What makes linear algebra hard to understand?

6 pointspaulpauper2 comments

Of the math pages which go viral and are shared here, a large percentage of them involve linear algebra. what is is about this concept that people find confusing or hard compared to other math concepts? Is it inherently confusing or poorly taught in school?

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What I remember hearing when I took it was that it is the first introduction to proofs for a lot of people. It's not on the level of some higher-division undergraduate math courses that weed out people who are good at arithmetic vs good at math, but it's the first course that starts to lean in that direction.

I've never heard that linear algebra was "hard to understand" - relative to calculus or other math classes.

If there's a recent trend of linear-algebra content going viral, that could be because it is (often promoted as) a prerequisite for studying machine learning, which is very hot these days.

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