nshepperd comments on Is Scott Alexander bad at math? - Less Wrong

31 Post author: JonahSinick 04 May 2015 05:11AM

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Comment author: nshepperd 08 May 2015 02:40:47PM 2 points [-]

There's an argument, which I find somewhat persuasive, that the usual belief that one is "not a math person" stems from learned helplessness, from many years of being forced to attempt difficult mathematical tasks in school without the required grounding. Mathematics, or at least the parts that are taught in standard curricula, is a very linear subject. Failure to grasp eg. fractions in the semester they are introduced could conceivably haunt a student for the rest of their school career, as it makes it difficult to understand essentially everything that follows.

If this theory of learned helplessness is correct, then perhaps if Scott could be convinced to complete the Khan Academy math courses he could be cured :)