Is Calculus Torture? - Why do many people treat this as the final boss of math?

[Alex Hogendorp]

I've been learning Calculus over the years and noticed entry level Calculus is actually pretty fun and straightforward for me (Considering I learned a lot of Algebra and Trigonometry), but other disagree.

 

[Pierre D'Olnique]

It's not hard, but pointless to teach. 3 years of this shit in high school, never once applied it anywhere in my life, and I forgot all about it 1 year after graduating. Meanwhile fixing broken light switches or mending leaky traps is going to be forever useful.

 

[WTBOnlineFather]

Statistics is much, much, much worse

 

[Alex Hogendorp]

It's not hard, but pointless to teach. 3 years of this shit in high school, never once applied it anywhere in my life, and I forgot all about it 1 year after graduating. Meanwhile fixing broken light switches or mending leaky traps is going to be forever useful.

Yeah. I just learn Calculus just for the hell it (Because of my autistic obsession with how it works as well as brain exercises). It's the same with learning languages (Though I learn Spanish for a more specific reason). I hear both of them help with slowing cognitive decline (not saying Dementia is my biggest fear).

 

[Named User]

Calculus is very practical, which is why it’s taught more frequently in the US than an analysis course.
Real-world problems can be easily made into solvable integral problems, while a broader intro to real analysis doesn’t lend itself well to pragmatists. However, calc does lend itself to rote memorization with all the derivative and integral rules and techniques, only to be forgotten by next semester.

I do think college math is too focused on the Cartesian plane, and many students should learn topics in combinatorics/counting. A dream of mine would be to teach a class in compass-and-straightedge geometry where we’d construct all of Euclid’s Elements — necessary if you want to excel in art and design.

 

[Alex Hogendorp]

Calculus is very practical, which is why it’s taught more frequently in the US than an analysis course.
Real-world problems can be easily made into solvable integral problems, while a broader intro to real analysis doesn’t lend itself well to pragmatists. However, calc does lend itself to rote memorization with all the derivative and integral rules and techniques, only to be forgotten by next semester.

I do think college math is too focused on the Cartesian plane, and many students should learn topics in combinatorics/counting. A dream of mine would be to teach a class in compass-and-straightedge geometry where we’d construct all of Euclid’s Elements — necessary if you want to excel in art and design.

This could possibly explain why we have had so much beautiful art and architecture in the past.

 

[Xenu]

Statistics is much, much, much worse

Statistics is easy, doing statistics is most of your documents is just pointing out the obvious like "Sample A has a higher mean than Sample B" or whatever.

 

[WTBOnlineFather]

Statistics is easy, doing statistics is most of your documents is just pointing out the obvious like "Sample A has a higher mean than Sample B" or whatever.

Doing it may be easy but learning all the terminology, formulas and being able to visualize the concepts really isn't. Depends on the person maybe but I had an infinitely easier time doing all of this with calculus than statistics.
Then there's the third head of the hydra, linear algebra lmao.

 

[Alex Hogendorp]

Doing it may be easy but learning all the terminology, formulas and being able to visualize the concepts really isn't. Depends on the person maybe but I had an infinitely easier time doing all of this with calculus than statistics.
Then there's the third head of the hydra, linear algebra lmao.

I've been getting the hang of Calculus as of a year ago and Linear Algebra is only fairly intimidating rather than extremely intimidating to me.

 

[Devout Muslim]

It’s memed about because it’s the bulk of the curriculum for Y12 advanced maths in most jurisdictions. If it was number theory instead then we’d have people making out the same of number theory. In my college it was the same with La Place transformations, which become trivial once they start handing out the tables for it.

As an aside, and I may have forgotten what calculus is, but isn’t calc just integration and differentiation? You’ve been learning it “over the years”?

 

[Blobby's Murder Knife]

I've been getting the hang of Calculus as of a year ago and Linear Algebra is only fairly intimidating rather than extremely intimidating to me.

What about differential equations?

 

[Alex Hogendorp]

What about differential equations?

Much like solving bigger Rubik's Cubes. It's rather more time consuming that it is hard from what I'm aware.