NT math is like trying to see in the dark

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Are you talking about mathematics (as in proving theorems) or arithmetic (as in calculating numbers or answers to problems)?

ruveyn

I really really hope he means the latter...

I am talking about the manipulation of 'numbers' as they are typically experienced by 'normal' people.
To me 'numbers' just are very foreign to my perception of things.

I assume you can count, so why are numbers "foreign" to your perception of things. A dozen eggs are a dozen eggs.

ruveyn

Actually I have extreme trouble 'counting' or 'figuring' as it is typically understood. It is very hard to explain but for me numerials are basically just characters as in the alphabet so I have to 'spell' things instead of doing computations. For simple things I 'count' on my fingers. calculators have made it much easier for me to relate to normal people on what I guess is called a mathematical level. I have my own notation for numerials as I can't comprehend the typical writen representations.

By the way a 'dozen' for me is a picture not a number or a value.

Numbers are abstract though. To be honest, everyone who goes high enough in maths will reach a stumbling block where things tend to be a little bit too abstract to get your head around straight away. Groups tend to be something that many people struggle with.

I am not alone in the way I perceive my envirnoment as there are many people who have the same affiction if you can call it that. I see patterns in everything. I can actually make sense of a typical computer 'core dump' if the data that is dumped is logical and not just trash. I can actually 'read' a binary adobe plot file and 'see' the image the code instructions represent. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. It depends on what is being transmitted. I would really enjoy finding some significance in 2+2=4 but to me it is just a picture and I do not understand that it is a 'process' with a 'result' if that makes any sense.

I thought aspies were more attuned to math/sciences.

*poof* another preconception, gone.



I have a BS in Math (and an MS in Computer Science, which uses a lot of math).


Though I can say that my Math is different than normal. Even with the advanced stuff, I'd go about it using a very different thought process than expected. On simple stuff, I'd often jump straight to the answer. On more complex stuff, I'd sometimes use methods described by my teachers as 'like using a cannon instead of a fly swatter' to solve some problems and in some proofs.

Part of it is because my memory is horrible, so I had a hard time recalling details, and had to recompute a lot of things.

First: I'm talking about the ordinary every-day kind of math, like adding up real numbers or figuring percentages. I avoid complicated high-level math as much as possible. If I was going to do complicated math, I would have to write it down, and then I would use the textbook method.

Second: I had another professor who liked to tell a story about how to convince people you're brilliant. Unfortunately, it relies heavily on first impressions and preconceived notions, and I'm not very good at it. Maybe I should make a thread about that... would anyone be interested?

I've had exactly the same problem with math as the OP describes. thanks for putting it to words for me!

I only started understanding complex numbers when a smart teacher told me to picture them as vector spaces.

I hated algebra nonetheless though. :p

yeah math really confusing but when my mom's bf help me he helped me with his way not the way the teacher did the notes.
i think the old ways of math were much easier there just making it real hard with all the new steps and methods.

The people who do really complicated maths tend to intuitively know the answer to most of the basic stuff, without even thinking about it.

Might be entertaining I guess. One thing I will say is that its a learnable set of tricks.

But I'm doing questions like those as well and I still find them easy, and I do the proper method in the exam anyway for marks. I find it irritating having to show my working out. Why bother doing all that when you already know the answer?

Two main reasons:
(a) Maths is about proving theorems, rather than just deciding what the answer is and proclaiming its the answer. You have to be able to show people that your answer is the right one. Really they are teaching you this skill for later years.
(b) Its a lot more difficult to copy a series of steps than just the answer.

Tbh - most of school level maths is a joke. Your classmates who struggle are just plain dim, for the larger part.