Other Career Paths Than Studying?

[Phillip]

Hey guys,

I have a problem that I can't really find a solution to. I only have very few things I am genuinely interested in: (marine) biology, ecology and zoology.

I study biology (which is the only option I see for myself regarding higher degrees) but one of the subjects I have to pass is math. Now that is simply not possible, I just can't grasp it, not even the first few lessons. No matter how much time I spend trying to understand it, I can't even solve the few exercises we've got to do at home let alone the exam. All the other stuff, chemistry and physics for example is not a problem, just math.

There is no field of studies I'm interested in that doesn't have some kind of math so I can't really go that way in general.

What would you do?

[aurum]

17 hours ago, Phillip said:

What would you do?

I'd study like a maniac and get tutoring until I understood it. There really is no other answer than that.

Now I'll ask you: why do you have a story that says you can't pass math?

[Phillip]

2 hours ago, aurum said:

Now I'll ask you: why do you have a story that says you can't pass math?

I know it sounds like the easy way out but I simply hit a brick wall with math. No matter who tries to explain it, I just don't understand it. I already did this "I told myself I can't do it so now I can't"-psychology stuff but in reverse, it didn't help.

I am now trying for the forth time to get the first few exercises done, I just feel like I am missing some part of the brain that's made to comprehend that shit.

[aurum]

1 hour ago, Phillip said:

I know it sounds like the easy way out but I simply hit a brick wall with math. No matter who tries to explain it, I just don't understand it. I already did this "I told myself I can't do it so now I can't"-psychology stuff but in reverse, it didn't help.

I am now trying for the forth time to get the first few exercises done, I just feel like I am missing some part of the brain that's made to comprehend that shit.

True or not, it doesn't matter. If you need to pass this class then you need to pass this class. So your only choice is to keep trying.

[Azote]

There are tons of math in every field of science.  No escape

So just go for it, fellow.

What's the current topic in math on your curriculum, by the way? (pm if you like)

[Phillip]

26 minutes ago, Azote said:

What's the current topic in math on your curriculum, by the way?

Logic and set theory, it's beyond me.

[Azote]

3 hours ago, Phillip said:

Logic and set theory, it's beyond me.

Okay. What have you already tried to do to grasp these? Watch out for overestimating your efforts)

[Phillip]

19 hours ago, Azote said:

What have you already tried to do to grasp these?

-worked through the script multiple times

-had my friend and a few guys from uni explain it to me

-tried to understand it using 3 different books and the internet

The worst part is that that's the "easy" stuff.

I am open to other ideas, to type "just sit down and do it" is honestly not worth the effort and doesn't answer my question.

[HII]

@Phillip Can you post the exercises here?

[Phillip]

1 hour ago, HII said:

Can you post the exercises here?

The symbols sadly don't work in this forum, the exercises make no sense when I copy-paste them.

[ajasatya]

@Phillip this is where i'm moving towards. i wanna earn money by healing earth's soils while gathering (lots of) food.

[Phillip]

17 minutes ago, ajasatya said:

@Phillip this is where i'm moving towards. i wanna earn money by healing earth's soils while gathering (lots of) food.

Sounds pretty damn useful. I'd like to do something with food as well, I hope to make my master degree in Wageningen, the silicon valley of food production.

[ajasatya]

6 minutes ago, Phillip said:

Sounds pretty damn useful. I'd like to do something with food as well, I hope to make my master degree in Wageningen, the silicon valley of food production.

beware. syntropic farming is something extremely new. if you want to learn how to deal with the soil healthily, you better not learn from universities. these popular institutions will indoctrinate you to practice devastating methods of farming, as they've been doing for centuries. this is why i posted about it here: Other Career Paths Than Studying?

if you want to be integrated with the engine of Nature, you better learn from other sources. permaculture and agroforestry are the keywords here. self-teaching capabilities and willingness to practice are crucial aspects of the professional in this area.

[Phillip]

@ajasatya Personally, I am leaning more towards growing plants in other ways. Aquaponics or hydroponics for example. The cool thing about Wageningen is that there are many companies with innovative ideas, not just some farmers exploiting their soil to the max.

 

[ajasatya]

3 minutes ago, Phillip said:

@ajasatya Personally, I am leaning more towards growing plants in other ways. Aquaponics or hydroponics for example. The cool thing about Wageningen is that there are many companies with innovative ideas, not just some farmers exploiting their soil to the max.

holy moly i'm so grateful! thank you so much for these pointers!

aquaponics look AMAZING. and wageningen has online courses. i had never heard of it. thank you again.

[Phillip]

8 minutes ago, ajasatya said:

holy moly i'm so grateful! thank you so much for these pointers!

aquaponics look AMAZING. and wageningen has online courses. i had never heard of it. thank you again.

This is another amazing idea that I' m going to try next summer in combination with one of my aquaponics systems. Of course, I will be using bike wheels and scrap to build it, but the concept stays the same.

Also, thanks for making me smile, not a lot of people are genuinely grateful when I say something

forgot the link https://inhabitat.com/the-green-wheel-is-a-nasa-inspired-rotary-hydroponic-garden/

Edited October 31, 2017 by Phillip
link forgotten

[Nahm]

http://www.businessinsider.com/being-good-at-math-is-not-about-natural-ability-2013-11

[MarinM]

14 hours ago, Phillip said:

to type "just sit down and do it" is honestly not worth the effort and doesn't answer my question.

Don't know what you expect to get for answer. It's not impossible, you just need to take more time. If you can do basic equations don't know why you couldn't do more. Involve yourself more instead of complaining... Good luck mate

[Azote]

17 hours ago, Phillip said:

-worked through the script multiple times

-had my friend and a few guys from uni explain it to me

-tried to understand it using 3 different books and the internet

The worst part is that that's the "easy" stuff.

I am open to other ideas, to type "just sit down and do it" is honestly not worth the effort and doesn't answer my question.

Are you troubled with concepts (like sets' equality or something) or theorems or with calculations in exercises? Or maybe you don't understand Euler diagrams because you are not a visual type of guy. Different cases demand different solutions.

What's your approach to learning other subjects like physics? How is your computer science?

[Phillip]

@Azote  I only have basic physics, being able to work with formulas is all we need. I don't know anything about computer science.

Also I'd say, that I am definitely a visual learner.