Is it possible to get good at math if you start later in life?

it's possible, but much harder. the younger you are the more fit your brain is for learning. when it gets older it starts focusing on retaining current knowledge rather than gain new knowledge

>>8906202

I just feel like I'm looking at it all with new eyes. My brain feels different and ready now. Is this normal?

>>8906262
yes. how old are you?

>>8906267

20

>>8906301
that's not "later in life"
you have all your life ahead of you, you can do whatever you want
if you wanna learn math you might want to follow the usual route and go into calculus soonish

>>8906301
you have 5-10 yrs, after that it's over.

yeah OP it helps it have a really solid foundation. this is embarrassing, but I actually had to go back and re-learn basic fraction arithmetic, exponents, factoring...
but that foundation let me speed through algebra with a new mindset in a matter of weeks.

>>8906301
Bro, I just started getting into math at the age of 27. Hated it when I was a teen because it was so abstract and I really couldn't make it work in my brain. I mean back then I could barely grasp functions and forget about graphing vectors based on algebraic expressions. But these days I can do the high school stuff in my brain. I don't know if it's because its structure changed naturally as I matured or if it's because I got really into Linux and shell scripting in my early 20's but from what I can tell, I'm actually learning more and faster now at 27 than I did when I was 13-19. The brain is like the body; if you work it out, it'll stay fit. And if you get lazy, you'll lose your mental gains and become a brainlet.

I'm 24 and going back to school for a degree in math.

I literally had to relearn basic algebra from the start because the foundations I were taught were taught to me in a very shitty way.

It's alot easier now in my opinion, but I'm only up to calc 1. Time will tell if calculus 2/3 and beyond destroy me.

>>8906378
>>8906347

This is actually really encouraging, thank you

>>8906087
I didn't start college until 26 and i'm making all A's and B's. The "For dummies" books and Khanacademy will teach you very well if you put the time in.

>>8906347
Similar. 33 anon here.

With High School math there is nothing to ground the abstractions. Everything is just patterns you are supposed to memorize and re-arrange. When you program you actually understand the use of FUNCTIONS and VARIABLES. I don't think some young people are fit for high school. Too many hormones and social drama that steals your focus. Not to mention the lack of discipline to do homework, study, pay attention in class, not stay up late, eat proper food.

When I was in high school I was on a steady diet of burger king, soda, candy, beer and weed. I was working a part time shit job, and was tfw no gf. After living life as an adult for a while, going back to this stuff is a joke. I can spend 10 hours straight on khan Academy like it ain't no thang. Plus you have much better ambition because you actually realize how bad it sucks to be a brainlet in a world that is constantly trying to fuck you over.

>>8906087
Once you get a decent hold on algebra and the idea of a function, go right into calculus and fill in any gaps that you have as you go.

>>8906335
this is a meme

>>8906087
Yes, but you won't

>>8907848
42 here. I agree with anon. I hosed up college the first time because the abstractions made no sense. I got a meme degree in networking a couple of years ago and am considering getting a real degree.

I have ADD, the real kind, before it even had a medical name. It's caused me a shitton of problems in life, but at least maths make more sense now. Teh intarnets is fucking awesome for learning maths if you werk at it. When I was a kid you could only ask the grouchy tired teacher for help, there wasn't any other sauce to use.

None of the posts ITT are "success stories" imo.

Khan academy level is not real math. People who are good at math learned p-adic numbers, topology and abstract algebra while you were still doing practice problems on polynomials and drawing cartesian graphs. The question becomes can you catch up to people like that and have the same bredth of knowledge to draw from and talent to apply it?

Can you "get good at math"? Probably not on your own. Maybe if you study a math degree full time, but just earning a bachelors degree in it doesn't automatically mean you're good at it. Can you "get good at elementaty applied math like college algebra, calculus and DEs"? I believe everyone can just because the resources for self study on these are ubiquitous and very high quality.

Getting good at these doesn't mean you'll have an easy time in an engineering/physics undergrad course and definitely not a pure math course (and you won't get jobs in any of those in this market), but they tend to be enough to not struggle on the math side in the other sciences. Again however, that doesn't mean you'll be good at applying it to real word problems in your field.

Doing the basic elementary foundations and then studying some abstract algebra and combinatorics will drastically increase your capabilities as a programmer, but you'll be practicing and studying for the rest of your life if you want to get really good at it. And you'll be slower than people who studied it while younger.

Tl;dr: Yes, but probably not

>>8908216
Have you been posting on /b/ for the last 14 years?

>>8908238
ha ha no I try to stay away from people with my personality defects

>I can literally feel endorphins/dopamine flooding in my brain when I do my coursework
see a doctor, thats not healthy