Ask HN: Can i learn Math | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Can i learn Math

13 pointsblobb32 comments

Hello guys i have a question and i need clean answer to clear my mind so im 22 year old and now im practicing front end development and i dont know anything in math so i want to learn math because i see now i need to learn math someone can tell me is to late to learn math or not if not how can i learn math how to develop my logic or critical thinkin and so on. Sorry for my bad english.

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"Math" is huge, and I mean HUGE - there's vast amounts of it, and most of it you won't care about, and is irrelevant to you.

For most people, yes, you can learn math. In particular, you can learn the bits of math that are relevant, interesting, and useful. But for some parts of it, it won't be easy.

Some parts you'll find obvious once it's explained to you in a way that suits how you think. Other parts will seem mysterious and completely opaque.

Get used to it - that's how it is. But don't give up!

So, what kind of math do you already know? If I say that 3+5x=13, would you be able to work out what x is?

If I asked for the slope of the graph of x^3-3x+5 at x=2, would you know how to do that?

These are things that are in everyone's grasp, and if you don't know them yet, it's just because you haven't done it yet. If you're in Front End development you can certainly learn to do these sorts of things (although they may not be exactly relevant to you just now).

So, what sort of stuff do you already know, and have you yet checked out the Khan Academy link?

I said man i dont know anything in math.

I'm pretty sure that's an exaggeration. Can you count to ten? Do you know what 8 plus 5 is? Do you know what 3 times 5 is?

Seriously, start here:

https://www.khanacademy.org/math

If you get stuck there are on-line resources and people who will help. If you don't make time for it or put in the effort, nothing and no one can help.

Everyone starts from the beginning, some later than others. Take your chance now, it's never to late to start, but starting sooner gives you the best chances.

I know adiddition multiplication division in basic not with higher numbers like 899×99 or 88/177.

You did manage to calculate your age though. You either knew your birth date and substracted it from the current date, or you remembered your age and added 1 every time your birthday came up. Either of these methods requires knowing some math.

I really don't mean to be rude, but you should work on your grammar and punctuation first. Being able to express yourself clearly is essential to any learning endeavor.

There is no "first" about that. Expressing yourself clearly and precisely is something that comes with math. Yes, it's a useful skill, but there's no need to think of doing it first.

So, with respect, while it's true that the OP will need to learn how to write more clearly, I think you are wrong.

We can nitpick about "first" or "!first", but the central point stands: the way OP writes makes him sound dumb, which is a shame as he's most likely bright.

My first thought was that the OP is a troll.

That doesn't make the question less [or more] intellectually interesting. It doesn't excuse anyone's behavior beyond flags, downvotes, and the range of constructive behavior bounded by HN guidelines.

Then perhaps just as valid is to say that you seriously need to work on how you express yourself. It's true that the OP writes in a way that is more closely matched to the way people speak, rather than the way people are usually expected to write, but the way you are saying it is simply rude, non-constructive, and unhelpful.

Because the question is perfectly clear, the comment is rude and unproductive. Please stop.

I beg to differ. It may not be enjoyable for OP to hear my criticism, but I insist that it is productive. You can't expect to go far in the professional world writing like that.

Again, I suspect OP is a bright guy (especially since he's trying to learn on his own!), but the way he writes does him a huge disservice.

Thanks for support man

The criticism was unsolicited. It was off topic and mean.

There are many places on the internet where that type participation is the most intellectually interesting activity that occurs. Hacker News is what it is because it isn't one of them.

>i dont know nothing in math

So he knows a lot of math then!

https://www.khanacademy.org/math

It's never late to learn maths, particularly if you are really interested in it. I am 31, and last year I started to study remotely for BSc in Mathematics at Open University (UK). I really enjoy it, but you have to allocate time for it and stay disciplined. The same for you: you can start with https://www.khanacademy.org/math at your own pace. My advice for you is to set clear goals, scopes you want to cover during some time period, and allocate time for study in your schedule. These preparations can help you to stay on track. Don't torture yourself, make it fun. Good luck!

I would recommend BetterExplained, there you can find many concepts explained in layman's terms: http://betterexplained.com/

I'd recommend some of the courses MIT have available. I recently used it to remind myself of some of the stuff on vectors that I needed for work. http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/mathematics/

Speaking from experience as I taught myself math at the age of 25, it is not too late to start. I would recommend starting from set theory and combinatorics, which do not require any advanced math knowledge and will help improving your critical thinking.

What is your specific goal? What are you trying to achieve with math? I would start there first. If your goal is to get a math major level of understanding of math, then I would look at what the standard curriculum is in universities.

Math that can help me to be a good programmer.

All areas of math are heavily inter-related, and skills you learn in one thing that seems irrelevant can often have a huge benefit where you don't expect it. Skills in simple algebra help in Graph Theory, which is used in understanding networks and databases, and skills in calculus are surprisingly useful in topology, which ends up being used in robotics and machine learning.

Linear Algebra is the language of almost all machine learning, simple geometry and trigonometry are useful in graphics and other aspects of design.

Math, as I said elsewhere, is huge, and there is no single thing that will, by itself, help you to be a good programmer.

If you really have absolutely no math at all then you need to start with some basics, and Khan Academy is a good resource to explore first.

That in itself is quite an interesting question - there are bits of (quite simple) maths that are useful in general programming (logic etc.), maths that can be used in particular domain areas (simulation, crypto etc.), maths that models computation itself and can underlie the design of languages (Turing Machines, Lambda Calculus etc.)...

Discrete math would be the most relevant branch for CS.

For some reason, no one here has mentioned discrete math.

Discrete math is the branch that is most likely to make you a better programmer. Not Kahn academy, etc.

http://www-inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~cs70/fa15/

Can you watch a video for 15 minutes?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Vv1BUCkgsr8

That's pretty advanced for someone who claims to know absolutely nothing about math.

mmm... depends what country you grew up in.

But I'll say if you can do derivatives, you know some math, up to that, you know of math.

Exactly - the OP says he knows no math at all, so a video talking about derivatives is way out of reach.

Question: where do you live? Near San Jose?

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