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."

 

[eigen]

Whenever I need to know something like 'how many numbers are divisible by 5 in the range 0-100?'

Is it 20? 21? Variants of this (edge cases in counting) confuse me every time and I always need to double-check.

 

[julian]

I used to go "never eat shredded wheat" to work out NORTH, EAST, SOUTH, WEST until somebody chuckled abou it, now I seem able to bypass the Mnemonic device.

 

[muscaria]

Natural units for systems: making quantities dimensionless and expressing everything in terms of these units. Although it is just basic algebra, sometimes it doesn't feel all that natural (pun intended) for my brain.. Maybe the fact that I find it to be painstakingly meticulous and boring plays a part in that :p

 

[dkotschessaa]

I used to go "never eat shredded wheat" to work out NORTH, EAST, SOUTH, WEST until somebody chuckled abou it, now I seem able to bypass the Mnemonic device.

North south I'm pretty good with. West-East I always have to picture "WE" to get right.

 

[jackwhirl]

...abou it...

I make mistakes like this a lot when writing by hand.

 

[Faiq]

Identities surrounding sin x and cos x

 

[sa1988]

Here's a weird one. When I notice I've missed a word in some sort of online text input (such as this), I'll go back to where the missing word is and write that word. After submitting it I notice I wrote the word in the wrong place, usually a notch too far to the left or write.

e.g. "Here's example sentence which I'll probably get wrong"

Oh bummer, I got it wrong.

After edit: "Here's example an sentence which I'll probably get wrong."

 

[late347]

Putting the usb cable into the laptop correctly...

For some reason it always takes 3-4 tries even though you're supposed to do it in 1-2 tries( if you are very good)...

Sometimes I mix up the months of april and may in my brain. Which is the 4th which is the 5th. Best to always count forward from January...

For English language spelling rules for individual letters of the alphabet. I always have to sing the English alphabet song inside my brain, so I can choose the correct i and e.

Because my native language Finnish alphabet song has a totally different tune and pace to it.

Strangely enough I was able to memorize the German language alphabet spelling without the alphabet song being replayed in my brain.

Now that I think about it I am not sure if we ever learned any German alphabet song in early school grades. German was my first foreign language at school and the second foreign language was English. Third being Swedish.

 

[OCR]

Oh bummer, I got it wrong.

Yes, it seems you might have...

...usually a notch too far to the left or write.. ←...

Just funning you... I do that same thing, alot a lot ....

 

[sa1988]

Yes, it seems you might have...

...usually a notch too far to the left or write.. ←

Just funning you... I do that same thing, alot a lot ....

Hahaha that's absolutely amazing! A text based Freudian slip?

Anyway here's another one, more on topic I think:

When dealing with matrices in notation such as $A_{mn}$ I always have to think really hard about which index is rows and which is columns, pretty much saying to myself, "Ok, it's m times n, rows times columns, so m is the rows, which are the horizontal ones!"

 

[EnumaElish]

Putting the usb cable into the laptop

https://www.physicsforums.com/attachments/112167

 

[dkotschessaa]

When dealing with matrices in notation such as $A_{mn}$ I always have to think really hard about which index is rows and which is columns, pretty much saying to myself, "Ok, it's m times n, rows times columns, so m is the rows, which are the horizontal ones!"

Gahhh! Yes! I still can't keep this straight.

 

[PeroK]

"Thirty days hath September..."

I always used the number of days in each month to remember the rhyme! Is that a reverse mnemonic? The numeric pattern seemed more logical to me. Anyway, it was only a few years ago that I realized that it's supposed to be the other way round!

 

[houlahound]

I can not do counting problems involving combinations & permutations etc without writing a lot down. I kid in my high school class failed at pretty much everything but when we did probability he would just yell out the correct answer as soon as the teacher finished saying it. the higher achieving students were frustrated because 10 minutes later after a lot of working out we would verify this kid was correct.

don't know what it was but he just had an instant mental picture of counting re probability.

still now 30 years later I have to write every probability problem out explicitly and do every step. I actually still don't get it even when I get the right answers.

there are a lot of hard topics I know that are actually tough, probability is supposed to be a general topic every high school student can do without much drama, it is not even considered an advanced topic - it is beyond my comprehension - Bayes theorem, the null hypothesis, the old problem where the probability changes as the contestants see what is behind the door...all voodoo magic to me.

 

[XZ923]

For me this is an easy one: names and faces. I frequently find myself in situations where I'm talking to someone and thinking "this person knows my name, we're supposed to be at least friendly, I should know their name!" I'm sometimes asked by people who are aware of my secret shame "how can you memorize strings of 40 or 50 numbers (which I do for all my important passwords) without a problem but you can't remember a name?"