It sounds like you have a grasp of the abstract formal math, but have an aversion to raw remedial arithmetic. In that case I would recommend diagnosing why you have that aversion. Did you take longer on your multiplication tables than you thought was acceptable? Do you feel a similar aversion to grade-school knowledge and practices? Perhaps the teacher was bad/demotivated you? Once you know what the cause is, a solution should be obvious.
I could be wrong, though. Not 100% sure what you meant by, "specific problems with actual numbers."
No, no aversion, although I sometimes feel initially overwhelmed when I see many symbols. I was one of the quickest in the class in elementary school. Didn't like or appreciate math or science in hs even though I was in the advanced group, so part of my problem stems from poor fundamentals.
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