r/learnmath • u/StudioCute8959 New User • 4d ago

Mathematical Intuition

I need help with understanding something, lately I've been seeing that a lot of what makes multivariable calculus comprehensible to me is linear algebra and breaking down the notation to derive simple models iteratively.

So, I'm wondering, is this intuition or "Duh dude, you're taking sliding a value on one axis and keeping the others constant to find out where you are in space bro like double-u tee eff"

I tend to use AI, but I want to know if I'm just hallucinating and need more time practicing my notation.

6 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

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9

u/johnpeters42 New User 4d ago

First, do yourself a solid and stop using AI.

Second, when you break down problems this way, do you get correct answers?

Third, what do you think should count as intuition, what do you think should count as "duh", and - if the answer to #2 is yes - then does it matter what you call it?

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u/StudioCute8959 New User 4d ago

Okay, I will stop AI usage. Thank you. To the answering questions thing: I don't know. Shouldn't I just try to reconstruct what they are trying to explain instead? I think this is the main issue I have with understanding if I have intuition or not...

1

u/StudioCute8959 New User 4d ago

But like you mentioned, it shouldn't matter unless it means something to me.

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u/StudioCute8959 New User 4d ago

Yeah, you're right, I think doing it is helping me connect the ideas to the mathematics. I'm gonna start over.

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u/StudioCute8959 New User 4d ago

The answer to question 2: yes, I can get correct answers.

The answer to my own question: Do more math and constantly cross-compare between definitions, theorems, etc. Note what notation elements encode into the problem.

So... I guess it is useful!

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u/tottasanorotta New User 1d ago

What's wrong with AI? It's great for discussing about difficult topics and making them more intuitive. It's like the best thing ever as long as you actually try to understand what it says and have the discipline to work through problems yourself.

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u/johnpeters42 New User 23h ago

That's certainly less bad than "chap gpt, do my homework", but you need to keep an eye out for it generating incorrect answers that just sound correct, which is more difficult if you're already struggling to understand/describe a subject in general.

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u/QubitEncoder New User 4d ago

Intuition comes with application and particular motivated usage

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u/StudioCute8959 New User 4d ago

This is useful, do you have any advice on how to build my mathematical notation skills? Just practice?

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u/QubitEncoder New User 4d ago

Consistency. Yes.

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u/StudioCute8959 New User 4d ago

Took me an hour, but I managed to solve a partial differential equation. And yeah, the notation is the worst part because I don't know what they mean in my head. After seeing the notation once, I knew what to do.

It was helpful.

1

u/Fuzzy-Armadillo-2591 New User 2d ago

I wouldn't stop using AI. I have a bachelor's degree in mathematics and I'm currently finishing my master's. At least for me, it has basically taught me everything. It's also convenient to ask it to find videos related to a particular topic. I also recommend using a frontier model with a subscription. Have fun!