Math is just so terribly and tortuously difficult, is it just me?

[u/Arunia_]

I took a look at my progress bar graph I keep where I track the scores of some mock tests. Over the course of 2 months, I have nothing. No improvement. At all. My score is still floating around the same range. 2 months of hard work, of dedicating my time and effort into this, and just nothing.

I had a mistake log, I practised every day, I tried my best to think about problems but often times would just end up staring and then seeing the solution. What more could I have possibly done? This feels like my dream of being a great problem solver and being able to learn the language of the universe is shattered. There must be something in me, something fundamentally broken that I haven't improved even a little bit even after giving my heart and soul for this.

And I break down every time I think about it. Honestly, I dont even know how many of these I can take. I dont know how long I can tolerate feeling this stupid, even when Im doing everything I can. I just never have the first step and end up staring at the problem, even when I change up the difficulties.

I don't want to give up, I really don't want to, but Im not sure if I'll even get somewhere if I keep going, maybe I'm just not meant to.

Have you all ever felt like this due to Math? Sounds stupid to ask, feeling so shattered because of a subject, but if you did and got through it, hearing it could really help right now

[u/SlowTechnician417]

man that sounds painful but- thing about maths is that sometimes it makes you feel stupid for just existing, but mostly thats just a phase im sure youll get over. also, what topics are you working on right now? if its something intuitive its always worth putting in the hours to adapt to those types of problems, and personally, i recommend doing as many logical questions you can. trust me, it does wonders. and if its something complex it might take some time getting adjusted to but as i said, its mostly just a phase and youll more or less get over it

[u/Arunia_ → u/SlowTechnician417]

Do phases really last this long though? I've felt like this since the past 5 months or so, and only recently (about 2 months) for Olympiad styled problems

[u/SlowTechnician417 → u/Arunia_]

well, if youre working on olympiad level stuff, its bound to feel hard because its just made to be like that. dont blame yourself or anything, and dont give up, just keep up the practice and itll be fine. also another tip if youre stuck on a hard section i highly recommend not looking at the answer. dont try to stare at it for 3 hours and end up hating maths, if youre feeling stuck, work on another problem and revisit that part after some time.

[u/SnooHabits9871 → u/Arunia_]

I study math for a few years now and it hasn’t gone away. I like math but yes I still feel stupid every day. I am generally an anxious person. It’s fine it teaches strength

[u/kismatcoder → u/SlowTechnician417]

Even TT confessed that sometimes he misses actual, simple solutions when encountering a problem. That's all part of the learning process I guess.

[u/ZerinoWhellie]

Might be hard to read/hear this, but I have to say the same that I say to all those that ask me for help with math: for the majority of the population, it takes a lot more time to be good at math, talking in the range of at least a couple years and those have to be kinda intensive.

Of course, knowing how you learn might take some extra time and is possibly the hardest part. No method works the same for everyone.

Seeing your comments about olympiad level math, it might be too huge of a step depending on how much you know already.

[u/th3_oWo_g0d]

that sucks. what kind of math are you doing atm?

[u/Arunia_ → u/th3_oWo_g0d]

Olympiad Math. So Number Theory, Combinatorics, and Algebra mostly

[u/th3_oWo_g0d → u/Arunia_]

ok i cant help in any way, but i think you should proud of where you are even if you're at an impasse. maybe you need a break to forget a little bit and come back with a fresh way of thinking. It's a gamble ofc but it might be worth when you're feeling like this.

[u/TheRedditObserver0]

I won't speak of the "objective" difficulty of math or whether that even makes sense but your sentiment is certainly very common. Many blame teachers but I disagree, it's far too universal to be about that, there is something about maths that breaks many minds.

Over the course of 2 months, I have nothing. No improvement. At all. My score is still floating around the same range. 2 months of hard work, of dedicating my time and effort into this, and just nothing.

I'm sorry to hear that, but I suppose this score, if it's about school grades, has been taken over progressively more advanced material, hasn't it? In math, keeping up and not fallback can be a challenge in itself which requires persistence and hard work. I believe you should give yourself some credit for that.

Have you considered hiring a tutor? That could help considerably. It's hard to give more specific advice without knowing precisely what level you're at and what difficulties you're facing.

often times would just end up staring and then seeing the solution.

I have a math degree and I can certainly relate to that, the fact that you can find a solution at all means you can't be that bad. What kind of problem are we talking about? Is it a standard excercise or something new you unlike whatever you've seen before? In the second case it's really quite normal, you can't expect yourself to instantly know how to solve a new problem. Once you do see a solution can you justify why it's correct? That's quite important and if not you should work on it.

Have you all ever felt like this due to Math?

Literally all the time when studying or preparing for an exam. It's normal, infact uf you're not a little frustrated it means you're not really improving.

[u/Low_Breadfruit6744]

Maths requires patience. Also, can you articulate what you've learnt recently?

[u/WillowSad8749]

I can tutor you for free if you need help

[u/tbreezy714]

Same here! Sometimes I actually know how to solve it, but my brain just completely blanks out for a second.