
Ask HN: Get over math anxiety in CS degree - fratlas
Bit of back-story: I have always been a little slower at maths, and have always wanted to get better. I struggled my way through discrete mathematics but already forget a lot of the notation.
I&#x27;m doing a university course which is proof-heavy and uses a lot of mathematical notation which scares the shit out of me. My question is; was anyone here in a similar situation? How did you get better? Books, practice, tutoring, videos? I feel extremely stupid when I can&#x27;t get the simplest proofs down.
======
kup0
I was in a similar situation years back and made a huge mistake: giving up and
switching majors due to the amount of math in CS (and the very poor
instruction I was receiving was part of it too, so YMMV).

Now, 8+ years later, I wish I had stuck with it or found better instructors or
a better school or something.

To throw that opportunity away in exchange for a much less interesting or
useful degree is something I still regret but am trying to move on from...
can't change the past.

The times I _was_ successful in tough math classes was when I asked for help,
so my experience mirrors what others are saying here. The problem was having
instructors that sometimes couldn't help much when asked.

------
arethuza
Practice and actually asking for help when I was stuck worked for me.

I remember having a complete block over lambda calculus - I pretty much locked
myself in my room over an Easter break and worked through loads of examples -
eventually it clicked and I ended up being really interested in all things
functional.

~~~
a3n
> actually asking for help when I was stuck worked for me.

This is larger than math. Successful people ask for help.

~~~
arethuza
One of my first jobs was for a Professor of Control Engineering -
fantastically bright chap. He was also the first person to admit "sorry, I
didn't understand that, could you explain that again" and do it in a way that
made it clear he thought it has his problem not the person providing the
explanation.

[NB The fact I ended up doing research with a bunch of control engineers
rather demonstrates that I did manage to get over my fear of maths!].

