Strange Things Occur When You STOP DOING MATH for 14 Days

One of the biggest fears that people have is that if they stop doing math they will forget everything they have learned. In this video I talk about what happens and the many benefits of taking a break. Do you have any opinions or advice? If so, please leave a comment below.

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[efesstuff]

I would try it but sadly math is my main method of distracting myself away from horrible actions such as going out and touching grass.

[Diaming]

You basically described the power of spaced repetitions. When you relearn something enough times for the concepts you seemingly forgot, it's permanently cemented into your brain.

[kittenwizard]

I agree with your point on muscle memory, I'm a highschool drop out and basically failed algebra 1, but now that I am in college, and I chose to be a comp sci major, I am basically relearning math on my own time to prepare for precalc and trig, it feels really nice to go back to pre algebra and instantly solve most of the problems with mental math, and am just getting better, even learned some eye opening concepts that I probably missed in school, I never hated math like most people, I just haven't understood it yet, glad I found this channel and wish me luck in my self studying of math from pre algebra to precalc, I got about 4 months until my next college semester starts lol, hopefully I can learn alot by then

[vnever]

One great tool Mathematicians use to develop mathematical maturity is that of subconscious assimilation. You read something too complicated for you to understand, and return after two or three weeks and BOOM you got all things in place. It's as if your brain tries to make itself understand such stuff in the background while you're doing something totally else.

[nollix]

You benched 225 and you're a mathematician? What a beast

[ILoveMaths]

My master's thesis is due in a few months and I have been away from maths for 1.5 years because of financial and psychological issues. I haven't got any thesis work done and have even forgotten most of the maths I knew. I'm feeling a lot better now and my financial issue has been taken care of. I can't wait to get back... I hope the break has helped... I'll let you know. I'll get back today or tomorrow.

[avery]

"I'll play league" this moment actually made me stop what I was doing. I was listening to this in the background, but this actually applies to me in the most inverted way you could possibly imagine. I play league in the higher elo scene, and day in and day out, I focus on this game with every ounce of what I'm doing. There are thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of learned concepts and muscle memory acquisitions that I've learned in order to play where I am at, and yet we as players still hit walls. As I had been listening to your little lecture here, I was applying it internally to how I handle league, and over the past few months or so, I had realized that maybe stepping away for a night or so would allow the things that I had learned to compile, but I hadn't quite processed the concept as deeply as you touched upon. I thought it was very funny however, that when you went down your list of recovery tools, you listed league, since video games like league for me are actually not restful to me at all, they are my active work :)

[samuelharris]

I stopped doing math for about 6 years. Before this gap, I was quite decent and had taken up to multivariable calculus. I would finish exams and leave with 20 minutes on the clock because I knew I was done. After the break, it was a struggle. I was back in university and immediately began taking upper level math courses. I spent some weeks before returning to brush up. At first I thought I needed to "remember" everything, but then I noticed that I wasn't getting better by remembering things (at least not entirely). I was getting better by practicing mathematical thinking and firing up the parts of my brain that hadn't been fully utilized. I'm still not as fast as I once was, but I'm getting better. In fact, I feel more mathematically mature even though I may not solve problems at my previous breakneck speed.

[kierafrost]

I needed this video. I was a math student at university, but I dropped out due to a mental breakdown. Since then I had a very strong emotional reaction to the mere thought of math (I'm not sure if I can call it trauma, but it was something along these lines). I was stuck in this state for 6 years. I lost pretty much all my knowledge including high school math, not just because I went a long time without seeing any math, but also because of the emotional block. If you had asked me what the logarithm was, I probably wouldn't have known.
I finally started doing better this year and little by little, I've been relearning high school mathematics from the beginning. It's all coming back to me. I will move on to stuff from university soon. I still feel too slow, but there is a lot to relearn and I'm sure it would take me much longer if I had no previous experience.

[Antiwasserstoff]

I can confirm this. I am researching in Physics and i get to apply ALOT of math and i've got to memorize alot of formulae, but taking a break actually does indeed make you forget some tiny details you may have to look up again and it comes back way easier than before

[Alpharabius]

There was a time in college where all of my classes included some kind of math(calculus, numeric analysis etc). Oh god, it felt like my brain was on fire or i was on speed. But i also felt like i was the smartest version of myself. It felt like i could ve challenged Gauss himself.

Nowdays i ve been away from math. I dont even remember simple calculus concepts. It makes me sad.

[ДмитрийБит-Ригу]

Thanks for this therapeutic video. Unfortunately, I haven't been doing math during a lot of time, but I hope, one day I'll be proofing theorems from "Elements" Euclid.

[valoraz]

Dear professor TMS thanks for your insight. Taking a break helps distinguish facts learned and facts memorized.

[quantum_psi]

“I’ll go on League and kill some noobs”
-The Math Sorcerer

[charliesheen]

The more I watch your videos the more I learn we have a lot in common and that gives me comfort, thank you Gandalf

[chloe]

After not doing math since I graduated high school 4 years ago then jumping right to Calculus this semester, I was extremely surprised at how quickly I was picking things up again. I think the last math class I took in high school I got a D, but now I have a 99% in Calc and it's almost been a breeze. The difference in understanding of the topics I've relearned compared to learning them the first time around is incredible.

[pgdragon]

Yes you're right! 3 months ago I couldn't understand every single thing about logarithms, but now I come back to it, it becomes a lot more easier than b4!

[jaycobmercado]

Im really frustrated this pat few days and it’s because im a little behind on my calculus class. I tend to have this ambition to always be ahead of the lessons so i can really understand when the professor gives the lectures and always get rid of my doubts, but recently in one class I didn’t understand what was happening and I got so frustrated that now Im 3 lessons behind and Im just really scared to fail, but watching your videos really calm my mind and how empathetic you and how you tend to relate and give past anecdotes. It really makes me feel normal and gives me the strength to go back and try harder. Thank u<33

[arash]

This actually happened to me when i moved to US. Because math was taught heavier back there, in high school I didn’t ever touch the pen whenever i had to do math i could solve all in my head because we learned all the stuff in our high school (like up to some good portion of the whole calculus series in college and DE and linear)

As a result I didn’t do any math for like 2 years or so but when i started to take classes in college, i always at the start had this feeling that “what if i have forgotten so much that i cant learn anymore”. Still sometimes im taking classes i have this feeling but it’s getting better!

To not let this happen ever again, i try to open my notes and study older material when that semester i dont have any math. Or over a break or smth like that but man a whole lotta other things take priority such that i barely ever can do that. But i think thats the cure for it because not only you dont forget and dont lose the muscle memory, but also you retrieve the data you know from older concepts and can make better new conceptual connections between topics!

[jasonthomas]

I think there's one other point to raise. If you partially forget something then you have to re-learn that thing. The practice of re-learning is itself a skill and I think it probably helps to practice that skill. So therefore the more often you step away from and have a break from maths then the more you will get better at having breaks in between work.