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My question is simple, how does one learn mathematics while possessing modest intelectual abilities, like my own, and being able to successfully gain, at least to some extent, an overall sufficient understanding about concepts in a well enough manner to make him/her capable of solving moderately difficult problems in Calculus, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations and Statistics(basically, stuff required for doing Physics)? Or to put it this way - does the 10000 hour rule holds for mathematics.I am not particularly gifted and average at best, so, I decided to adress this very issue here. I am willing to put in the work, however, I don't want to embark such a jerney and end up disappointed later on.Is it doable? Will deliberate practice alone help me get good or there is more to it?

Thanks in Advance

Nina Vladimirova
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    Attitude and grit make all the difference. I think if you're willing to struggle hard with the material, and you're vigilant about filling in gaps in your knowledge, you can do it. It helps a lot if you have friends who know a lot about math and you teach each other everything you know. It also helps a lot if you're lucky enough to find good mentors. Science and technology are the most interesting things happening in the world right now, so if you go your whole life without learning math then you would be missing out on all the action. – littleO Jul 29 '19 at 03:28
  • Work hard and you will understand. – Nap D. Lover Jul 29 '19 at 03:40
  • Questions like this are generally too open-ended for this site. However, you may want to read https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/22861/how-to-effectively-and-efficiently-learn-mathematics?rq=1 and its linked and related questions. – Nate Eldredge Jul 30 '19 at 05:08
  • @littleO If a college professor, like yourself, is telling me that it is, indeed, doable(I hope you don't just say it out of courtecy), then I am just going to give it a try .After all, you got to be particularly intelligent to make it this far in the academic field and that's why I am just going to take your word for it. Thank you for the support. – Nina Vladimirova Jul 30 '19 at 18:03

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Well I truly started learning and memorizing mathematics when I started listening to how Fields medalists talk about their work. Basically these guys are doing mathematics which most of us are never going to be able to understand, but when they talk about it, it all makes sense and is it graspable what they are talking about. The point being is that behind most of mathematics there is a way to truly understand what is going on. You must not allow yourself to get bogged-down in formalism.

What works best for me is to make notes when I am stuck. If I find a proof which is not quite clear to me I try to isolate which part does not make sense, and then follow the steps until it starts to make sense. When it starts making sense I try to think where else would such a thing make sense. When I am swimming in clear waters again I try to isolate the point of the proof, and method it used. Lastly I write down all definitions and theorems in spaced-repetition system, because "repetitio est mater studiorum" as they used to say.

Lastly what I find useful to do is find a book and stick with it. I learned to not change literature often, because in every book there is going to be part where you are just hopelessly stuck. When you are stuck, come back here and ask for help. With these steps you should be well on your way.

TheCoolDrop
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