Difficulty

MathematicsEducation

RelatedQuestions

Education

Whydopeoplefindmathematicsdifficult?
Answer

Request

Follow 173

Comment Share 27

Downvote

AnswerWiki
Somegeneralthemesfromtheanswersbelow...
1.Mathematicsisnotdifficult:Mathematicsisnomoredifficultthanotherfields.Cooking
isdifficult.Balletisdifficult.However#2...
2.Yourlackofability"hitsyouintheface":Peoplefindmathematicsdifficultbecauseit
iseasiertorealisethatitisdifficult.Withotherdifficulttasksitiseasiertofoolone'sself
intobelievingthatoneisgoodatsaidtask,butthisdoesn'tworkwithmathematics.If
you'rebadatmathematicsitwillshowyoujusthowbadyouare.

Ismathdifficult?
Whyismathdifficult?
Whataresomegood,difficultmathematicsquestion
websites?
Howdifficultisappliedmathematicsathighschool
comparedtomathematicsandphysics?
Mathematicsisconsideredbymanystudentstobea
verydifficultsubjectinschool.Howcanteachers
makemathaninterestingsubject?
Whoaresomewomeninmathematicsmostpeople
donotknowabout,butshould?Why?
WhyareMathematicsandPhysicsinherently'difficult'
subjects?
Whymathematicsisdifficultsubject?
Isengineeringmathsdifficult?
Whataresomerealworldapplicationsof
mathematics?(Thatareusefultomostpeople)
MoreRelatedQuestions

QuestionStats
173Followers
123,997Views

3.Mathematicsnotanoption:Studentsaretaughtmathematicsregardlessofinterest,
andeveryoneisexpectedtolearnittosomedegree.Ifonehadnointerestinballetandit

LastAskedMay16
11MergedQuestions

weremadecompulsory,wemayfindthatfewhavethetalentforit.
4.Poorpedagogy:Mathematicsistaughtbadly.Schoolmathematicsisoftenfarremoved
fromwhatprofessionalmathematiciansdo.Thesyllabusexpectsstudentstocommitto
rotelearningoradherencetomethodologywhichkillsthecreativityandimaginationthat
isatthecoreofthefield.Thisalsoleadstostudentshatingthesubjectwhichfurther
compoundstheproblem.
5.Lockhart'sLament :#3and#4aretwocentralthemesin"AMathematician'sLament"
byPaulLockhart's.Thisiswortharead.
6.StrongDependencies:Topicsbuildonothertopicsandthisdependencyissostrong
that,withoutthenecessarybackground,themoreadvancedtopicsareunintelligible.
7.CulturalBias:Mathematicsseemsdifficultbecausewearetoldtoexpectittobe
difficult.
8.Mathematicsisdifficult:Mathematicsisinherentlydifficultbecauseitisabstract,and
animals(includinghumans)evolvedtosolveconcrete problems.Humansfind
abstractproblemsdifficult.Itisalsodifficultbecauseonecannotcouchanideain
floweryproseandexpecttoaweonlookers.Onemustsolveactualproblemsorprove
theorems,andthesehavedefiniteresults.

92Answers
SiddharthBhattacharya,Mathematicsmajor
36kViews

Peoplefindmathsdifficultbecauseitisinherentlydifficult.Orthetimeto
realizeonedoesn'tunderstandMathismuchlesserthananyotherdiscipline.
I'vegraduatedwithdegreeinMathematics&Computingalongsidecompletingvarious
coursesinhumanitieseconomics,literature,sociology.NeverthelessI'dprefer
encounteringanewtopic/academicworkinthelatterforoneinmathsrequiresmuch
moreenduranceandstruggle.Why?BecauseMathematicsistoodifficulttorelate
to.(Imeanadvancedmathematics,notbasicarithmetic)Comparingtoasubjectlike
music,history,literaturewetendtohavesomeideasoropinionsregardingthem.
Althoughitmaybiasourreading,iteasesaswellforithelpsinassociation.Contrarily

Edits

whenwesitwithMaths,we'redealingwithsomethingentirelynewwhosepractical
implicationsinourdailylifearehardtoimagine.Ifwedrawahierarchytree,Maths
wouldsitatopasit'sconceptsgetusedin'appliedfields'.Thefartheranythingmovesfrom
reality,themoredifficultitbecomestocomprehend.
Evenafterstudyingadvancedmathsfor5years,I'dstruggletodefinetopology,whileIcan
voiceopinionsonstateoflaw,eventsinhistoryandimplications,intentofwritersthrough
protagonistsprimarilyduetothesubjectivenatureofthesesubjects.IfIstate"World
War2waswonbyGermany"thenIamwrong,butanyfurtherdiscussionsonthetopic
"WasUSrightinbombingJapan?"toeventhemostextremequestionconsidered"Was
Hitlerdoingtherightthing"canhavediverseopinions.Althoughtheseviewsmaybe
kiddish,thereisaplaceforthemmotivatingstudentstopursuefurtherfortheycan
connectwithit.ContrarilytheobjectivityofMathsmakesitmuchtougher.Everything
hasadefiniteanswer.Is"Hausdorffspacecompact?","Isthissystemdeterministicor
probable?Ifthelatter,whatistheprobability?"There'sno"maybeit'sprobabilistic
system".There'snoplacefor'opinions'andthosewhomissedthebasicsofthesubject
wouldfailtounderstandthesuccessivethingsentirely.Soifonecan'tunderstand
compactnessofspaces,howwouldoneanswerifHausdorffspacesarecompact?(WhenI
saydifficult,Imeantheconceptsnotthecomputationwhichfollowsamethodical
approach).Burdenofproofincreasesthedifficultynostatementcanbeaccepted
withoutconclusive,irrefutableproof.Thesefollowasequenceofarguments(theoremsor
axioms).Ineachstep,onemayfindthemselvesdriftingfurtherfromreality.

Anysignsofreality?
Mostofmycomparisonshavebeenbasedagainstsocialsciences.Howeverifwecompare
againstscienceslikephysics,chemistry,medicinestillmathsstandsasmoreabstractand
incomprehensible.Wemaybeabletorelatetopulleysandresistancecircuitsmoreeasily
thanepsilons&deltasprimarilybecausewecanseetheformerwithoureyes.Similarly

flora,fauna,ourhumanbodytheirtangiblenaturemakesitmoreintuitivethanmaths.In
theend,mediacoveragealsoaffectsoursubconsciousunderstanding.Thismakessocial
scienceseasierbasiclevelfamiliaritywithit.Ifwe'dmorecoverageonscienceissueswe'd
havefoundthemrelativelyeasier.Ifmediafocusedonproofsandabstractionmore,maybe
we'dfoundMatheasierbutofcoursewewantalifeclosertoreality,notaway!
UpdatedFeb1,2013ViewUpvotes
Upvote 158

Downvote Comments 9+

AnuragBishnoi,Ph.D.studentinMathematicsatGhentUniversity.
13.7kViews

Iwillbrieflydiscussaboutsomeparticulargroupsofpeopleandtheirreasonstofind
mathematicsdifficult.Eachgroupcanhavedifferentreasons.Mostofwhatfollowsis
basedonpersonalexperienceandwhatIhavereadindifferentarticles.Ofcourse,inan
answerlikethistherewillbemanygeneralisations:

Mathematicians(ortheoreticalcomputerscientists)finditdifficultbecausethereare
severaleasilystatedbutextremelydifficultproblemsinmathswhichmaytake
months/years/centuriestosolve.AndalsobecausetherearethingslikeInteruniversal
Teichmllertheory developedbyfellowmathematician(s)whichmanyprofessional
mathematicianswouldnotbeabletounderstand.
PhDstudentsinmathematicsfinditdifficultbecausetheyaregoingthroughavery
difficultprocessofbuildingaparticularareaofspecialisationandlearninghowto
generatenewmathematicsinthatarea.Theyfacefailureagainandagainbefore
somethinggoodcomesoutinthenarrowlyfocussedfieldtheyareworkingon.Sometimes,
evenafter47yearsofschoolnothing"good"comesoutofit.
Otherstudentsinmathematics/theoreticalcomputerscience/physicsfinditdifficult
because,wellsomeofthestuffinabstractmathsisquitedifficult!Ittakestimetogetused
tothingslikeTopology andCategorytheory butmanystudentsarenotfortunate
enoughtohavegoodteachersguidingthemwellthroughtheprocessoflearningthese
things.Theyhavetograspthebasicsofawidespectrumofareasinmathematicswhich
canbeadifficulttask.
Studentsandprofessionalsinotherfieldsthatusemathematicsasatoolfinditdifficult

becausetheymayhavesomeideaabouttheabstractnessofmathematicsbuttheyhaven't
beenexposedtoitproperlytobeabletoworkoutalltheproofsofthingsthattheyare
using(manywouldn'tevenseethenecessityofprovingthatthosetoolswork).Iftheyare
goodatusingtheparticulartoolsthentheymaynotevenfind"mathematics"difficult.
Others(discussedindetailinsomeoftheanswershere)usuallyfinditdifficultbecauseof
thedifficultschoolexperiencetheyhadinsomethingwhichwasdisguisedasmathematics
butwhichwasmostlyjustalgebraicmanipulations.Youhadtolearnandpracticecertain
algorithms(example:howtofindanintegral)onwhichyouweregraded.Therewere
absolutemarkerssetbythesystemwhichwouldtellyouifyouweregoodat"maths"or
not.AndduetosomereasonslikelowIQandlackofearlychildhoodtraining,many
wouldnotdowellinthosethings.Ibelievemostofthemwouldnotfindmathsdifficultfor
thoseparticularreasonsiftheyweretaughtmathsproperly.
WrittenMay2,2014ViewUpvotes
Upvote 25

Downvote Comments 2

JamesGay,MathsPhDStudentattheUniversityofLeeds
20.2kViewsJameshas30+answersinEducation

Alotofthereasonisbecauseofthewayit'staughtinschools.
Childrenaretaughttobemindlesscalculationmachines,insteadofbeingtaughtto
discoverinterestingthingswithmaths.They,understandably,hateit,sotheydon'ttrythat
hard,sotheycan'tdoit.
It'snevergoingtoworkforeveryone,butfixthatandyougoalongwaytofixingthe
problemofnumeracyamongstthegeneralpopulation.
WrittenDec7,2012ViewUpvotes
Upvote 150

Downvote Comments 6+

TanaySukumar
6kViews

Readthisandyou'llknowthereason.
https://www.maa.org/devlin/Lockh...

Personally,Ifeelmathematicsisonesubjectwheretheteachermattersalot.Inanother
subject,ifyou'renotinterested,thenanexcellentteachercanonlykeepyouinterestedfor
aslongasthey'rementoringyou.You'lllovethesubjecttillthen,butthemomenttheygo,
you'lllosetheinterestagain,becauseyou'renottalentednaturallyinit.Butinthecaseof
mathematics,agoodteachercancreatealifelonginterestandskills.Reason:Mathematics
isafeatureoflife,notascience.Ateacherwhomakesitlooklikeafeatureoflife,succeeds.
Theonewhomakesitlooklikeascholarlyscience,makesitboringanddifficult.Ihave
seenpeoplewhowerepreviouslyvirtuallydumbatmathematicsbecomingexcellentover
twoyears,allbecausetheystumbleduponanexcellentteacher.Ihaveexperiencedit
myself.
WrittenDec8,2012ViewUpvotes
Upvote 20

Downvote Comments 3+

DrewHenry,GraduateStudent
2.6kViewsDrewhas60+answersinEducation
OriginallyAnswered:Whyismathsodifficult?

Mathisabstractandthemoreabstractitgets,themoredifficultitgets.Whatis1/3?Ifyou
visualizeapie,then1/3isoneoutofthreeslicesofpie,allthreeofwhichmakeupthe
wholepie.Whatdoesitmeanforametricspacetobecompact?Youcanappealtoyour
knowledgeofEuclideanspaceandclosedsetstohelpunderstandtheconceptofmetric
spacesandcompactness,butthereisn'tmuchfreedomforrelyingonrealworldexperience
anymore(ifyoudisagree,thensubstitutecompactmetricspacewithsomething
appropriatelyabstract)andyouareinsteadforcedtoappealtopreviousmathematical
knowledge.
Mathisrigorous.Thisappliesmainlytohigherlevelmathandcanhinderboth
mathematicalunderstandingandmathematicaldoing.Ifmathispresentedinavery
rigorousmanner,itcanbedifficulttotranslatethisintosomethingmoreintuitive.
Comparetheintuitiveexplanationofalimittotheepsilondeltadefinitionforagood
exampleofthis.Readingproofscanbeespeciallydifficultbecausetheynotonlyrequire
youtobeabletocomprehendmathematicalgibberishbuttobeabletodosocontinuously
whilefollowingamathematicaltrainofthoughtforseverallines,paragraphs,oreven
pages.Additionally,havingtotranslatetheotherwaycanmakeactuallyproducing
rigorousmathematicalwork(e.g.doingproofs)verydifficult.

Mathcanbecounterintuitivewhichcanmakeitconfusing.Anyareaofmathinvolving
infinitygivesagoodexampleofthis.Agoodportionofanyundergraduatelevellinear
algebratextbookisgoingtohavethedisclaimer"forfinitevectorspaces"somewherein
almosteverytheorembecausethefriendly,intuitivetheoremsoffinitedimensionallinear
algebrafallapartininfinitedimensions.
Mathhasprerequisites.Ifyoudon'tunderstandtheprerequisiteswell,thentopicsthat
buildonthemwillbeverydifficulttocomprehend.
Somepeoplehaveaneasiertimewithhardcorelogicandabstractionsthanotherpeople.
I'dliketothinkI'mgoodatmathbutIamverybadatartandsoanequallyvalidquestion
frommyperspectivemightbe"Whyisdrawingsohard?"Really,ImeanIdonoticewhen
somepeoplehaveslightlytallerheadsthanotherpeopleorslightlybigger/smallerears,
etc.,buthowonearthcanpeoplelookatsomeone'sfaceandnotonlybeableto
comprehendallthedetailsbutalsobeabletotranslatethemintoaportraitthatlooks
exactlylikethatperson?Howdotheyevencreatecontinuousshadingwithonlyone
pencil?WhenItrytodothatIcanonlyget23shades:light,dark,andmaybesomesort
ofinbetween.
WrittenAug16,2015ViewUpvotes
Upvote

Downvote Comment

JeremyMiles,QuantitativeanalystatGoogle
42.1kViewsJeremyhas30+answersinEducation

Mathisdifficultbecauseeverythingisdifficult.
Writingstoriesisdifficult.
Dancingisdifficult.
Actingisdifficult.
AfewyearsagoIheardasectionontheradiowheretheybroughtpeopleinoffthestreet
andaskedthemtoreadtheweatherreport.Theywereappalling.Really,reallybad.
Readingtheweatherontheradioisdifficult.
WritinggoodanswersonQuoraisdifficult.

Averyfewpeoplearegoodatanyofthese.Butwithmostthings,it'shardtoknowjust
howbadyouare.WatchtheearlyAmericanIdols.Mostofthosepeoplearedross.Butthey
arereally,trulyhorriblydisappointedwhentheyarebootedoff.
IthinkIcouldreadtheweatherontheradio,justaswellasthepersonwhoreadsitnow.I
willprobablybeshockedwhenIfindouthowbadIamatit.
GotoanyrestaurantorcafeinLosAngelesmostofthewaitstaffmovedtoLAbecause
theywantedtobeactors.Theyreallythoughttheyhaveachanceofbeingafamous(or
evenworking)actor.Butmostofthemdon't,becauseit'sreallydifficulttobeagoodactor.
Yourjobisprobablydifficult.Iprobablycouldn'tdoit.WhenItellpeoplewhatmyjobis,
theystarttalkingtomeaboutit,becausetheythinktheyhavesomethinginterestingtotell
meaboutmyjob.(I'mapsychologist.)ButIthinkIhaveitbad?Ishouldprobablytry
beingJonasMikkaLuster"You'reacook.Icookinmykitchen.Letmetellyouabout
yourjob".
Butifyou'renotgoodatmath,youknowit.Ithitsyouintheface.Straightaway.Hard.
There'snopretendingorfoolingyourself.Icanthrowasteakonagrill,ormakeapasta
sauceandpretendIknowhowtocook.*ButIcan't,ever,integratethatequation.
ObligatoryXKCDcomic:

AskorSearchQuora

AskQuestion

*Afriendofmineusedtolikebakingcakes.Theirfriendswerepoliteandsaid"Yum!

Read

Answer

Notifications

Kale

Deliciouscakes!"Thefriendthoughttheyknewhowtobake.Theysoldcakestoaplace
thatdid'FarmhouseTeas'.Onmorethanoneoccasion,acustomerreturnedthecake,
becauseitwasinedible.
WrittenFeb1,2013ViewUpvotes
Upvote 481

Downvote Comments 16+

TopStoriesfromYourFeed
PopularonQuora

PopularonQuora

Answerwritten10h

Whatisthedarkestsecretthatyou
havenotrevealedtoanyone?

Whatisitliketohavearoommate
oftheoppositegenderinIndia?

Whatareyourviewsonlatest
ArnabGoswami'sinterviewwith
PMNarendraModi?

Anonymous

Anonymous

229.6kViews

347.6kViews

20,girl.Wheniwas16yearsold,weallwent
forafamilytrip.Wetookourthreecarsand
sataccordingly.Itwasnight.Iwassitting
besidemyuncle.Hewassogoodatmaking
uslaughsowith...

IusedtolivewithtwogirlsinPune.Bothof
themwerepostgraduatestudentsandIwas
workingforanITcompany.Weshareda
small1BHKflat.Welivedlikeafamily.Now
comingtowhatisitlik...

ReadInFeed

ReadInFeed

AskorSearchQuora

AskQuestion

AbhishekPandey,curiousabouthow
IndianPMsshapemodernIndia!
31.2kViewsMostViewedWriterinPrime
Ministers

ReadInFeed

HaveyoueverseenanyIndianPMtalking
aboutTOILETSpublicly?Astraightforward,

Read

Answer

Notifications

Kale