Can all people learn math? Or are there exceptions...

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I had to relearn calculus this summer and decided to jump down a rabbit hole about learning math. Officially my first long video so let see how many people actually watch to the end. Huge thanks to Professor Stephen Flusberg as well as those from my discord for letting me interview you!

Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
2:40 Stats About Math
4:50 Numerosity Perception
8:25 Sponsor
10:06 Results of Survey
12:20 Interviews
29:15 Last Words

[FridayMorningCoding]

Assuming you don’t have a good teacher - it becomes a game of how well you can teach yourself math.

[luiegiii]

I grew up struggling with math most of my life. Fast forward and I'm 36, taking physics and calculus in university and I'm doing well. The problem most people have is they never learned the foundations so they struggle.

[Muhammad-Jacobs]

This video made me realize I was never actually good at math, I was just really good at memorizing patterns/answers for math exams. Only to forget all of it soon after, since I don't get to use that level of math often. I'm definitely interested in learning it now, since my future career requires it (3D software engineer).

[JustinK]

math isnt just numbers, its also logic and pattern recognition which everyone uses everyday.

[felrb]

the big problem (imho) with math is that teachers (mostly) dont explain "why"

if u get the "why", it's beatiful (and easy)

[alpkaraoguz]

When you think you are bad at something and you want to get better at it, that is when patience comes in to play.

[blurrest]

This is so weird i spent the day relearning linear algebra and other math topics and she drops this. 😂

[moravianlion]

To give you a feedback regarding the question if anyone can do math... I suck at math. Always hated it. But currently working on a pretty sophisticated procedural modelling algorithm for Blender that requires fair amount of mathematical thinking regardless.

Am I good at math? Hell no. But just like it was already said in the video, I sit down and work it anyway. Results are there and they keep me motivated to work it further even more every day.

[juansalvadordomandl]

Awesome video. I was really bad at math in high school, I was really good at other subjects but really disliked and was bad at maths.

When I started uni I realized how important maths are and I changed my toughts about it, started studying computer science and now I currently really like pure mathematics and using proof assistants like Coq, Agda and Lean to formalize mathematics and software.

I know a lot of people like me that was good/normal at humanities but hated maths. I think if you want to be good at it you can.

But tbh i think the reason many dislike maths or think that they aren't good is that even at the level of linear algebra, calculus, etc. the subjects are boring. I think it only gets interesting after that when you have "mathematical maturity" and can formalize (or make mathematical models) and prove stuff by yourself: it becomes like a second language.

[pietfoku]

Loved this! I never (to my perception) displayed any natural talent or innate ability for doing mathematics, but through persistence and gaining some confidence in the subject, I managed to become pretty decent at mathematics. I wrote a great master's thesis which was to a large degree expository, but which also had some novel aspects. For me, this was a logical conclusion to studying mathematics for a living, but I believe I probably could have gone on to do more if I had been motivated to do so. I believe that most people, if introduced to mathematics in the right way, would be able to get pretty far in learning the subject. As was the case for me, I don't think that everyone should reach their potential zenith of mathematical ability, but math develops a lot of transferable skills like problem-solving and logical thinking that are useful in a lot of different contexts. So it's unfortunate that math widely has gotten a reputation as something unpleasant that just needs to be gotten over with.

[sterlingphoenix]

For many decades, I was The Guy Who Hated Math. I worked around needing it. When I eventually, very late in life, was in a place where I had to learn some, I was old enough to be able to see math in a way that worked for me. I was able to see the actual FUN in it. Sadly no school can really teach to each individual directly. Math suffers from this more than a lot of other things.

[Boognish]

Been on a kick of watching videos on this topic and yours is probably the most thoughtful and well studied I’ve watched so far.
I’m one of those who has attempted to learn math time and time again but hit a deadlock at anything above college Algebra (and I only passed that out of pity from the professor). Took me a while to narrow my bereft down to complex fractions, logarithms and weirdly any geometry beyond like “find the area”. Then I come to recall that every one of those subjects was the favorite “you fail this test” topics of Ms. May the misanthropic High School Geometry teacher. Math trauma is a real thing, sadly, and because of her I can find no fulfillment in math beyond a certain point. Luckily I went into the trades and have not graphed or factored anything the past 20 years, and May died just a few years ago.

[quixotik]

Have to relearn Calculus ... this vid came at the right time. Thank you!

[KoopstaKlicca]

I feel like this is the video I needed. Had damn near a mental breakdown studying and failing the first Calc II test of the semester yesterday. I've been out of practice and college so it's a struggle to derust

[MictheEagle]

I had a chemistry teacher who was a great explainer. Whenever he wrote the symbol for an element on the board, like 'H, ' he'd make sure we remembered it was the symbol for hydrogen. He always took the time to explain everything thoroughly, but he never let it slow down the lesson. Thanks to his dedication, I ended up with a perfect score in chemistry.

[RandomVariable]

Most people can learn math with proper guidance and dedication, up to some extent. Beyong that, having talent is must.

[jen]

Man I can't believe that earlier today I was thinking to myself "oh, I need to check if there's a new projectMaria video" and there really was.

[arfasifat]

found ur account yesterday and i ended up here because i was tryna figure out is it only me who struggles with cs and coding or is it everyone else as well and after watching your last video im damn sure its a universal thing. lovee youu

[jsonkody]

I’ve been trying to find the same answer about programming—not hardcore system or game engine programming, but just the basic concepts. I thought the answer was "yes"—yes, a normal, average person could learn it. But then I failed to teach it to everyone.

Not because it was impossible to learn, but because they lost interest. I guess it was still too much "brain work" for them? That kind of brainwork is like going to the gym. Most of us, as average people, should be perfectly capable of achieving a very athletic body, but very few have the passion, willpower, or whatever it takes.

I myself struggled for years, just going through the first 100 pages of programming basics and stopping there (those 100 pages were literally just about variables and maybe for-loops), Then next year read those same pages and so on.
Then someone gave me a chance to learn for money, so it was now or never. I studied hard for many hours a day and finally broke through that thick 'entry' wall.

Continuing from that point was quite easy because I was finally 'in.' I learned most of the basic concepts of OOP and data structures and became capable of writing programs that did things.
I became like a tiny sapling of a programmer—now growth felt both natural and necessary.

So I would say people need some very strong kick, push, or pull to get through that first, what I call, blizzard. Once you make it to the other side, it’s quite manageable—sunshine, even. And if it’s not sunshine sometimes, you already know how to endure the blizzard. For some, even the first phase can be 'fun, ' especially if they’re a child with natural talent, for example. But for most people, I think there’s a very strong, hard-to-overcome barrier/wall/blizzard, if you will.

PS: But then again, maybe it might be nonsense. As someone once told me, "I underestimate my own abilities and overestimate the abilities of others, " so who knows, I think I am not underestimate them ..

[pranshuatrey]

Quality of her videos is just awesome.. one can see amount of work she puts, in creating these..