- #1
Telos
- 128
- 0
Does anyone else have trouble with confusing and inconsistent standards of notation in mathematics?
I am an economics undergrad, and I can't help but think that math would be 1000 times easier if there was just better notation for it. Does anyone know of any radical attempts to create new standards? Or, does anyone know of any learning materials than can help students such as myself "get over" this kind of problem?
To illustrate, a fundamental example is functional notation.
[tex]
f(x) = 5x
[/tex]
does not reduce to
[tex]
f = 5
[/tex]
It's a mental obstacle for me to think "oh yeah, that 'f' is not a variable." And I have to continuously think it, because my mind is automatically trying to reduce the equation. It drives me nuts. I hope this rudimentary example doesn't make it seem like I'm whining.
Anyways, thank you for your help! And I look forward to many stimulating discussions on physics (I'm trying to learn the math from Penrose's Road to Reality)
I am an economics undergrad, and I can't help but think that math would be 1000 times easier if there was just better notation for it. Does anyone know of any radical attempts to create new standards? Or, does anyone know of any learning materials than can help students such as myself "get over" this kind of problem?
To illustrate, a fundamental example is functional notation.
[tex]
f(x) = 5x
[/tex]
does not reduce to
[tex]
f = 5
[/tex]
It's a mental obstacle for me to think "oh yeah, that 'f' is not a variable." And I have to continuously think it, because my mind is automatically trying to reduce the equation. It drives me nuts. I hope this rudimentary example doesn't make it seem like I'm whining.
Anyways, thank you for your help! And I look forward to many stimulating discussions on physics (I'm trying to learn the math from Penrose's Road to Reality)
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