[Mr strategy]

Math oh how i used to love you and adore you.

From primary school i was a God to the rest of my class at maths. Straight A's and the occasional B. Understanding everything before the rest of the class did. I miss this so much.

The Reason i come to you is 3 weeks ago i took my MBTI and i registered as INTJ. i took multiple other tests and im still INTJ on all. Im telling you this because you may question me being a INTJ after reading this.

I lost interest in math. I have for years. After i hit high school i kept doing my maths the same as i was before and by this i meant i hated the calculator. They said you needed to use it everyday but i hated it cus i LOVED using my head to work everything out. Because of this the curriculum eventually got harder and harder and my head couldnt keep up fast enough then i got stuff like Trigonometry which became too hard for my head by it self. The rule from primary school that you shouldnt use your calculator was burned into my head pretty bloody hard. Anyway because of all this i lost interest because i couldnt use my head anymore. I was required to use the calculator as a extension of my thinking and i could not accept that.

So ill skip ahead a few years to today. I really want to get back into Maths Hardcore and i want to go from maths A to B before i finish school. But whenever i try to do it i just cant stay on task. Like an INTJ my mind starts to wander and i go into my mind because when i am in the class room it just seems so uninteresting to me.

So basically im having a conflict in interest. I want to get back into math but i cant stay interested in it. As most of you aparently still have the love for it i need your opions and ideas on how i can get back into it. By the way if it helps my lifes goal is to get into video games programming and i litterally have already mapped out a way to get into that in which the reqirements of getting A's in math isnt needed but C's. So i also have this idea in my head that i dont need to go over then what is necessary. All i would need is passes (which im getting. C's in everypart. B-B+ For knowledge but communication mark is usually a D as like a intj i have trouble conveying my thoughts into written works when i dont have the time usually to add all that in) and i do a steps course to overcome my lack of a OP and im college eligible.

So i want to get more interested in Math and i have tried so many things. So please convince me otherwise. A compelling point provided with facts will be nice or even a way to change on how i think things may help. What ever you think is best that will restore my love/interest in maths i will greatly apprciate it.

(Yes my grammar is atrocious but i dont care for english much. Hell help me there if you want)

EDIT: Just a small list of things i have researched to death in the spare time i spent away from maths in class.

Anonymous hacktivist group (Litterally researched to death and because of this i love /b/. Also say if you like /b/ or not as i see it apply's to my "Warped" sense of humor aparently INTJ's have)

Adolf Hitler and world war 2 (I know so much on this i can probably write his autobiography off the top of my head)

Modern History (Yes this is a school class. Its funny i dont take it and this is a apparently OP class but hell the things they do in it they make it sound so huge but it sounds so easy to me. They had to write a 2000 essay about propaganda. How the hell is that hard i love propaganda)

World Politics (Not entirely researched all sides yet. Will get there)

MBTI (Last Three Weeks i spent trying to nail all of this down. Currently looking into the aspect of it that i can use this to determine others personalities so i can better socialize with them. Not fully learned about the Ne and Fi thing yet. Don't ruin it for me as reading stuff like this is like reading a good book to me)

So yeah the time i spend in maths that i could of spent getting A's i spent getting C's and the rest researching all of this. By the way i only listed the things i researched within the last year up to this point in time.

EDIT: I just decided to look into dyscalculia and see if i have it. I would love a definition of it please as what it's characteristics are as from what my preliminary thinking as a mentil illness concerning maths. Please correct me if im wrong.

 

[The Great One]

1. From your "wandering" description you seem more INTP than INTJ.

2. To get more interested in math try studying physics. It applies algebra/calculus to real life situations. I always found physics more interesting.

 

[Mr strategy]

Physics. Actually i can already see how this applys to many of the things ill do but can you tell me how this interested you more?
And does your current feelings affect your letters in anyway. i dont mean the N or I i mean ones like the T or J. aparently im light on the J as i prefer to keep things scheduled but i multitask all the time but only when im alone (laptop for FB and research while playing BF3 on ps3). As normally ill be stressed at this time but i had a unusually good day at work where lots of worries and negative ideas i have were dismissed concerning around this girl.

 

[The Great One]

It's hard to explain. Just go out and get a physics book and you will see what I mean. You would probably like thermodynamics as well.

 

[Mr strategy]

Errr i dont really like when someone says go do somthing without understanding why at first but im in a big enough hole as it is so ill go borrow a few at the library.

 

[thetruehell]

You seem very interested in math, I recommend solving physics and chemistry problems, I find them more fascinating than pure math. Math is just a tool.

 

[tooboku]

I would recommend a good book that romanticizes about math... even a good whitepaper that captures the imagination even if it uses a lot of terms you don't understand... then out of curiosity, you will look them up on your own. One of the quickest ways to loose interest in somethings for an INTJ is to realize its lack of utility. If you find ways to apply your knowledge, even if extremely hypothetical, I find it helps with motivation greatly.

Terry Stickels is a fun author.

 

[julia_irrlicht]

Why do you need 'pure' math? As you said, many activities require only basic knowledge and, if not physics or chemistry, you may try applied econometrics, statistics or game theory. They require only basic math knowledge, are linked to real world examples and, if finding right job, are paid very very well.

I'm in applied econometrics field and find it fascinating. Should I mention career perspectives, if one is able to optimize big company ROI via econometric modelling or set pricing strategy with econometrics and game theory?

EDIT: I just decided to look into dyscalculia and see if i have it. I would love a definition of it please as what it's characteristics are as from what my preliminary thinking as a mentil illness concerning maths. Please correct me if im wrong.

This is like diagnosing and curing pneumonia, basing on results of self-assessment and advices on medical forums. I probably don't need to mention that only a specialist can diagnose dyscalculia.

Besides, I believe that currently, with medicine development, too many things are tried to be justified - ADHD, dyscalculia, dysgraphia. They even found recently brain areas responsible for math anxiety. Although this can be justified in some cases (like clinical depression vs. being a whiny lazy person), we started to forget about power of will. There was a great book by Paul Martin, called "Sickening Mind", showing the balance between the two.

If you're interested, my sister (25 y.o. now) had dyscalculia diagnosed by professional two years ago. And she survived high school, in pain but survived as 8 years ago nobody bothered about dyscalculia and math exam is obligatory in Poland to finish the school. As they say, impossible is nothing. The question is, if this is worth time and effort investment or they should go somewhere else. If worth, see above.

 

[hoom]

Your misconceptions of MBTI, they seem numerous.

I don't have the time to bother explaining all of them, or even to read your whole post... but here's a couple notes:

1) Tests are *a good guess* at best, ultimately meaningless. Look into cross-referencing descriptions of types or if you want the best accuracy, self-examination of cognitive function use.

2) You indicated we might not think you an INTJ from the rest of your post... many times people incorrectly assume things are correlated with type. MBTI only tells so much, and the inferences people like to make about it can be stupidly off target on what it actually says or what you could actually make a determination from. Be careful making assumptions, get to know your definitions.


Lastly, knowing where you left off in your math studies can help us help you. For high school math, be prepared to use a calculator, make it your friend, and as always, get a good teacher, and on the obvious side: just do it.

 

[Mountainshepherd]

I have a similar math background as your own, went from being exceptional in it to being frustrated with it, back to exceptional. My frustration I realized was with the teachers and the method of teaching.

Most of math in school is taught very poorly, as if math were some sort of truth. They teach formulas without showing how they have a use or what they actually mean, hence showing pieces of a system without actually showing how they work in the system. Nothing more boring or frustrating than being taught a system by someone who doesn't realize its a system.

Find a teacher or source that treats it like a language and you will find it easier to get into and even easier to understand than you did before.

I have people tossing around the you're an INTP nonsense as well, in my case its easy to explain because I am a 5. That too is really just a label, a shortcut. Knowledge is the system that has my passion.

 

[greco]

certain education systems give much more emphasis to teaching maths from a completely theoretical perspective. In my view, this approach to maths will tend to turn INTJs away from maths because it fails to link the subject to the real world. This clinical, theory-for-the-sake-of-theory approach to maths is more attuned to the way INTPs think and learn.
Linking the teaching of maths to how they are applied to solve real world problems, from the pricing of long-dated exotic options that are used to hedge currency and interest rate risks, to simulating the movement of water and other fluids in computer games, ties mathematical concepts to other areas of life and would, in my opinion, keep INTJs interested in the subject.

 

[Mr strategy]

First of all, i am sorry if i came off energetic last night as i was a bit well... energetic.

Anyway im about to head out to get a book on physics and the way you describe maths there looks a lot more interesting and i have thought about how you said they teach math "theory-for-the-sake-of-theory" and every time i asked them how this particular maths applies in life they always just responded as "Its required for you to learn this".

Anyway thank you for all of your help on this. Never in my life have i found anywhere else where i am understood.

 

[Mr strategy]

Just wondering but is it possible to force your interest or at least have the will to get something done even if you don't like it?

 

[Cetanu]

Just wondering but is it possible to force your interest or at least have the will to get something done even if you don't like it?

To your own exhaustion, yes.

 

[Mountainshepherd]

Just wondering but is it possible to force your interest or at least have the will to get something done even if you don't like it?

Yes, difficulty depends on why you dislike it. If you dislike it because it is hard it will stop being hard with practice, if you dislike it for other reasons you need to look at those reasons.

 

[Mr strategy]

Apparently no book store in my city has any physics books.

Can someone give me the name to a good one to get started on so i can download online?

Please don't jump straight to advanced ones. I only know the same amount of physics as an average person so i would like to start with one that a average high school student could understand or one that you think will make me plunge straight into the world of physics.

 

[Cetanu]

CosmoLearning Physics | Courses & Video Lectures

You are welcome.

 

[Mr strategy]

Thank you for your help.

 

[Mr strategy]

What is a good one to start off with or should i just jump into it?

 

[Cetanu]

General Physics I then proceed onto General Physics II.

If you do not understand you may have to study math in conjunction which you can find in the Mathematics section of the home page ( on the left ).
You can try Applied Mathematics or perhaps Algebra to get started and cross into Physics once you are confident.