Reflections on 1,000 Days of Math

70 points - last Wednesday at 2:40 PM

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liendolucas today at 7:06 PM
I think the question to be asked about this post should be: "How many things can you solve by yourself outside the platform you are currently using?".

I have the feeling (though I could be wrong) that you might very well sort out the exercises and problems that are presented in the platform, but what about tackling for example Project Euler? How far can you go with the knowledge that you acquired from this platform after 3 years of daily usage?

Please note that I'm not trying to diminish the value of the mentioned platform but I believe that tackling problems that force you to hit your head on the wall and/or figuring out things by yourself with maybe some books, makes you learn in a completely different and richer way.

hyperfuturism today at 2:53 PM
I am quite sure that learning math has nothing to do at all with investments doing well. Would be a classic example of having made money, but getting the reason for why wrong.

The markets have been uponly since 2020 in general, so no surprise if one were invested, especially in technology, that one would have done well.

har777 today at 3:01 PM
I have to shout out MathAcademy(the same platform the author is using). It's pretty darn good. I did like 2 hours a day for 90 days and went from Math Foundations I(70% completed) to Math Foundations III(74% completed). The pace of improvement was very fast.
tptacek today at 7:00 PM
I'm a broken record on how valuable I found Math Academy to be; 22,000 XP in roughly a year, going from high school trig (and a grim confrontation with my intuitive ability to work with fractions) through multivariable calculus.

The most important thing to understand about Math Academy is that it's all problems, problems over and over again, with just enough pedagogy to get you from one kind of problem to the next. It's a form of spaced-repetition system (often with the repetition cleverly arranged through interleaved topics, so that solving problems in the "next" unit also depends on techniques from the previous) and a drilling tool.

I'd echo any other observation about that structure being limiting for deeper understanding. The thing about that is, though, we already have ample resources for deeper understanding! For my part, GPT4 and GPT5 were more than enough supplementation, to drill into topics, connect them to other topics, ask "why the fuck does this work", etc.

When I got to Calc II (in Math Foundations III), Herbert Gross MIT lectures were super handy too. If you're doing Linear Algebra, I'd pair Math Academy with Strang's lectures.

To me, the limitations of the approach aren't interesting. The problem Math Academy is solving is the limiting reagent for self-study: boundless exercises and worked examples, a clear syllabus, and a forcing function for actually doing the problems. If you're self-studying math, you probably don't need extra structure to get you to read about math; you need the structure to get you to do math.

Easily the most valuable learning resource I've ever spent money on. Highly recommend.

willmeyers today at 3:00 PM
I remember your 500 days of math post! I'm curious if along the journey you took time to apply new concepts you learned in a larger project or lab? I've never used Math Academy, but does it just give articles/videos and then exercises? Congrats on the dedication, that's a lot of work especially with kids.
mettamage today at 4:26 PM
I like his vibe. I guess it helps that I've been doing MA as well, although not daily. I'll get back to it soon though.
jdw64 today at 4:53 PM
I'm a bit lacking intellectually, and I wonder if learning more math would make me a more intellectual person.
sheeshkebab today at 2:51 PM
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the_real_cher today at 4:35 PM
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monospacegames today at 4:46 PM
I'm sorry but I can't help but be critical. This seems more like an advertisement for a duolingo-for-math than a serious personal undertaking. I am not sure if this level of proficiency is something you want to boast of at the end of 1000 days of self-directed study, regardless of what level you started at. Do you think you'd be better or worse off with just doing two days a week with a personal tutor?

Also I am fairly certain that not taking a day off has hindered your progress rather than improved it. This is not a productive attitude and ritualizes the study instead of encouraging self-reflection.