[extropy-chat] Maths ability

[Amara Graps]

>  I regard this as my own personal disability, as i can see how easy it
>  seems to many others, like yourself and Spike.

No, you confused me and Spike. I'm the one that needed a few tries
at calculus and above.

Maybe I didn't have enough motivation, but I found a world of
difference between teachers when I was a teenager, they either
sparked my interest or they crippled me.

I had a great biology teacher in high school, where we had to
memorize phyla, the ATP cycle etc., but in another class, chemistry,
where I had a lousy teacher and material which also required large
quantities to memorize, I almost failed.  I hated chemistry for a
long time after that, and didn't feel motivated to do something
about it until more recently, when I needed to learn about plasma
physics. And perhaps my physics path now is part-way due to my high
school physics teacher, who was amazingly good. Physics doesn't
come naturally to me though.

The most basic math when I was young was not difficult for me. Then
in my later teens in junior college I hit the calculus barrier.
After that, with mediocre teachers, I always needed several tries to
understand the differential math ideas. With good teachers, life was
good.

My first question is: do you have a good teacher? Even better, a
private tutor? The latter would be able to show you tricks and give
examples and exercises so you can see how the ideas work.

For study on your own, (I know, you've tried, but perhaps these
explanations can offer something different that makes sense) here
is something:

http://www.mathpages.com/home/index.htm


Amara