Hi /adv/. I struggle with mathematics, because I've always

>>8001042
You are doing it all wrong. Mathematics doesn't work with examples.

Let me tell you as I am majoring in mathematics so I think I have a better clue than you do.

Everyday professors come and draw shit on the board while they talk. I have my notebook with me but unlike my peers, I don't copy every single thing the professors say and draw.

I only pay attention to and copy: definitions, notation, axioms and theorems*

*I don't always copy the proof. I usually try to prove it myself and if I can't then I let it be and just copy what the theorem states, as I pay attention to the professor doing the proof, accepting my inferiority to him, as he can prove it but I can't.

I never, EVER copy examples, or pay attention to them. Lately I've been getting tired of this because as we dive deeper into set theory and other pure fields of mathematics, the professors feel the need to give like 5 examples of every concept they introduce because there is always the moron who won't get it in a million years. Fortunately this is the kind of degree where half the people fail by the end of the first year so next year only average and smart people will remain so this bullshit will stop.

Anyways, to sum it up. If you want to git gud at math then read and if you want memorize definitions, notation, axioms and theorems (lemmas and corollaries too, whatever, same shit).

You have to read them over and over until you internalize it. You have to feel what the theorem states in your heart.

When you have a true understanding of the core concepts, then you won't need examples because you will be able to work out everything yourself.

>DEFINITIONS
>NOTATION
>AXIOMS
>THEOREMS

>>8001059
That is a very interesting point. I was never good at math when I was a kid (actually, I fucked up pretty bad), but now I've found a huge interest in it. I just have the constant feeling that I'm not good enough because I don't get everything immediately. But, as you say, that is probably the wrong approach.

Thank you kind anon.

>>8001059
I'm the same way with examples, but you should never let the proof take a back seat to memorized theorems.
Understanding why a theorem was proved in a certain way is extremely difficult and eye opening, in most cases you will never figure it out on your own at first, but by following the methods used to do proofs you can internalize the methods and begin to apply them yourself.
Also:
Congratz op you will never make a first rate mathematician, go kill yourself

>>8001059

you, my friend, are fucking retarded. one of the best ways to really internalize what you are learning is coming up with examples and counterexamples of your own; reversing the implication of a theorem and find out where it breaks down, that kind of stuff. in that regard, understanding external examples, be them simple or complex, could be pretty helpful.

also, if you can't prove something by yourself, you should read and understand the proofs of whatever it is you're learning.

just remember that mathematics is not about arbitrarily proving shit, it's about making mathematics; proving stuff is just a consequence of doing mathematics.

>>8001581
Math grad student here

You're a fucking retarded undergrad and that's terrible advice.

>>8002371
> coming up with examples and counterexamples of your own

Coming up with your own examples to test your understanding is not the same as studying examples from a textbook designed to teach the average retard, you moron. OP was not coming up with clever examples, he was studying from examples.

The best reading comprehension award of april 2016 goes to this fucking moron.

>you should read and understand the proofs of whatever it is you're learning.

I was not too specific but that is what I do. I just let the pen down and listen to the professor as he does the proof.

>>8002467
Whoops
>>8001059

>>8002467
If you have anything else in your notes other than definitions, notations, axioms, theorems, and problems you worked on your own, not an example given by a professor or textbook, then I can safely tell you, even while having less experience than you, that you will drop out of grad school in two years as the failed mathematician you always were. Rest in peace.

>>8002470
If you're not doing problems from your Set Theory book, it's either a shit book, or you're a brainlet that doesn't want to find out that he's shit at it.

t. Aced every math class, including Set Theory

got a B in group theory, though

>>8002476
>as said by a future juniour dropout

>>8002477
By that is calle doing problems!

I was talking about things you copy from your professors.

I never copy their worked examples, nor do I copy ones from the book.

But my notes are 90% problems I've worked on my own.

>>8002476
I misread that. I wholeheartedly agree with you.

Though, I'd expand on that and say that if you do more than 30% of the problems in a textbook, you aren't going to make it.

>>8001042

You're kinda going at this in the wrong direction.

I also look at the examples before I get started, but I view it as more "This is the kind of thing I'll know how to do by the end of this section/book/course/whatever".

Not knowing how to do something that you've never learned how to do is completely normal. You build mathematical intuition over time by just doing a lot of math.

>>8001042
Why do you give a fuck if you're good at math?

If you go into a mathematics department at a university, you're going to have a hard time finding super-autists who can just see everything the first time around. There's always one or two, but most just studied hours a day every day for years.

Throwing a hissy fit and quitting because things are hard is a silly way to approach something.

I remember when I figured out how calculus worked by myself having only had a couple examples from high school mathematics.

>>8002476
Someone's a cocky shit. Not the guy you responded to, but I'm another math grad student and I agree with him.

Copying axioms theorems and definitions from the prof is a waste of time, you can always look those up in a textbook or online after class. Following along with the prof through with an example actually provides something that a textbook doesnt. Otherwise there's no point of attending class and I'll just read a textbook instead.

>>8004323
>there's no point of attending class
I don't study mathematics but, there generally isn't.

>>8004328
t. Undergrad at a mediocre state school

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Read the relevant parts from the math textbook ahead of time. Better yet, find lecture videos online (MIT, coursera, udemy, etc) and watch the relevant lectures ahead of time AND the parts from the textbook. THEN do practice problems and try to google your way through them when you get stuck internalizing and understanding the material as you go. Then once you're in class you can go on cruise control and possibly even solved/proved whatever canonical examples they give. At that point you can confirm you know it or something might 'click' that didn't make sense earlier. Do this for each of your math classes. Expecting the professor to teach you things in lectures is generally a bad idea. Usually they don't have enough time in a class to go over the material well and whatever example they solve usually requires creative insights in logic that you may not understand within the 60 seconds they prove the first theorem and transition to the next

>>8001059
I got to this paragraph:

>Lately I've been getting tired of this because as we dive deeper into set theory and other pure fields of mathematics, the professors feel the need to give like 5 examples of every concept they introduce because there is always the moron who won't get it in a million years. Fortunately this is the kind of degree where half the people fail by the end of the first year so next year only average and smart people will remain so this bullshit will stop.

And realized he's a fucking first year university student being smug about understanding sets without difficulty. This is straight up terrible advice. Working out examples is a great way to make sure you're keeping up with everything and making sure you understand what the theory buys you.

>>8004437
Also, fields have certain canonical examples that you need to be aware of, because they either come up time and time again or serve as motivation for certain definitions and theorems. The point of class is to learn the field, and there's no reason to make this artificially difficult by refusing to acknowledge examples.

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I am applying for the Monbukagakusho (MEXT) Scholarship this year, It's a full-paid scholarship that allows you to do your undergrad in Japan. I'm applying for this because I'm from Paraguay, and I want to become an engineer. But the thing is the education level isn't that great in Paraguay, and I don't really have the money to study in USA or EU.
If you'd lend me a hand on this I'd be really thankful.
(These are example past exams : https://www.dropbox.com/sh/0ae71mxcoj0igf4/AABtyM66NYlNkz46wKAN00gya?dl=0)

I really sorry for being a bother, but I'd really love some help here. The tests are on june 15~ approximately, I really would love to get this scholarship and have a higher level of education.

I'm going through a number theory book, ordered these books (pic related) studying physics from the MIT OCW and young&freedman and have no Idea on where to start on chemistry.

I would love some advice, and if this is not the place, please point me to where I should ask for advice.

>>8004323
>>8004328
I study math, but in language I just learned for a year so it's hard to understand most of what the prof is explaining when he isn't using the blackboard, so I just learn from the notes and stuff I find online. How screwed am I? How would other math students here feel if they had no help from the lectures?

>>8005123
We'll personally I just taught myself from the textbook and only went to class for quizzes/tests or because my friends went.

But that was in undergrad, grad school I go if it's an important class and I want to make sure I learn the material.

You sound like you will be fine though.

I learned more from a 10 minute animation on Trig functions than I did in a year at a federal daycare center.

The key is to visualize, the one little trick teachers unions DON'T want you to know!

who /dyscalculia/ here

I'm considering offering to suck the prof's dick if he'll pass me. I'm a dude btw.