Ever since high school, I've had a serious problem with math classes. Be it discrete math, algebra, calculus or linear algebra, I seldom have trouble understanding the texts or lectures, but when it comes to executing calculations on homework and exams, I can never do it: I keep making mistakes. It's been a constant source of frustration, and right now, I'm on the verge of failing linear algebra and second year calculus (which I've been avoiding for as long as I could).
I'm currently going through all the exercises and videos on Khan Academy, beginning with one-digit addition, working my way back up to integrals. I was making a lot of mistakes with multiple digit subtraction and multiplication, so initially, I was hopeful that maybe with enough practice in those two things, I'd be good to go again. But it turns out that my mistakes aren't confined to any one task, and the number of mistakes I make per exercise just accumulates as the tasks become more and more computationally involved:
- Thinking that 7 + 5 = 13
- Neglecting negative signs when transcribing
- Carrying in multiple-digit addition when a digit hasn't surpassed 10
- Multiplying instead of adding
- Using the wrong exponent laws, log laws, limit laws etc.
- Mixing up trigonometric function properties
- Forgetting to reverse signs when expanding negated expressions of multiple terms
A typical page from my notebook:
I've tried everything: going for walks, ensuring that I have good sleep, writing out every step with almost hilarious verbosity, changing rooms, starting with fresh notebooks, reviewing everything I write, trying different notations, heck I even spent a month refining my handwriting and posture for good measure.
I'm certain I spend about twice as much time as other people practicing too. I avoid taking other courses in the same semesters that I take math courses.
As far as personality goes, in general, I'm not exactly OCD, but I'm not careless either. I probably have more patience than most people -- a bit too much, as my friends would tell me. I'm sure you can also tell from my adequate grammar, punctuation and spelling that I probably don't have any kind of learning disability that would prevent me from following symbolic rules. I've gotten near 100% in a first order logic course too.
Yet when I do math, I always screw up. It's been this way for over a decade, maybe more.
I don't know what I'm doing wrong anymore, and I'm losing hope.
What could I do?
Answer
Six years later, I have an answer. This is going to ruffle some feathers, but:
I went vegan. I kid you not.
Mostly, going vegan was to try to see if it would improve my skin (which it did), but this seems to have been another positive effect. Aside from the acne, I've been in pretty good health and shape for my whole life -- good BMI at 20.5, good cholesterol levels, blood pressure etc. -- so I never really suspected anything.
I've been testing myself on-and-off every few months or so on Khan Academy, because I'd often read computer science papers and find myself wishing I could learn math properly. A few months since I changed my diet, I tried some particularly arithmetic-heavy exercises on Khan (systems of equations, long multiplication and division, matrix multiplication etc.), and I've been nailing everything.
It could be that I'm mildly allergic to animal products, or it could be the result of a change in gut flora having an effect on my nervous system. Or it could be the oil or sodium or iron or contaminants that I happened to remove from my diet along with animal products. Every now and then, but less often recently, I still have whatever looks good on the menu when I'm out with friends, but not without resigning to the fact that my face will look like Minecraft by the next day.
I've ruled out most other environmental issues as well as things like stress and sleep.
Without getting into any of the politics or ethics or health debate regarding veganism, I would recommend trying some kind of elimination diet to anyone who's having inexplicable problems.
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