and are willing to guide you through your difficulties.

If you plan to take intro astronomy courses at your school, there is usually a pre-req to the class. In my experience the basic math require was college algebra. If you're eligible to take college algebra, then take the course first and if you do moderately well, then you should be able to handle the math that is initially required of you to get the basic overview of what astronomy is.

Then if you wish you can move onto the more advance mathematics - calculus, linear algebra, PDE and see how you fare learning those topics. I'll tell you right now, in Calculus, at the introduction level, a lot of the problems students have is not so much conceptional but algebraic, so by taking time to master your algebra skills now, you're doing yourself a huge favor.

 

[kramer733]

Ok this is so stupid. No offense but people who actually try to teach themselves mathematics by themselves are idiots. Yes it's a respectable "accomplishment" (i use accomplishment for a word i can't think of right now) but i have a question for you.

When you want to train in mixed martial arts or boxing or brazilian jiu jitsu, do you ask your friends to suddenly say "let's fight in the garage every day for 2 years so we can train to become mixed martial arts fighters." NO! You absolutely do not do that.

Ask this site www.sherdog.com on the grappling section whether to train at a real bjj gym or self train.

GO TO A COMMUNITY COLLEGE AND GET HELP FROM THEIR TEACHERS. I could never have taught mathematics by myself. The difference between somebody who gets properly schooled and teaching themselves is huge.

I literally went back to my high school (i'm doing a victory lap at the moment) going into a math class with a 50% in the lower leveled math courses and i had a huge amoutn of help. I used all the teacher's time to ask questions. Whenever i was stuck, i asked him and he'd answer back. He gave me immense guidance. He knew where i was coming from and now I'm almost caught up with my peers in terms of mathematical abilities.

POINT IS, DON'T DO MATH BY YOURSELF. YOU'RE SHOOTING YOURSELF IN THE FOOT.

 

[Acut]

@kramer733

Hm, I really think math is a bit different than martial arts, isn't it?
If learning math by yourself is useless, oh boy!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srinivasa_Ramanujan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Friedrich_Gauss
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Feynman
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein

Just to quote some of the most famous people who learned a significant part of their knowledge (I'm not claiming all of their knowledge, of course) by themselves. Neither am I claiming that if Scribner has a oportunity to have someone to guide him, he should decline it (he shouldn't).

What I really mean is that self learning is useful, you may do it with and have great results (I've met one guy who was the absolute winner of national math olympiad learning by himself! - is he an idiot? Where is that huge difference you claimed to exist between him and other students who were coached?)

I could never have taught mathematics by myself.
No offense, but if you couldn't do it, it doesn't mean other people can do it, right?
So don't let people down by letting them thinking they can't do things alone.

Again, if you (Scribner) have access to someone to teach you, then you should accept his/her help. If there's no one to teach you, it doesn't mean you have no chances: learn by yourself! Do not refrain yourself from doing what you want because you have no one to teach you.

Quoting from hooft (http://www.phys.uu.nl/~thooft/theorist.html):
----
Eventually, whether you like it or not, you will have to obtain some University degree, if you wish a self-supporting career in theoretical Physics. One possibility is to follow a Master course such as the one offered by our University. I don't know about your qualifications, but I suspect that, with enough determination, you may be able to comply.

This is not a burocratic argument but a very practical one. It is also advisable not to wait until you think your self-study is completed. You must allow your abilities to be tested, so that you get the recognition that you may well deserve. Also, I frequently meet people who get stuck at some point. Only by intense interactions with teachers and peers one can help oneself across such barriers. I have not yet met anyone who could do the entire study all by him/herself without any guidance. ----

Again, I've met people who have done amazing things by themselves, but I've never met people who learned it all by themselves.

I simply can't agree with all those posters that say you can't learn a great deal by yourself. You don't need to be a genius to do it well (I'm sure I'm not), you need to be dedicated.

 

[FieldDuck]

Ok this is so stupid. No offense but people who actually try to teach themselves mathematics by themselves are idiots.

I'm sorry but I must disagree with your sentiment. For two reason:
Number one, you can't expect a person to not take offense after you call them stupid for trying to learn.
Number two, I fail to see how it is stupid to try to learn.

Now, getting more on point. I believe that the more mathematics you intend to learn, the more you need to learn how to study on your own and learn the material on your own. I don't claim to be near that boarder, but it appears to me that as a person becomes more advance in their knowledge, then it there will come a point in time when there doesn't exist a vast reservoir of people who can teach you things and if you expect to show things not known before, then no one can teach you these things. So I believe learning how to work independently and from a book should be a skill set any future mathematician/scientist should learn.

This is not to say that having a mentor is not helpful or can't help a person learn a lot more quickly. However, I think it is rather irrational of you to criticize a person's effort to simply better themselves because you lack the ability to do what he is trying to do. In short, I stick to my previous statement, that there is no reason why he shouldn't be able to learn Algebra on his own especially with the resources at hand here that can help him grasp the concepts. Naturally, he'll eventually probably need real guidance from a professor and peers to talk to, but it doesn't hurt to self-study.

 

[kylem]

Ok this is so stupid. No offense but people who actually try to teach themselves mathematics by themselves are idiots. Yes it's a respectable "accomplishment" (i use accomplishment for a word i can't think of right now) but i have a question for you.

When you want to train in mixed martial arts or boxing or brazilian jiu jitsu, do you ask your friends to suddenly say "let's fight in the garage every day for 2 years so we can train to become mixed martial arts fighters." NO! You absolutely do not do that.

Ask this site www.sherdog.com on the grappling section whether to train at a real bjj gym or self train.

GO TO A COMMUNITY COLLEGE AND GET HELP FROM THEIR TEACHERS. I could never have taught mathematics by myself. The difference between somebody who gets properly schooled and teaching themselves is huge.

I literally went back to my high school (i'm doing a victory lap at the moment) going into a math class with a 50% in the lower leveled math courses and i had a huge amoutn of help. I used all the teacher's time to ask questions. Whenever i was stuck, i asked him and he'd answer back. He gave me immense guidance. He knew where i was coming from and now I'm almost caught up with my peers in terms of mathematical abilities.

POINT IS, DON'T DO MATH BY YOURSELF. YOU'RE SHOOTING YOURSELF IN THE FOOT.

So you have never taught yourself anything? Interesting...

 

[kramer733]

So you have never taught yourself anything? Interesting...

Honestly, no not that i can think of. I have never taught myself anything worthy of noting. Here's another example. In guitar you can only go so far in it until you get a real teacher that will teach you the music theory and technique. IT'S ALWAYS BETTER TO HAVE TEACHERS AND MENTORS AROUND TO GUIDE YOU. It's not impossible but i highly discourage that. If you want to really play at a higher level (and i mean graduate school) then yes you will need to learn to self study.

The greatest brazilian jiu jitsu practitioner (marcelo garcia in my opinion) only trains with his students and yet suceeds. It's possible but for the average person (people usually from what I've seen don't want to attend graduate school and want to exit university as soon as possible after their degree is done) Look you can do it your way but people pay for tutors for a reason. They want to accelerate their learning. There's more efficient ways to do it.
I look at mathematics as something very similar to brazilian jiu jitsu. That's why i like comparing it to bjj so much. I find that there's a lot of similar things that are structured in bjj classes compared to math classes.

I believe obtaining a bachelor's in math is the equivalent of a brown belt in bjj. And the privates you pay in bjj are like the tutoring you pay in mathematics. I just relate everyything to bjj.

 

[206PiruBlood]

Regarding self education:

Frankly I believe that my ability to learn on my own is the most valuable skill I have. I value an inspiring lecturer but think of them as more of a supplement to my own learning. A lecturer might offer a unique perspective; however, the majority of the time spent absorbing the material is alone with the textbook. The text is generally more thorough as well. I would attribute the vast majority of what I know to be self studied from history and literature to math and the sciences. Never could I have learned as much with it either.

I tutor students in all undergraduate levels and unanimously they dislike their textbooks. While I suspect many of them don't have the study skills necessary for self study, other simply don't seem to effectively learn this way.

As for the original post, I work with students of all ages and backgrounds. Many of which had no foundation in mathematics, who with a strong work ethic are now taking courses such as calculus or electromagnetism. I have also read countless stories here on physics forums of individuals returning to school after many years with no education managing to eventually complete graduate degrees. You should search for some, they should contain a wealth of information directly applicable to you.

Lastly I would emphasize that you seem to be enthusiastic about math. It's fun to like math and makes it much easier find motivation and put forth the effort.

 

[Mathnomalous]

@Scribner:

I am in a similar situation to yours. I began my university studies a little over a year ago; soon, I'll be learning precalculus followed by the science/engineering maths series. Initially, I suffered from the so called "math anxiety" but thankfully it is fading away (you may search for my threads/posts and judge for yourself).

I came to the conclusion that mathematics is very easy to learn if one happens to be truly interested in it (of course, this could be said of anything). I think learning (anything) comes down to practice and reflecting on what you are practicing. The problem specific to mathematics is that too many of us think of it as some "mystical" concept that only a select few can grasp; after all, many of us learn to communicate and use words yet few people stop to consider that vocal/written language is extremely difficult, even more difficult that mathematics (think about this, why is water called "water"? Who decided that the sound "water" would refer to the liquid "water"?)

Just look at the individuals scientifically inclined people consider geniuses, many of them began from a very early age and/or had parents that had a technical background. The few ones I consider geniuses are individuals that came from a poor background such as Gauss or Faraday (the parents of both were poor).

Nonetheless, the rest of us can still perform decently in many branches of mathematics as long as we throw hard work and interest behind it. Personally, I've discovered that I struggle with subjects many people find "easy" such as Art, English, or History; I despise subjective subjects where I'm trying to figure out what my professor's exact political inclinations are in order to write an "effective" essay.

Mathematics, on the other hand, is very entertaining and enjoyable thanks to its beauty (I am still amazed at how one can solve an equation graphically and algebraically and still obtain the same numbers; that, is quite frankly, orgasmic!).

 

[kylem]

Honestly, no not that i can think of. I have never taught myself anything worthy of noting. Here's another example. In guitar you can only go so far in it until you get a real teacher that will teach you the music theory and technique. IT'S ALWAYS BETTER TO HAVE TEACHERS AND MENTORS AROUND TO GUIDE YOU. It's not impossible but i highly discourage that. If you want to really play at a higher level (and i mean graduate school) then yes you will need to learn to self study.

The greatest brazilian jiu jitsu practitioner (marcelo garcia in my opinion) only trains with his students and yet suceeds. It's possible but for the average person (people usually from what I've seen don't want to attend graduate school and want to exit university as soon as possible after their degree is done) Look you can do it your way but people pay for tutors for a reason. They want to accelerate their learning. There's more efficient ways to do it.
I look at mathematics as something very similar to brazilian jiu jitsu. That's why i like comparing it to bjj so much. I find that there's a lot of similar things that are structured in bjj classes compared to math classes.

I believe obtaining a bachelor's in math is the equivalent of a brown belt in bjj. And the privates you pay in bjj are like the tutoring you pay in mathematics. I just relate everyything to bjj.

You realize that your comparison makes absolutely no sense, right?

And where do you think all the information in those your textbooks comes from?

 

[twofish-quant]

Because I believe staring at a screen is no substitute for human interaction in a classroom.

The thing about a lot of university courses is that you really don't get that much human interaction. One thing that's good about online education is that you can get human interaction that you otherwise would not get.

It's also just my experience from taking two online classes before that were both garbage compared to normal classes.

I've taking face to face classes that were garbage compared to online classes.

 

[twofish-quant]

Ok this is so stupid. No offense but people who actually try to teach themselves mathematics by themselves are idiots.

Well then I'm an idiot. I've been struggling to teach myself co-homology theory and algebraic topology for the last few months, and I *finally* understood the musical isomorphism and what a co-chain is.

POINT IS, DON'T DO MATH BY YOURSELF. YOU'RE SHOOTING YOURSELF IN THE FOOT.

You do run into a problem. What happens when there is no one to teach you because there isn't a human being alive that understands what you are trying to learn?

 

[Mathnomalous]

Personally, I find learning to be a very individual activity. For some odd reason the classes I seem to enjoy and do better in are the ones where the professors simply suck; the professor "explains" something, I get confused, and at the end of the day I'm forced to head to the library/internet to figure out exactly what the professor was talking about. After trial and error, I generally end up with a decent understanding of what the topic was.

Regarding online classes, I find them inferior not because there's anything wrong with them but because I would get easily distracted knowing I still have access to facebook or the WoW forums.

 

[Sankaku]

I just relate everyything to bjj.

Math is not anything like BJJ, dude. I have trained for over 25 years in the martial arts and agree that you cannot train alone. However, math is not a system of skills designed to be used on another human. No comparison.

 

[Scribner]

Thank you everyone for your honest opinions, and advice. I did try, perhaps not my best.

The challenge of learning this subject for me, is the reward. If I can succeed, even better. I'm looking into getting some formal education (Tutor, Community Learning Centre's, etc.) on some of your advice, which I am very grateful for.

@Mathnomalous - I agree 100% with your statement on the 'mystical' aspect of the tougher Maths. I for one, fell to the understanding that very few, very intelligent people could do physics, or calculus.I fell under a curse of de-motivation to learn the maths, also hearing in the classroom quite frequently "What the heck do I need Calculus for?" among other comments never helped. That is perhaps why it seems only a 'select few' can ever succeed.

There is no reason why people shouldn't understand this subject more. In Ontario Canada (my current home), a senior math is not required to graduate (You do NOT need Grade 12 Math in any form). I think this causes a lot of people to dismiss the subject. For someone like me this was great, it kept my average up, and let me focus on things I knew I would do very well in. But looking back now I regret not taking senior math. Looking back on High School the Math classes were always filled with the same few people.

To me, math is another language. It offers a deeper understanding to the functioning of life, and the universe as a whole. And the reasoning behind me doing this. Or perhaps I'm a masochist (I kid, I kid).

Sorry for the rant.

Thank you all for responding and reading, all the best!