Seconding RolfAndreassen's comment. Quit learning concepts for a while, instead take a big pile of problems that should be solvable way below your current level of knowledge, and solve them. For example, you could Google for some 8th grade math olympiad problems, and start going through them without skipping any. If the first ten yield too easily, go up a grade; if they're too hard, go down a grade. Don't be afraid to go down as far as you need to be comfortable. After you go through a couple hundred problems, some habits should start to form.
That's a good idea. Thanks a lot.
Hi everyone,
I am graduating as a philosophy student shortly, and want to pursue computer science / programming/ something-of-that-sort.
I am currently taking some basic math (calculus) and physics (mechanics) courses in order to obtain pre-requesits, and to develop a basic framework. My problem is that I can grasp concepts and ideas, but when it comes to solving specific problems with actual numbers, I seem to shut down. Specifically, it takes me much more time (read "hours") to solve problems that ought to take 10 minutes. This is a particularly bad thing on tests and exams.
I believe that the difficulty I am having stems from so little exposure to symbolic reasoning in the past 5-6 years. I am looking for resources, techniques and advice to "turbocharge" (to use CFAR terminology) my ability to absorb and deeply comprehend technical material, so that solving problems becomes second nature.
Thank you so much for your time,
Jeremy