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Prismattic comments on [LINK] What is it like to have an understanding of very advanced mathematics? - Less Wrong Discussion
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Comments (19)
I think impostor syndrome is a good bet for you, at least by comparison with me, since I only see about 3 of these propositions in myself.
In spite of getting A's up through Calculus II in high school, I stopped taking math after that (except for a couple of applied math subjects like number theory and statistics) because I had reached the point where math problems were starting to (literally, not figuratively) give me a headache when I tried to "hold them in my mind".
I am curious if other people on Lesswrong ever experienced the "this literally hurts my head" barrier at any point in math, and if so when.
And if anyone has gotten past that barrier.
Trying to memorize a phone number gives me a headache, but studying mathematics doesn't. I don't think this is a native ability (not entirely), but something you pick up with experience.
The analogy between learning math and "holding something in your mind" might be what Anon_User was trying to criticize with this:
"this literally hurts my head"? Hit that many, many, many times (most recent example: today). Got past most of them, though; I think I only failed a couple of times on any math I really focused on. Sometimes took weeks, though - not pleasant weeks.
When did math first get head-hurtingly difficult, and what was it about the subject matter that made it so?
My inability to solve the problem, and my inability to give up on it.
In what way was the problem more complex? I always picture mental difficulty in terms of objects-to-juggle. Was there a mental juggling threshold?
The head bashing ones are those where you can mentally plot a line from premises to the conclusions you want, modulo a few holes to fill in, and where the holes keep on getting bigger and bigger, but always look fixable.
Do you mean that it's a little like putting together a piece of IKEA furniture, thinking you're done according to the directions, and then noticing there are still pieces left to add, but you don't know where they go?
And this happens over and over?
More like making furniture, realising there's little pieces to add, making the little pieces, realising there's more little pieces to add, making them... and this does happen over and over, and since you can do this in your head, you never get to rest.
Anyway, that's sometimes my experience :-)
Yes... not just with math, but with a wide range of problems... but only during the couple of months after my stroke when I was recovering from brain damage.