Daaamn Girl Are You A Graph?
daaamn girl are you a graph?
cause you're very edgy
More Posts from Bsdndprplplld and Others
stepped on a plum (overripe plum) (barefoot) it was on the driveway got out of the car and accidentally (didn't know it was there) stepped on the plum (warm) (on the ground) (it had fallen from the tree) barefoot (no shoes) wearing long pants (too long) (need to hem them) plum viscera got on them (the pants) unexpected plum on the driveway (hot plum) (97 degrees out) already super hungover (throwing up all morning) (should not have been driving at all) and I stepped out of the car (black car) (97 degrees out) and onto the plum (unexpected) (didn't know the plum was there) and it burst (plum nightmare on my only good pair of sweatpants) still we find ways to keep ourselves going from day to day
i gotta say i don't buy all them planning strategies and tips that require more effort than just sitting and doing the work
i mean that might help some people but i find that when i am doing something important to me i need no plans nor do i need motivation, i also don't procrastinate, everything falls into its right place
and if achieving something takes so much effort in preparation, is this even supposed to be a thing? idk, maybe that's the reason why i have no external proof of my work lol
tips for studying math
I thought I could share what I learned about studying math so far. it will be very subjective with no scientific sources, pure personal experience, hence one shouldn't expect all of this to work, I merely hope to give some ideas
1. note taking
some time ago I stopped caring about making my notes pretty and it was a great decision – they are supposed to be useful. moreover, I try to write as little as possible. this way my notes contain only crucial information and I might actually use them later because finding things becomes much easier. there is no point in writing down everything, a lot of the time it suffices to know where to find things in the textbook later. also, I noticed that taking notes doesn't actually help me remember, I use it to process information that I'm reading, and if I write down too many details it becomes very chaotic. when I'm trying to process as much as possible in the spot while reading I'm better at structuring the information. so my suggestion would be to stop caring about the aesthetics and try to write down only what is the most important (such as definitions, statements of theorems, useful facts)
2. active learning
do not write down the proof as is, instead write down general steps and then try to fill in the details. it would be perfect to prove everything from scratch, but that's rarely realistic, especially when the exam is in a few days. breaking the proof down into steps and describing the general idea of each step naturally raises questions such as "why is this part important, what is the goal of this calculation, how to describe this reasoning in one sentence, what are we actually doing here". sometimes it's possible to give the proof purely in words, that's also a good idea. it's also much more engaging and creative than passively writing things down. another thing that makes learning more active is trying to come up with examples for the definitions
3. exercises
many textbooks give exercises between definitions and theorem, doing them right away is generally a good idea, that's another way to make studying more active. I also like to take a look at the exercises at the end of the chapter (if that's the case) once in a while to see which ones I could do with what I already learned and try to do them. sometimes it's really hard to solve problems freshly after studying the theory and that's what worked out examples are for, it helps. mamy textbooks offer solutions of exercises, I like to compare the "official" ones with mine. it's obviously better than reading the solution before solving the problem on my own, but when I'm stuck for a long time I check if my idea for the solution at least makes sense. if it's similar to the solution from the book then I know I should just keep going
4. textbooks and other sources
finding the right book is so important. I don't even want to think about all the time I wasted trying to work with a book that just wasn't it. when I need a textbook for something I google "best textbooks for [topic]" and usually there is already a discussion on MSE where people recommend sources and explain why they think that source is a good one, which also gives the idea of how it's written and what to expect. a lot of professors share their lecture/class notes online, which contain user-friendly explenations, examples, exercises chosen by experienced teachers to do in their class, sometimes you can even find exercises with solutions. using the internet is such an important skill
5. studying for exams
do not study the material in a linear order, instead do it by layers. skim everything to get the general idea of which topics need the most work, which can be skipped, then study by priority. other than that it's usually better to know the sketch of every proof than to know a half of them in great detail and the rest not at all. it's similar when it comes to practice problems, do not spend half of your time on easy stuff that could easily be skipped, it's better to practice a bit of everything than to be an expert in half of the topics and unable to solve easy problems from the rest. if the past papers are available they can be a good tool to take a "mock exam" after studying for some time, it gives an opoortunity to see, again, which topics need the most work
6. examples and counterexamples
there are those theorems with statements that take up half of the page because there are just so many assumptions. finding counterexamples for each assumption usually helps with that. when I have a lot of definitions to learn, thinking of examples for them makes everything more specific therefore easier to remember
7. motivation
and by that I mean motivation of concepts. learning something new is much easier if it's motivated with an interesting example, a question, or application. it's easier to learn something when I know that it will be useful later, it's worth it to try to make things more interesting
8. studying for exams vs studying longterm
oftentimes it is the case that the exam itself requires learning some specific types of problems, which do not really matter in the long run. of course, preparing for exams is important, but keep in mind that what really matters is learning things that will be useful in the future especially when they are relevant to the field of choice. just because "this will not be on the test" doesn't always mean it can be skipped
ok I think that's all I have for now. I hope someone will find these helpful and feel free to share yours
→ 30 VIII 2021
not much has happened really
concentration: 4
doing topo as usual, stopped doing as much analysis, just enjoying my break from coding with abstract ideas
reading books about math became sort of a comfort thing for me. i fell in love with just sitting there and trying to imagine everything. i wish i could be payed for studying math, i would be a fucking billionaire at this point
are you a girl?
I am, but I thought that was obvious given that I have a picture of me in my icon.
Hello, lovelies! I’ve gotten a couple of asks about studying so I decided to condense them into one post for you guys! I’m trying to hit a bunch of different topics so if you need an even more specific post you can send an ask! Without any further ado, have some tips! My studyblr is @spacey-scholar
Prep
First, you always need a good base for your day! Especially if you’re studying a lot.
Make a good full breakfast! Ex. Eggs and Toast, Smoothie and fruit, Pancakes and a cup of juice.
How’s your hygiene? Do you need to shower, brush your teeth, wash your face, condition your hair? Do it! You’ll be distracted if you feel messy!
Get dressed like it’s a normal day. Staying in PJ’s is okay! But being ready for the day seriously helps focus!
Likewise, your space should be clean. A clean space is a clean mind! Remove dishes, trash, scrap paper, and extra items. Wide down your desk, organize your pens and books. Your space should feel like your space!
Now make a list of what you need to get done! What needs to be done Now, what needs to be done Soon, and what needs to be done Later?
Order your list how you want your day to go, and don’t put super-tough subjects back to back, or subjects that are similar exercises i.e. reading thirty pages of two different books back to back is no fun.
The Studying
It’s important to buckle down with No Distractions! If you find yourself distracted put your phone away! If you need your phone, put it on Do Not Disturb until you’re done. I also do this at night for better sleep.
Pick the best technique for you, Pomodoro, reward-based, group studying, etc.
Play music but only if it will not distract you! If you sing along or daydream it’s the wrong music! Classical, Lo-fi, and White noise are all good! My Spotify Here has some good ones.
Use a nice journal (I don’t mean expensive!) and pens/pencils you enjoy using. I like to have a specific journal and color dedicated to each subject.
Take notes on recorded lectures and classes, if you’re doing online classes right now try to screen record or record the audio! That way if you space out you can play it later and take notes, and you can absorb the lesson better instead of being distracted.
Don’t worry about your notes, stationary, pictures, being beautiful and your grades being perfect. Life doesn’t always look the way it does on Instagram. And the people who spend hours trying to get a good photo of their coffee are not studying!
Use flashcards! Quizlet is good if you need premade ones! If you can save up and buy them, Barrons AP Flash Cards are the best in my opinion. Very clean, not too long, very durable, and cover all subjects.
Feeling Distracted
If you catch yourself drifting off and getting into your head, get up and take a quick walk, stretch, or energizer.
It’s okay if this happens, don’t guilt yourself! practice affirmation. The best and smartest still get distracted.
If you are drifting, why? Are you hungry? Tired? Thirsty? Bored? Get a snack and some water, take a break and rest, find a way to make your studying more enjoyable.
Remember that Motivation and Discipline are different things. Sometimes we just won’t be motivated, we won’t want to do it and it will be rather frustrating. But the cure to this is not shaming its discipline. Remind yourself “This may be hard, and I may not want to do this, but I want to reach my goals and If this is what It takes I will make it happen.
Always do just one more page of you’re tired. One at a time and oh you did it! Maybe just one more? One more? Eh, one more just to finish the train of thought, Oh just- I’m done? Nice!
If you really can’t focus just move on and come back to this subject, you can always ask for help.
Supplementary Things
There are so many apps you can use to study, for free! My favorites are Tide, Quizlet, Focus Keeper, Forest, Flora, Egenda, SpanishDict, Photomath, and Kahn Academy.
You can also join a study group! You may know one, but if you don’t, there are a lot of online ones! I’m in a study Discord and have been for a while! it helps a lot and motivates me to finish my work!
You can make a studyblr, but don’t do it just for the aesthetics! It’s about studying, and sometimes that gets messy! Sometimes we fail a test, we spill our tea on our notes, we cry because we don’t understand the formula. That’s the part you don’t see!
Having cute stationery can really help, as well as nice organizers and decorations for your space! I don’t have much money so I get a lot of stuff on Amazon or FB Marketplace.
Health
Remember that no matter what you are good enough. It’s okay if you fail, it’s okay if you struggle.
It’s also okay if your path doesn’t go the way you expected! Maybe you go to a different school than expected! Or choose a trade instead! Maybe you take a gap year! Maybe your passion changes! Maybe it changes six times!
Your health is always more important than your school. If you are in pain, mentally or physically, if you are anxious, exhausted, burnt out, talk to your teachers about it! You matter more than a grade.
Your best is good enough! And your best doesn’t look the same as someone else’s best! Don’t compare!
Now go get out there and study!
Hey, im second semester math undergrad, do you recomend any book for calculus?
hi, unfortunately for first year analysis/calculus I used mostly the resources given by the professors, however, when I did use textbooks I really liked Walter Rudin:
as far as I know, many people recommend Apostol's book, which looks very good and if I was to choose a textbook for myself right now I would definitely try this one:
other than textbooks, if you like learning math from videos check out this channel:
Michael Penn is a teacher at a university and he's great at explaining theory and solutions of problems
meanwhile typical conversations between my friends:
– so what do you do in math?
– differential equations
– ugh I always hated differential equations
– you?
– general topology
– ugh I always hated topology
The curse of a mathematician is to work in a disliked field
that's an interesting perspective
recently I've been thinking about it in an opposite way. it started during a conversation about brains, in particular how stupid and flawed they are, I realized that I enjoy math because it gives me a break from being human. there is no place for emotion and cognitive bias, only formal reasoning and proofs. it feels so safe and so distant from the day-to-day life filled with problems caused by the human nature, it feels so clean. it's a place for me to enjoy only the best qualities of my existence. it's an acceptable way to separate myself from everyone, and simultaneously stay connected
I love how different this is from what is described above, as if math offered a place for everyone to find something that they will like
Im trying to find a really long Tumblr post that talked about how sad it was that people are so happy to complain about how much they hated math and how math can be a way to connect with your fundamental humanity and...
Yeah, I've been studying a little bit of it on my own, ten years after I dropped out of college, I've been going back to seeing some basics of calculus, and I've been really feeling some of that.
There is this sense that math is this alien thing, separate from the true concerns of humanity. This external topic, strange and inhumane that only those few weirdos with a eccentric and atypical cast of mind, who are themselves separate by a few degrees from human nature, can grasp.
But it's not that, We, messy warm emotional dumb humans came up with it, we silly atavistic creatures dedicated so much time and effort to develop it and explore it, this silly, quirky, wet, ape-like species is the only living creature on this planet that concerns itself with doing math in any serious capacity. It didn't come from aliens or the gods or from dolphins, math came from humans and humans are the only ones that use them. There could be nothing more human, more fundamentally ours, more intrinsic to our nature than math.
And it's not just a tool! Is not just this thing to be celebrated because its useful in a purely base pragmatical, prosaic way. Is not this thing we have to dissapasionatly conceed credit to because I guess it does useful things like bridges and rockets and computers and taxes. Math is not just the civilizational equivalent of going to the dentist or eating your vegetables.
i hesitate to call it a philosophy or an art, it is a way of human thinking, it is a way of thinking like a human, of thinking in a way that only humans can think. its is one of our oldest and proudest traditions, it is a way to feel greater than onself, it is a way of growing. it is a song with a prosody all its own. There is such a profound sense of meaning and beauty and truth and purpose to be found in math, and the best of all is that it works, when it says something it means something, its telling you a thing that is meaningful, that represents something true, that couldnt be any other way, that has consequences and uses and can be relied upon, that it representes something which carries weight and its ours, its truly a part of our nature, of what we are.
Weaving Stereographic Projection
I made a stereographic projection by weaving paper strips!
Here's a Julia package for the computation of the shapes of the paper strips.
Japanese blog post about this: https://note.com/hyrodium/n/n7b7cf03a7d91
⁕ pure math undergrad ⁕ in love with anything algebraic ⁕
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