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itaibn0 comments on How my math skills improved dramatically - Less Wrong
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Maybe.
When something very similar happened to me (failing Algebra in 9th grade, aptitude suddenly surfacing in 11th), I also thought motivation was really important, but I also noticed my brain working differently. Algebra went from being semi-confused symbol manipulation to understanding what a variable was actually about.
In a simultaneous psychology course, I learned about Piaget's "formal operational stage" and that's what I attributed it to. I think it happens when you're 17 or 18. (Consider/compare with also this data point). So I agreed, it felt like it was a physical difference in development. What do you think of this as an explanatory hypothesis? (Any way to tell them apart?)
It's interesting that you found Piaget's "formal operational stage" so applicable. I remember when I learned about it (also in a psychology course at around the same age) I found the claim that people only develop abstract thought at the age of 12 completely ridiculous. This is probably related to how my own development was very anomalous.
Were you precocious?