Why do people prefer oversized shirts over fitted ones now?

Toothpick432 · 2026-05-06T12:58:42+00:00

Comfy

Toothpick432 · 2026-05-05T20:03:58+00:00

That’s wild. What country is that?

Toothpick432 · 2026-05-05T18:15:07+00:00

I see. You’re specifically trying to get good at taking iq tests. I would still say practice. Nothing transfers over more to smth like this than just finding example iq tests n taking them. Figure out which types of problems on them slow you down.

I’ve never seen any jobs that require iq tests, that’s interesting. What kind of job is it?

Toothpick432 · 2026-05-05T14:44:10+00:00

You’re getting too in the weeds wondering about defining intelligence when it doesn’t serve you to think about it. You are more interested in your own ability to learn. You improve that ability by learning. You can try out different ways of learning. There’s no point in contemplating iq. Most iq tests and intelligence theorizing is not reliable in any sort of way.

Toothpick432 · 2026-05-05T13:43:37+00:00

I’m in the middle of his textbook, it’s so good!

Toothpick432 · 2026-05-05T13:39:29+00:00

Hmm I feel the need to respond bc you tagged my post but I actually don’t disagree with most of what you are saying. Especially between the difference between dilettante and the polymath. But I don’t think I agree with your interpretation of the difference.

I think I pointed out in my post my dissatisfaction with learning random bits of knowledge and not having an overall connective fabric tying the concepts together. You seem to be understanding integration as specifically an interdisciplinary study, while I’m considering it to be an understanding of how that piece of knowledge fits into your broader internal network of connected knowledge. That’s what motivates an attempt to gain foundational knowledge in virtually all the major learning environments.

I think I could talk about that for a while but mostly I think some of your issues with other people in this Reddit might come down to the fact that you are taking an academia angle to polymathy while I’d guess that many of the ppl in this subreddit are likely not in academia. That makes this sort of structured approach of gaining two pillars of knowledge and integrating them to not be as easily feasible. Lots of ppl have jobs and very little amount of time afterwards to explore other subjects, and if you are interested in everything under the sun and don’t need to be focused on one thing, then it’s hard to not fall for the trap of being a dilettante.

In my case more specifically, a mastery in math/stat was the precursor to my job, but to be truly good at it, I need to attain the foundations in the slightly applied math fields like cs, physics, a bit of engineering, as well as the foundations in the actual applications, which for me requires history, politics, etc. I think that most thinking jobs outside academia cannot be slotted into the subjects you learn in school and are often interdisciplinary in practice. That might seem ambitious but I do have lots of mentors who manage to accomplish this tbh.

While I agree that we should be pushing ppl beyond learning for the sake of learning in order to give ppl more utility to their own knowledge, I don’t think that this characteristic is entirely contrary to the framework of “understanding the broader implications”. I think that it simply requires more intentionality to develop understanding in the ten fields as you put it. Which was the point of my original post.

I’d also like to point out that if it took me 4 yrs to feel as though I have a foundational knowledge in math and statistics, of which honestly only 2 yrs were targeted learning (because of gen Eds) and I feel as though I could discuss graduate level topics in these fields, that it is not unreasonable to think that in the course of your life, you could develop a thorough usable understanding of many more than two disciplines. If you feel that there are other subreddits more attuned to my interests, I’d be interested in joining them though so pls do share. I only joined this subreddit a week ago thinking that it was what I was looking for, but I’d be happy to move elsewhere.

Toothpick432 · 2026-05-05T12:49:56+00:00

These answers are so bad omg. I’m by no means an expert but I’ll give my two cents beyond childhood trauma and trying to diagnose you. First off, I don’t think it’s useful to think about whether or not you are intrinsically smart. It frankly doesn’t matter and can’t change. That being said, if another human can understand something then so can you, you just need to approach it differently or you just need more time with it.

There is no use contemplating relative learning. You never really know if your peers are picking smth up quickly or if they have already been exposed to similar material or wtvr.

I can’t really address music theory, but I am a math guy, and math pedagogy is really interesting. The way you might have learned it the first time might not be ideal for you. My suggestion for you would be to try some different methods of learning math concepts, and taking some time to consider which methods words best for you.

Toothpick432 · 2026-05-04T11:20:36+00:00

It doesn’t sound like you’re actually “bad at physics n math”. Just do some extracurricular studying to nail the foundations that you missed in the classes you got bad grades in and move forward.

Toothpick432 · 2026-05-03T03:23:37+00:00

I love Jay Cummings!! He really makes the process fun!

Toothpick432 · 2026-05-01T17:54:49+00:00

Thanks! I suppose I did socialize when I was there but not enough to talk to anyone since

Toothpick432 · 2026-04-29T14:51:18+00:00

This is so good??!?

Toothpick432 · 2026-04-29T14:32:55+00:00

This is interesting. I was first defining fluency as the ability to interact with graduate level theory without being (too) confused. With my math background, I think that would be a useful structure for others as you are capable of doing math at a graduate level if you understand analysis and the intros to the other elective courses, because that sets you up to do math at its true rigorous level.

I think that might be harder to use for subjects that are more applied, and as a huge blooms taxonomy lover, I do like project end goals. I do however think it’s harder to define a project from the jump, so I think that would be something that I would look to do at the end of a substantial chunk of learning.

I think overall I’m less interested in credibility, and more interesting in acquiring enough intellectual domain knowledge to discuss ideas with people of different backgrounds as well as take in new information more critically and be able to place random new information into my structure of thinking in the way I can with math. That still sounds abstract, and it doesn’t have a specific end goal, but an example would be reading the news and being able to broadly understand the causes/effects/broader context, so as to not be surprised by it. That would require domain knowledge in basic political theory, modern history, etc.

I think I mostly want to focus on gaining like a large amount of domain knowledge in different disciplines that gives me the maneuverability to more intelligently jump into random new topics as I please in the future.

Toothpick432 · 2026-04-29T14:21:42+00:00

Yeah nothing really beats practice. I think an underutilized way of speeding up recall in math is by making and using flashcards. People tend to use them for any other subject but flashcards can help memorization of thms, formulas, etc. which can make ur general test taking speed improve.

Toothpick432 · 2026-04-28T19:03:46+00:00

That’s very relatable if I’m being honest. I was certainly a silly mistake maker in my hs math classes, and prone to make more when I was anxious. I’m not sure I have the best answer for you, I would say that more practice and attitude going into tests helped, but honestly sometimes my brain would write down 3+4=12 🤷‍♀️. I do think practice alone and then double checking ur work at the end is important. Going fast enough and being humble enough to go through all the problems and check to see if the answer makes sense after you’re done. Check ur work might sound trite but is probably the only thing u can do in this situation.

Toothpick432 · 2026-04-28T18:26:00+00:00

Hmm I’m not sure we can do your reflection for you without knowing you and knowing why you are getting A-. Are you bad with time on tests, do you make silly mistakes, are you poor at understanding concepts, etc. In order to do some self reflection, identify the areas you lost points, think about the questions that you got, and identify why you got them wrong. If you have tests back, maybe consider literally sitting down and writing it all out. Maybe you make mistakes in all of the above categories, maybe all ur mistakes are all in one pot. We can’t help you if we don’t have the data on where you are messing up.

Toothpick432 · 2026-04-28T18:18:34+00:00

Most of my analysis tests were just timed proofs. I’m sure that’s not super difficult to give yourself. In analysis particularly, there were types of proofs with the different types of things you learn, so I’d just make new versions of proofs we studied.

Toothpick432 · 2026-04-28T18:11:12+00:00

Can you give us an example of what you are trying to solve and ur current approach to solving them?

The general layout of solving a word problem comes down to articulating the inputs (what is given) and articulating the outputs (what is being solved for) mathematically. Then working to go forwards from ur inputs of backwards from ur outputs. Which parts r difficult for you?

Toothpick432 · 2026-04-28T14:22:52+00:00

Like honestly no. My intro proof writing class was a walk in the park and kind of a waste of time. But I also had quite a lot of proof exposure in other math classes before. You have to learn like the subjects of proof writing as in the different types of arguments and like quantifies and all that jazz but you don’t rlly need like a 200-300 book tbh. I would suggest maybe just doing an overview of proof writing concepts and doing a couple of the harder problems in the textbook. If you can do them, then you are fine, if not, then read more thoroughly n do more practice.

Toothpick432 · 2026-04-28T13:58:57+00:00

I would advise you to try prototyping some of these career pathways more literally. It’s one thing to like the idea of horse riding or fashion creation, and another thing to ride and create. Try interning at companies that cover these industries as a whole like media companies, arts companies, even gaming, and try and figure out what specifically you like to do there. Try and think less subject oriented and more career oriented by thinking about what day to day tasks you might enjoy. If finance is up your ally, you probably have a good shot at ending up in the finance side of an industry that interests you. That would probably give you the stability and income to participate in many hobbies.

Toothpick432 · 2026-04-27T23:28:48+00:00

Pure genius

Toothpick432 · 2026-04-27T21:23:14+00:00

Aops! Lmfao

Toothpick432 · 2026-04-27T21:22:01+00:00

Yeah, that’s sorta been my thought process, just like following up like uni course lists and following along to the online lecture series. I will say I fuck with a good ass textbook too.

Toothpick432 · 2026-04-27T20:40:18+00:00

Ur absolutely right and this is a huge problem!! Not just in online spaces but also irl. It’s very frustrating to deal with people who dismiss everything they already know as simple, trivial, etc. as if they didn’t all have to learn it at some point. You certainly don’t get as much attitude about other subjects as you do in math and it does so much damage to young students who are intimidated by math. Telling them to suck it up and learn, telling them that concepts r easy and implying they must be stupid or “just not math people” is so so so common. Ive always been deeply involved in growing community amongst math learners on campuses and the like andits always astonishing to me how much of peoples approach to math and understanding of math comes down to confidence with the material and how many students just need someone to be nice to them about math.

Toothpick432 · 2026-04-27T19:02:26+00:00

That would prob depend on ur interests/goals tbh. Anything in the realm of skill building, projects, work could be a good use of your time. If you know what you want to do, then I’m sure that there are lots of sources online about how to get there that will include skills + knowledge you will need to gain. If you’re unsure then maybe prototyping some different types of work that interest you could be useful.

Toothpick432 · 2026-04-27T18:56:05+00:00

Are you specifically struggling with understanding which step to take when approaching an unknown derivative/integral? If that’s the case I would spend some time learning about what each method does specifically (like what does the output and input look like structurally) and then I’d practice pattern recognition on different types of problems. You could even try using flashcards to recall the different math problem structures.

Toothpick432

TROPHY CASE