The REAL Reasons People Struggle To Learn

We talk about learning and the pitfalls that all of us experience when trying to learn something new. No matter what you are trying to learn, whether it be mathematics, physics, chemistry, computer science, programming, biology, anatomy, foreign languages, engineering, statistics, medicine, etc, the principles presented in this video apply. Do you have any advice for others? If so, please leave a comment below.

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Daily Devotionals for Motivation with The Math Sorcerer

Thank you:)

[humanbeing]

I feel flattered, no one had ever stared into my soul like this guy.

[richardfrangie]

- 0:30 Lack of Balance
- 1:54 Bad Study Habits
- 2:27 Time Management
- 3:03 Fear of Failure
- 4:05 Insufficient Support
- 5:09 Math Anxiety
- 6:07 Repetitive Tasks
- 7:25 Source of Motivation
- 8:43 Lack of Relevance
- 9:45 Poor Self Care

[joeldoxtator]

I am 38 years old.
Always got C's and D's in high school.
I was disinterested in the subjects being taught and unmotivated to learn HOW to learn.
It wasn't until about 4 years ago that I picked up some math text books and just started reading and doing example questions that I finally understood WHY to learn.
The problem was, that I wasn't grasping HOW to learn as I had never sat down and forced myself to do it.
Concepts read were fleeting and by the next chapter I was often forgetting what was taught in the previous.
Frustrated I gave it a rest for a couple years.
It was not until I had a project where I needed to learn electronic fuel system management software that I fully understood HOW to learn.
The course was in video format and I found, again, that information presented wasn't sticking.
Extremely motivated to learn this subject, I began writing down the entire script of every presented video including graphs and equations.
To my surprise, everything I wrote was sticking.
I could recall it like a library in my head and it made sense.
Excited by this revelation, I immediately went back to my math textbooks and started writing out every lesson word for word on blank paper.
Everything is sticking and I can recall it like the book was in front of me.
If someone had only told me this in elementary school, my life would have been so much different.
Last time just reading, I got to about the mid point of algebra 2.
This time writing everything down I am just about done Pre-Algebra, but I fully understand everything and have a phenomenal foundation to build off of.
My book of notes is almost twice as thick as the text book, but it was worth it.

[NoOne-usxv]

What's funny is, I have zero interest in mathematics. It was just never my thing. Your content is still incredibly valuable to me. That, to me, is the sign of a good teacher: The ability to tailor your knowledge of a specific field in ways that have broad applicability.

Keep doing what you do. It's great stuff.

[biswaranjan]

I wanted to take a moment to express my sincere appreciation and gratitude for all that you have done for me. Your guidance and mentorship have been invaluable to me, and I feel incredibly lucky to have you as my teacher, researcher, guider and motivator.

Your dedication to your craft and your passion for research have been truly inspiring to me. You have challenged me to think critically, to question assumptions, and to strive for excellence in everything that I do.

[sauravbasu]

Arnold the bodybuilder, actor, governor, said something like ( I have forgotten the exact quote) : "The professional has failed many more times than the amateur has even tried."

Failure is not always bad. It gives us valuable feedback of which does not work.

But the problem is we adults fear to make mistakes. Ego comes in the way.That is why the adults fear to try/learn new things. The adults always try to calculate the opportunity cost - "if I fail in learning this after X hours of effort, maybe I am wasting my time and should quit and do something else which will give success with the same effort." Very often the calculation is wrong.

[ruevictorhugo]

Thank you so much for your videos!🥳 I studied math in college many, many years ago and was very good at it, even doing well on the Putnam exam. But now I’m in my 70s and chemotherapy for cancer seven years ago mangled my brain. I knew the best thing I could do was make my brain work hard. So I’m re-learning everything on my own. I’m actually quite alone in this world, and certainly have no friends who care whether or not I succeed at becoming a math wiz. But what I do have is the Math Sorcerer!

[veganphilosopher]

Part of why I struggled in computer science was I was afraid to ask ignorant questions and hear people make hurtful comments in response (someone once said "why are you hear?" to me when I asked if I could install an IDE on a Chromebook). The end result was me moving ahead in classes while lacking a sufficient understanding of basic concepts.

[adrianhernandez]

I'm finishing up my "save the semester" era, and almost ALL of the points he covers are things that I had to reassess in order to overcome my shortcomings.

[mremington]

The biggest obstacle to learning is interest in what your learning. If you attach positive emotion to it and are genuinely interested, you will do well.

[asliii]

Thank you for all of the advice! And to those who are reading this, i believe that we can do it!

[jamessullenriot]

Balance and time management are the most important for me. A few years ago I started to learn piano. Instead of going for hours a day I started 5 - 10 minutes per day everyday for a few months. Some days I went beyond that would play for an hour or more, but at the bare minimum I sat down for 5 minutes a day and at least did a few exercises. Doing this everyday made it eventually become a habit and years later I'm still playing and would call myself at least intermediate. In my previous life I would go all in for a few weeks, then stop. When I went all in again it was as if I was starting from scratch. I much prefer this method for not only piano, but for all things. A few minutes a day until its habit, and go from there

[jbbentley]

Oh man,
“Fear of Failure, ” I was in fifth grade. The teacher was trying to teach us rudimentary physics. I’ve never forgot being pulled to front of the class and being made to feel like a jackass because I didn’t know about seesaws. I mean it’s stayed with me my whole life.
I do feel what you said is true, “about the teacher liking you.” It’s true. If they like you you got it made in the shade with a glass of lemonade if they don’t like you it’s going to be hard go of it. It shouldn’t be left to bias but it does.

[billmorrigan]

Good advice. I also think that procrastination is one of the main causes of failure or of getting behind the schedule. You just postpone for an hour, then something else comes up and you postpone more, perhaps to the next day, and the whole thing repeats again: Procrastination. Striking balance and following some schedule is the key. Another very serious problem is taking up the task that is too difficult and the necessary prerequisites are simply not there. It always leads to failure. Only determination and perseverance leads to success. In terms of math and sciences in general, it's important:
(1) to know the prerequisites before embarking on a new course;
(2) to have good books to study (at least one as the main and primary source and one with more advanced or comprehensive treatment of the subject + a solution manual to self-check and compare the solutions);
(3) not to expect to learn things easy and fast (it is always tantamount to shallow knowledge);
I think (1) is by far the main problem, however. People just study things superficially and it keeps piling on till finally they don't understand anything at all and just rote-learn. But they continue to think that they understand the logic of math, its important patterns and procedures while in reality they don't; it's just an illusion. Case in point: skipping elementary math and moving on to study calculus. HS curriculum is often too weak to succeed in more advanced math. Even remedial courses like precalc and college algebra often fail to correct this problem. Thus I always recommend starting to study math with a serious and more or less comprehensive course, like _Elementary Algebra and Trigonometry_ by Stewart (or by Swokowski or Larson), and avoiding simplified books with titles _College Algebra, Precalculus, _ etc.

[mrdave]

I love this guy. Sometimes he blinks, sometimes he doesn’t. It’s mesmerizing and now I can study my math 4. Lol.

[shpleemcgert]

I’m tired of feeling so dumb and frustrated at my feelings of intellectual inadequacy. I keep trying to pick up new things in the field of programming but the lack of structure causes me to jump from tutorial to tutorial and as a result I never actually go into depth in anything. I keep seeing people in my life who were able to learn computer science and go on to become software developers while my life continues to move away from my goals. I feel frozen in my plan to learn new things.

I really appreciate this video because it targeted a lot of the things that I am experiencing. Numbers 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8 hit the most close to home for me.

I’m going to try to find some structure and do half an hour a day. Any advice from anyone would be appreciated, I’m really tired of feeling this way.

[leftoverture]

I agree. The self-care part is really important, especially knowing when to stop and rest is crucial.
Taking a walk after work is really nice after a chaotic day. Thank you :)

[maxwillson]

Life balance is very important. I think the best way to learn math is by getting a job that requires math. You learn really fast when you accidently lose money because you calculated something wrong. I feel like my schools never really taught that. When your life depends on correct answers, you take it more seriously and thrive to get the right answers.

[Aljariri_]

1. **Lack of Balance** (Mantra of life) study a certain amount of time .
2. **Bad Study Habits**, EX (start by one doing math everyday 30 min & doing math same time everyday & doing math in a distraction-free location) .
3. **Time management**, ask yourself why you doing this, remined yourself the reasons that your success ? .
4. **Fear of Failure**, used it as a motivator, just focus on timed study sessions .
5. **Insufficient Support**, this is your life .
6. **Anxiety**, the best way to get over any fear is to overcome it so the best way to get over your fear of failing is to take a test .
7. **Repetitive Tasks**, you need it, you want that motivation to come from within you .
8. **Lack of Relevance**, EX (Students' aren't really motivated if they can't see why what there're learning is relevant in the real world) .
9. **Poor Self Care**, self-care is a big part of that makes more better.

[oleopathic]

Civil engineer studying for the Profesional Engineer, PE, license exam on the east coast. What you are saying is very good advice and highly relevant and coincidental to my own experience and tribulations at the engineering school and engineering job. And this advice and also FREE to boot. Incredible. Thank you so much -- I wish you good health and success in your life and in maths, my friend!