←back to thread

Everyone is capable of, and can benefit from, mathematical thinking

(www.quantamagazine.org)
155 points sonabinu | 4 comments | 21 Nov 24 01:45 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source
Show context
gsabo ◴[21 Nov 24 05:19 UTC] No.42201370[source]▶
I agree with the sentiment of this. I think our obsession with innate mathematical skill and genius is so detrimental to the growth mindset that you need to have in order to learn things.

I've been working a lot on my math skills lately (as an adult). A mindset I've had in the past is that "if it's hard, then that means you've hit your ceiling and you're wasting your time." But really, the opposite is true. If it's easy, then it means you already know this material, and you're wasting your time.

replies(7): >>42201667 #>>42201721 #>>42201729 #>>42201821 #>>42201915 #>>42202008 #>>42202194 #
junto ◴[21 Nov 24 06:25 UTC] No.42201667[source]▶
> I agree with the sentiment of this. I think our obsession with innate ~~mathematical~~ skill and genius is so detrimental to the growth mindset that you need to have in order to learn things.

I strongly believe that the average human being can be exceptional in any niche topic given enough time, dedication and focus.

The author of the book has picked out mathematics because that was what he was interested in. The reality is that this rule applies to everything.

The belief that some people have an innate skill that they are born with is deeply unhelpful. Whilst some people (mostly spectrum) do seem have an innate talent, I would argue that it is more an inbuilt ability to hyper focus on a topic, whether that topic be mathematics, Star Trek, dinosaurs or legacy console games from the 1980’s.

I think we do our children a disservice by convincing them that some of their peers are just “born with it”, because it discourages them from continuing to try.

What we should be teaching children is HOW to learn. At the moment it’s a by-product of learning about some topic. If we look at the old adage “feed a man a fish”, the same is true of learning.

“Teach someone mathematics and they will learn mathematics. Teach someone to learn and they will learn anything”.

replies(6): >>42201771 #>>42201890 #>>42202066 #>>42202222 #>>42202483 #>>42202522 #
1. ponderings ◴[21 Nov 24 06:45 UTC] No.42201771[source]▶
I've had some success converting people by telling them others had convinced them they were stupid. They usually have one or two things they are actually good at, like a domain they flee to. I simply point out how everything else is exactly like [say] playing the guitar. Eventually you will be good enough to sing at the same time. Clearly you already are a genius. I cant even remember the most basic cords or lyrics because I've never bothered with it.

I met the guitar guy a few years later outside his house. He always had just one guitar but now owned something like 20, something like a hundred books about music. Quite the composer. It looked and sounded highly sophisticated. The dumb guy didn't exist anymore.

replies(1): >>42201901 #
2. shrubhub ◴[21 Nov 24 07:15 UTC] No.42201901[source]▶
But also, some people are stupid, right?
replies(2): >>42202237 #>>42202589 #
3. ajuc ◴[21 Nov 24 08:26 UTC] No.42202237[source]▶
The inborn part is how quickly you get results (good or bad). Stupidity is the results.

If we spent 50% of time thinking productively - inborn thinking speed would matter. But in my estimate even 5% is generous.

So it matters far more what kind of feedback you have to filter out the wrong results, and how much time you spend thinking - than how quickly you can do it.

Also practice helps with speed.

4. yawpitch ◴[21 Nov 24 09:41 UTC] No.42202589[source]▶
Intellect is like a gas, it will expand to fill its container. The container, in humans, is epigenetic and social — genetics only determines how hot or cold your gas is, ie how fast and how fluidly it expands, but you’re taught your limits — it’s best to see stupid as not how limited you are relative to other but what limits you have now and may abandon in the future.

That said, some people received a smaller starting container, and might need some help cracking it. That’s the work of those who think they’ve found a bigger one.