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Ok, I know this is vague, but assume I never really had a good working knowledge of math in any area. I want to pursue X related work, which calls for X, Z, E, A, L, C, Q, etc. math. I realize that knowing more of those maths will be necessary to model and solve certain problems in field X. However, how do I go about learning X, Z, E, A, L, C, Q? I need the uttermost basics of some areas, because, say, to learn Z, I'd need more of a grasp of X. But I may want to jump into E, A, or Q even, yet, I fall short because of X.

I may want to skip X altogether, but some of it keeps popping out in L, C, Z, E, etc. I am trying to get the grasp of the required math for X, but everything can't be perfectly linear, e.g. learn X 100%, then Z 100%, etc. Math does not work linearly like that. I mean, sure, there's basics like everything, 1 + 1 = 2, etc. But this is beyond that.

I may have to learn 1 + 1 = 2 before tackling 2(x) = y sufficiently, but in my area of interest it's not so linear, can vary, it depends on what I might be doing, working on, etc. I just don't have the math.

But how should I learn the different maths if I'm pretty much zeroed out from even some mere basics of some areas, like X? What should I do? I need help from the math skilled on here.

Do I try and work more with X, then continue on as necessary with Z or maybe E, etc.?

Or should I learn as much from every separate aspect, and try to link them all together(will taken longer and will be harder)?

PS: X and several others may have many different areas, like Pre-X, Linear-X.

Andrés E. Caicedo
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Captain Plaster
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    I suspect that any complete answer to your question will strongly depend on what X is. Is there a reason you can't tell us? – Jan Ladislav Dussek Nov 19 '13 at 21:16
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    Let's assume that X is Pre-Algebra then for the sake of your statement. Several have told me that pre-related fields are worthless, and you should just "jump in" and learn. – Captain Plaster Nov 19 '13 at 21:17
  • X=Y+Z-WxH...this question is hardly seriously answerable. You better approach someone in some mathematics school in your town and explictly tell him what you know, what you want to achieve, etc. – DonAntonio Nov 19 '13 at 21:17
  • @DonAntonio I ask here because that is not an option for me, nor is it a desire either. I am just calling for a standard answer that can help me figure out how to pursue math from a square one standing point. – Captain Plaster Nov 19 '13 at 21:18
  • Too much X, A and stuff for me to handle, @CaptainPlaster: what exactly do you want/need? What do you know, what can you invest, etc. – DonAntonio Nov 19 '13 at 21:19
  • Does there have to be a general answer to this for any X? Surely it depends on X itself and what things you need to understand before you understand X... Also you are never going to 100% understand X, even experts in fields find they don't ever understand an entire branch of maths. – fretty Nov 19 '13 at 21:27
  • @fretty I understand very well. I just want to know "where to begin", and I don't want to worry about looking back at where to start again. – Captain Plaster Nov 19 '13 at 21:29
  • @DonAntonio What I want is to strengthen my overall knowledge of math somewhat, but I find that when I look around there's dozens of fields, areas, sub-areas, etc. I do not know where to start and keep going from and advancing it. I thought that pre-algebra would be succinct, but people tell me it's a waste of time. "Algebra" is vague anyways ... where does it start and end? No concrete answer on that, so I do not know if I should just "dive in" from the basics and learn, or start at a specific point. In any sense I want to strengthen my math somehow for better application in my work. – Captain Plaster Nov 19 '13 at 21:31
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    The answer is simple...you go to school, get taught basic stuff that people know and from there build upon your knowledge (probably by going to university). There really is no starting point, maths is really a skill that gets developed as you come across more and more sophisticated concepts/tools/arguments. – fretty Nov 19 '13 at 21:33
  • Nobody on this site can say "go and learn this bit of maths" until they know what you are aiming to understand... – fretty Nov 19 '13 at 21:34
  • @fretty That's not a simple answer to me ... years of learning to get a degree I don't need (and that's irrelevant to my work), to go six figures in debt, to worry how to pay it back within my conditions and capabilities ... you basically gave me the harmful answer. Plus, with tons of free resources online, why should one pay a fortune to learn some satisfactory degree of math? I'm not aiming for mathematician status (and you don't need a degree for that either). You can learn almost anything without "formal education" to one's satisfaction(depends). The question I ask is how should I begin – Captain Plaster Nov 19 '13 at 21:43
  • Again it really depends on what you want to know...are you confident enough that you are a good enough teacher for yourself? Yes you can learn maths by yourself (that's to a large extent how I did it) but how will YOU know whether you are taking the right path? – fretty Nov 20 '13 at 10:04
  • @fretty I will have to be confident enough. I have taught myself everything I know up to this point(e.g. no tutoring). I do not know why you are recommending I go to "school then university". You do not know what I'm trying to do. Going to "school" is not an answer for anything. So if I wish to get better at math, but do not seek to be a mathematician, why go to university? Better yet, why go to university/school at all just to learn math? Waste of money and time. Math can be learned freely and applied to whatever one's skills can perform. – Captain Plaster Nov 20 '13 at 21:25

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The way I have done this (and I have been doing this for at least 4 years) is that I find resources in a subject and all its prerequisites, usually in the form of a book, but often via Wikipedia or other websites (wolfram math world, for example). Then, I start going the main subject (subject X) and once I get to a place through which I can't advance without some prerequisite, I start at the beginning of that prerequisite and go as far as I can. Although this seems slow, it is actually much faster, because I really end up knowing a good amount of the subject and all its prerequisites. Additionally, although this is how I have approached math a different levels, I could probably give more specific advice if you told me more about what level you are specifically asking about. I started with pre-calculus/trigonometry, and I am now working through graduate Analysis books/Algebraic topology, so I may be able to help you out with more specifics.

A more concrete example of what I have done is how I worked through a typical undergraduate analysis book. I began by going through the book, but much of the second half of the book really relied upon a lot of point-set topology, so I then studied that as much as I could. This eventually led to algebraic topology, and algebra, but I was able to continue working through the analysis book after getting a little bit of background in topology. However, the key component to this is that you don't end up viewing prerequisites as "work." You need to be as interested in the prerequisites as you are in the main topic, which typically happens in you view the topics in the context of the original subject and enjoy math.

I don't know how much this helps you, but I thought I'd explain my methodology at least. There's my 2 pennies of the day.

cderwin
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  • Well, I've been trying to get a better grasp around algebra, and how it can be realistically helpful in 2D/3D video game programming. I have a gap of needed math knowledge that needs to be filled to pursue more intricate 2D game design. I am not pursuing a degree for this, I do it as a hobby/learning still now, and I do not plan on "going to school" for this at all. I just feel that there's some useful math in trig, algebra, etc. that will be necessary, but I don't want it to creep up on me. I want to have some brushed up math skills, but my question and concern is where to actually start. – Captain Plaster Nov 19 '13 at 21:48
  • Sure. I don't really know where your background is, but I would definitely recommend learning some trig for graphics programming. There are a number of ways to do this, but trig mostly involves approximately algebra II level math. Honestly working through a text may be the best way to do this. However, a great deal of 2d/3d graphics involves matrices, which automate thing like rotations and flips. The study of this is called linear algebra, and I would probably recommend you look into this. When you're ready, a good text may be Linear Algebra and its Applications, by Gilbert Strang. – cderwin Nov 20 '13 at 04:34
  • Also, this forum is mostly theoretical/pure math, and most people here have at least some sort of undergraduate knowledge of math. There will be people here willing to help you out, but a forum that's more suited to what you're looking for may be gamedev.net/forum/20-math-and-physics. Of course, if you'd prefer to talk to people with a bit of a deeper math background, this may very well be the right place. – cderwin Nov 20 '13 at 04:39
  • Why do you say "undergraduate knowledge of math" for? One can't have math knowledge without a college degree, is what you're implying? I never went to "Game Design", "Web Design", etc. school for software development, yet, I'm a somewhat competent developer. – Captain Plaster Nov 20 '13 at 21:28
  • Ha! I certainly have never been to college, so that's most definitely not what I meant. I mean the degree of knowledge typically taught in undergraduate programs. (If you look at some of the other questions on this site, and I think you'll get what I mean) – cderwin Nov 26 '13 at 15:59