- #1
MC70
Yeah, I'm one of those guys. I've learned over the years that I have a natural intuition for physics. I work with engineers daily and was able to convey a particularly complex issue to another person in a way that finally made sense to them. I can look at how things are working, or materials in use and have a pretty good idea of how and why they act on each other the way they do, or what the outcome of that interaction will be. With that said, I'm sometimes surprised and I enjoy going back and trying to figure out where the gaps in my understanding are; sometimes (often) they are embarrassingly obvious in retrospect.
My math skills are weaker than I'd care for; I suspect much of this is due to the way math is taught. I'm a macro to nano learner; show me the global picture first and then drill down to specific operations. I have never liked 'just do it this way because'; if there's no tangible application or affect it is difficult for me to cement the concept. My most vexing question in math classes was 'why'. If I could keep from asking that question I invariably did better on tests, but until a higher math class came along I had no idea why I was doing what I was doing. It was troubling. I deeply envied the folks who could just blindly memorize without the need to contextualize, though I tended to pity them when they were unable to apply their memorized formulas into an actual application or an abstract thought.
So, here I am. A guy who's too old to be changing careers (probably) and finally reaching out to learn more about what is probably my favorite subject. I hope everyone will bear with me.
My math skills are weaker than I'd care for; I suspect much of this is due to the way math is taught. I'm a macro to nano learner; show me the global picture first and then drill down to specific operations. I have never liked 'just do it this way because'; if there's no tangible application or affect it is difficult for me to cement the concept. My most vexing question in math classes was 'why'. If I could keep from asking that question I invariably did better on tests, but until a higher math class came along I had no idea why I was doing what I was doing. It was troubling. I deeply envied the folks who could just blindly memorize without the need to contextualize, though I tended to pity them when they were unable to apply their memorized formulas into an actual application or an abstract thought.
So, here I am. A guy who's too old to be changing careers (probably) and finally reaching out to learn more about what is probably my favorite subject. I hope everyone will bear with me.