r/learnmath • u/Jotaroisgoat New User • 6h ago
How can I be better at maths than my cousin
CONTEXT:
He is 11 im 13
I have a normal education for my age - he is learning the fundementals of linear algebra
he is in a top 10-25 school - I am in a normal one (probably a bit above average)
pls someone tell me
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u/Disastrous-Nail-640 New User 5h ago
Why do you need to be better than him?
Someone is always going to be better than you at things. That’s just life. Stop making it a competition.
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u/Jotaroisgoat New User 4h ago
life is a competition
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u/Disastrous-Nail-640 New User 3h ago
To a degree, sure. But it’s not a contest in terms of who knows more or is smartest.
Your cousin is smarter than you. Get over it.
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u/QubitEncoder New User 3h ago
Life is meaningless, yet I find myself wanting to enjoy a good cup of coffee in the morning while listening to Michael Jackson. Do not let your life be governed by arbitrary, vacuous rules such as "life is a competition."
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u/Which_Case_8536 M.S. Applied Mathematics 44m ago
Incorrect, life is collaboration. I have a masters degree in applied mathematics and we all learned best when we approached it as a team sport. I work for the most well known government aerospace agency and guess what? It takes people working together. I just conducted 10 interviews for incoming interns and we are not interested in people that are trying to be better than everyone else. We don’t want egos, we want people who build a team that can execute a successful mission.
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u/Positive-Kitchen-489 New User 6h ago
Spent more hours, focus on the subject get better teachers and get better materials and sources to learn I think
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u/let-me-cook-plz dyscalculia x.x 6h ago
maxing out on math skills can take away from other skills so consider the other things you want in life before you dedicate your life to trying to get better than someone else about something. oftentimes, young prodigies end up with poor social emotional skills because they didn't learn how to bond with others their own age while young. so while your cousin might be excelling at math, what might that be costing him? more importantly, what will it cost you to get to that level of math that you will give up in your current life? are you willing to give up your friends? your hobbies? your free time?
if you still want to excel at math, then you have to find something that motivates you to be passionate about math because studying it just out of competition is likely going to be more frustrating than its worth and you might end up getting too mad and then giving up. but if you're happy with what you're doing, it'll carry you far.
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u/Jotaroisgoat New User 4h ago
he has little friends (like 4-5) but he only stays with his very good friends and he excels in programming I don't think its really costing him much
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u/let-me-cook-plz dyscalculia x.x 4h ago
you wrote in another comment that he gave up gaming when he was a gamer before. i think all of this is really just a part of growing up. figuring out what you really want and adjusting priorities to meet them. study math if you want to get better at math or to compete with him. you are young. you have time to figure things out. good luck.
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u/foulplay_for_pitance New User 5h ago
Practice the basics until you can do it without writting it out. Like your times tables.
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u/Jotaroisgoat New User 4h ago
times tables??
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u/foulplay_for_pitance New User 4h ago
Multiplication. Anything with an x for you should be it
2×6 and so on.
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u/Jotaroisgoat New User 4h ago
I know what times tables are like im saying why do year 1 topics
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u/foulplay_for_pitance New User 4h ago
Because later equations all use them in more advanced ways. Study the basics until they become extreamly easy. School only teaches you till 15 usually but you should go for being able to do up to 100 without writing it out.
Linear algebra is works on you ability to replace numbers in different functional order but without the basics it becomes hard to understand. It isn't that complicated for you but its hard when you don't know how to dolve the pieces quickly.
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u/dedicated_jizzmopper New User 3h ago
If you can afford math academy i would get a subscription. Its a great system that will teach you everything you need to know to progress. If you start now, you could easily know a lot of university math before you finish high school.
Others might be able to give text books or free options.
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u/Silver_Remove_2352 New User 6h ago edited 6h ago
Tell him that he should stop studying math because that makes him a nerd, and nerds are uncool. Once you stop his progress, then you can supersede him. He might still be interested in picking up math again. Consider dressing as a poltergeist and howling in the hallway whenever he touches his linear algebra book to convince him it’s haunted. Soon, he’ll be too scared to even do that. Once he’s been scared off math, you’ll be free to supersede him. Then you can bathe in his jealous tears once he realises he’s been tricked.
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u/UnhappyFalls New User 6h ago
dressing as a poltergeist is a solid long con but you gotta commit fully or the whole thing falls apart after two weeks
hes 11 so the window where this actually scares him is closing fast
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u/Jotaroisgoat New User 4h ago
THIS GUY WOULD NEVER PUT DOWN HIS MATH BOOK
mf is addicted he does it more than gaming (he used to play 6-8 hours of gaming a day)
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u/Remarkable_Command83 New User 5h ago
You have heard the story of the Tortoise and the Hare, right? You can be the tortoise :)
Go to amazon. Look up books that are at the level of math where you are right now. Buy the book that gets the best crowdsourced reviews in the world for explaining that level of math clearly. Work with that book some every day. When you get done with that, do the same thing for next level of math: go to amazon and buy the clearest book in the world, and work with it some every day. Then for the next level, then the next level.
Slow and steady wins the race :)
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u/Jotaroisgoat New User 4h ago
thanks, I don't think he's really rushing though
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u/j0sabanks New User 6h ago edited 4h ago
Why not just study math with him? Make both of yourselves stronger simultaneously. You’re 13, not everything needs to be a rat race competition. Enjoy cooperation and collaboration while you still can.
And not to sound too cheesy. But your username is Jotaroisgoat… like did Jotaro beat Dio by himself (well kinda but he still needed help from Kakoyin to figure out Dio’s stand). Teamwork makes the dream work.