What menial mental task do you struggle with?

[newjerseyrunner]

We're all pretty smart people on this forum, but what little things does your mind, for whatever reason, just never want to learn?

For me, it's the stupid trig functions. I can't just put angles and numbers on a triangle and solve anything. I have to tell myself "SOH CAH TOA." Every damn time.

Same thing when I try to alphabetize something. "Hey, go find "kid" in the dictionary. "Okay, H, I, J, K... oh, so that's where K is."Oddly, though, I never use "lefty loosy, righty tighty." That doesn't mean anything to me, I do have to twist my hand in the air first to "feel" which direction I'm going.

 

[Pythagorean]

adulting

 

[dkotschessaa]

 

[Mark44]

We're all pretty smart people on this forum, but what little things does your mind, for whatever reason, just never want to learn?

For me, it's the stupid trig functions. I can't just put angles and numbers on a triangle and solve anything. I have to tell myself "SOH CAH TOA." Every damn time.

I don't see anything wrong with that. Mnemonic devices are great for those things you don't use all the time.

Same thing when I try to alphabetize something. "Hey, go find "kid" in the dictionary. "Okay, H, I, J, K... oh, so that's where K is."Oddly, though, I never use "lefty loosy, righty tighty." That doesn't mean anything to me, I do have to twist my hand in the air first to "feel" which direction I'm going.

Yeah, I never use the "lefty loosy" thing, either. I have to turn my hand as well, especially if I'm looking at the threaded end of the bolt rather than the head end.

 

[newjerseyrunner]

I don't see anything wrong with that. Mnemonic devices are great for those things you don't use all the time.

The problem for me is that I do use these all the time. I make 2D video games for fun, that's all trig, seems like after this long I should just know which function to use without saying it.

 

[dkotschessaa]

The problem for me is that I do use these all the time. I make 2D video games for fun, that's all trig, seems like after this long I should just know which function to use without saying it.

bah.. 40 years old and still singing the alphabet song...

 

[Stacie]

I am an Accountant and I can't add things in my head. (Quickly at least). I've gotten so used to relying on Excel that I don't trust myself anymore!

 

[dkotschessaa]

I am an Accountant and I can't add things in my head. (Quickly at least). I've gotten so used to relying on Excel that I don't trust myself anymore!

ha. When I tell people I study math they are always asking me arithmetic questions, especially with money. My response is always "I'm not an accountant!"

I see now I need another retort.

-Dave K

 

[Stacie]

Lol. When I tell people I am an Accountant they all say, "You must be good at math!". I just smile and nod my head.

 

[Fervent Freyja]

ha. When I tell people I study math they are always asking me arithmetic questions, especially with money. My response is always "I'm not an accountant!"

I see now I need another retort.

-Dave K

Well, if your wife is managing the household and taking care of the childcare all day, then it's very likely that uses arithmetic all day long, every day. Use her in your retort, although you have a degree in mathematics! Mothers rule when managing the small things. I can hold the prices of hundreds of items in my head (to the cent) for at least an hour and add them up without a calculator to ensure I meet my budget before I check out!

 

[symbolipoint]

Point-of-sale counting and arithmetic of money bills and coins in my head...

I almost always need to use arithmetic on paper to be sure the stuff is right.

 

[VrhoZna]

Mental arithmetic... I always lose a sign somewhere.

 

[jtbell]

"Thirty days hath September..."

Although for some reason the Spanish version that I memorized way back in high school comes more easily to me, even though I've forgotten most of the rest of my Spanish.

 

[cnh1995]

Remembering roads and routes. I am not at all good at it. I try sometimes, but after a couple of lefts, rights or U-turns, I give up.
I still have to ask passers-by for directions at places I have been to before.
(I am lazy enough not to turn on google-maps on my phone..)

 

[EnumaElish]

I've mental block on integer addition somewhere around the number 10. 6+3 is a breeze, so's 7+3. 7+4 is a little harder but the answer got to be 1 more than 7+3 because 4=3+1. But 7+5 is ... I need to think about it. My mind gets heavy. 8+5 is even harder. Hmm. Either split the 8 into a 5 and a 3, then add 5 with the 5, ... Or split the 5 into 2 and 3 then add 2 to the 8... So tired already. My eyelids drop. Teacher, can I take a break please?

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I need to tell myself to slow down and proof read what I write, because I usually make a TON of spelling and grammar errors.

 

[FactChecker]

ha. When I tell people I study math they are always asking me arithmetic questions, especially with money. My response is always "I'm not an accountant!"

I see now I need another retort.

-Dave K

The answer is 42.

 

[Dr. Courtney]

For me, it's the stupid trig functions. I can't just put angles and numbers on a triangle and solve anything. I have to tell myself "SOH CAH TOA." Every d*** time.

Glad I'm not the only one. There's a joke where Einstein keeps looking at a cheat sheet during a lecture ...

Numerator on top
Denominator on bottom.

I do that too.

 

[jasonRF]

Remembering roads and routes. I am not at all good at it. I try sometimes, but after a couple of lefts, rights or U-turns, I give up.
I still have to ask passers-by for directions at places I have been to before.
(I am lazy enough not to turn on google-maps on my phone..)

Me too - I'm the only engineer I know that gets lost everywhere. And I mean everywhere. My wife, on the other hand, seems to never get lost and usually knows what direction we are pointed. Early in our relationship there were a few times when she was navigating and I was driving and her directions would be "turn East" ... Now she knows I usually have no clue whatsoever so gives left-right directions only.

 

[Orodruin]

Numerator on top
Denominator on bottom.

The Swedis mnemonic for that is much better. Unfortunately, it works the other way around in English so all I remember for that is that it is the wrong way around.

In case anyone is interested:
"Täljare på Taket, Nämnare där Nere" (roughly translates to "numerator on the roof, denominator down there" - the problem being that numerator starts with an N.

 

[Stella.Physics]

I seem to always forget about the properties concerning inequalities and absolute values

${\displaystyle |a|\leq b\iff -b\leq a\leq b}$
${\displaystyle |a|\geq b\iff a\leq -b\ }$ or ${\displaystyle b\leq a}$

I always fail to remember with which one is which...

 

[Mondayman]

I can't remember the alphabet. I still have to sing my A, B, C's to myself..

Responding to text messages is extremely difficult to me for some reason. It's not uncommon for conversions that should take 5 minutes to drag on for a week.

Despite playing guitar for 8 years and having a decent knowledge of music theory, I still have to think out loud "Eddie Ate Dynamite Good Bye Eddie" when remembering what string I'm on.

 

[martinbn]

For me, it's the stupid trig functions. I can't just put angles and numbers on a triangle and solve anything. I have to tell myself "SOH CAH TOA." Every damn time.

I find it very difficult to remember "SOH CAH TOA.". In fact I cannot say it unless I write it down, and to write it down I need to say first what the trig functions are.

I seem to always forget about the properties concerning inequalities and absolute values

${\displaystyle |a|\leq b\iff -b\leq a\leq b}$
${\displaystyle |a|\geq b\iff a\leq -b\ }$ or ${\displaystyle b\leq a}$

I always fail to remember with which one is which...

What's there to remember! If you know what absolute value means, then it is obvious.
Anyway, for me the most difficult thing is spelling. Not just in English, but also in my native language, where it is almost one to one for sounds and letters.

 

[Anchovy]

Mental arithmetic for definite, especially when three or more digits. I get the answer but it's not instant. I think part of the problem is I don't have one constant method of doing the calculation, e.g. sometimes I'll add the numbers together from say, units then tens then hundreds, sometimes the opposite. Also I will never be able to retain which one is the anode and which is the cathode.

 

[Dr Transport]

i before e except after c... can't spell or type worth a flip, teh is my most common mistake...

 

[TheQuietOne]

I'm a visualizer, which means I have to think deeply when visualizing, and I'm either thinking about my thinking deeply (which cancels out being able to think deeply) or it's too loud to think deeply. But it is a fun habit.

 

[jackwhirl]

When writing by hand with my implement of choice, I often catch myself writing the second letter of a word first and have to back up and place the first letter in front.

 

[hsdrop]

I need to tell myself to slow down and proof read what I write, because I usually make a TON of spelling and grammar errors.

lol, if it was not for Google spell check, Google grammar helper, and the T.T.S.Reader website I would not be able to be on this forum at all. No one would be able to understand what I'm trying to type out. I have a learning disabled for english and reading since elementary school. I have even been told by my old I.E.P. teacher (that's the teacher that handled my case in high school) that it was almost all but impossible to try to teach me english any more. My brine just is not wired that way. Still, at almost 40, I have noticed I gotten better at english and reading just from texting, chatting in chat rooms, and forum posting on the net. I still have a long way to go throw I do try the best I can with it.

P.S.
and yes, I had to proof read this at least 5 or more times just to make sure that I got it right or at least as close as I could. lol

 

[dkotschessaa]

I am a good speller, but a sloppy and impatient typist.

 

[Student100]

Trying to understand what other people are asking when they ask questions? I usually revert to "show me."

 

[FallenApple]

Reciting the alphabet backwards.

Oh and mental arithmetic.

 

[tony873004]

Linear algebra transformations by hand.
A lot of them are just a whole bunch of 4th grade multiplication problems done in the right order. I have no trouble with the order. But somewhere along the line, 5*4 is going to equal 9 and ruin the whole thing.

 

[sanman]

Row-reduction in Matrices (linear algebra)

When I have multiple equations to solve for, then I like to write them all down and solve them the old fashioned way. I hate putting them into a Matrix and trying to use Row-reduction to solve them. It feels too abstracted from the original context.

 

[Alan McIntire]

"Lefty loosy, tighty righty" makes no logical sense. I use the alliteration, "clockwise to close."

 

[Alan McIntire]

"Lefty loosy, tighty righty" makes no logical sense. I use the alliteration, "clockwise to close."