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Math's pedagogical curse – Grant Sanderson [video] (2023)

70 points · 33 comments · bobajeff

  1. paulpauper · · focus · HN ↗
    unpopular opinion: imho there is no substitute for deep learning and doing problems. Math is unlike other subjects, where you have to actually do it head on; you cannot just passively consume it like listening to a history podcast or watching a video.
    1. traes · · focus · HN ↗
      This is the single most popular opinion about learning math.
      1. lll-o-lll · · focus · HN ↗
        Learning nearly anything? You can’t learn to drive a car from YouTube. Or paint a house, or wash a dish, or code, or … Learning requires doing.

        Who thinks otherwise?

        1. socializer · · focus · HN ↗
          The insane popularity of channels such as 3Blue1Brown suggests that a lot of people do. Learning by watching is many orders more popular than learning by doing. Probably because it makes you feel smart without having to put that knowledge to the test, so it seems like a better way to master new concepts.

          There are many folks on HN who watched a YouTube video or read a Quanta article about some mathematical concept and run with that.

          1. laweijfmvo · · focus · HN ↗
            a common comment i read is something like “if <youtuber> was my teacher/professor i would have learned so much better!”

            and no, i don’t think so. you would have been entertained, but your teacher was making you learn. ability to explain concepts is important but it’s only the first step on the pathway to learning.

            1. traes · · focus · HN ↗
              Hmm, I'm not so sure. You may have never had a truly horrible math teacher. I distinctly remember learning matrix multiplication in high school for the first time. We were taught the algorithm without any motivation at all. Not a single picture was drawn, she just did some examples and then passed out a giant worksheet. I didn't learn linear algebra in that class. If Grant Sanderson had taught it I'm sure I would have.
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