INTPs unininterested in science/math?

[Rojo]

So, am I the only one?

Of course I find the odd bit of science interesting but I am not a scientific or mathmatical person. I did well in them at school but generally found them very dull. This is the major difference between me and the classic INTP proto-type. Are there any more like me and what might the explanation be for such 'unorthodoxy'?

[prometheusdestroyed]

I'm no mathmatician that's for sure. And I don't like doing anagrams either because I'm rubbish at them

[glassmoon]

What do you mean uninterested in Science? You must be at least a computers geek...

[Hamro]

i am also uninterested in math/science, i think they both can be fascinating in one sense, im fond of the string theory, and im also fascinated by natural laws of math such as that you always can count circles using 3,14

[Helios]

Me too! Me too! It is for sure my most un-INTP thing, I don't do math or computers. Personally these things are totally uncompatable with my very abstract manner of thinking. I just buy new PCs and ballpark my money,AMEX is a good thing to have.




edit-Rojo your avatar rocks

[Napoleon]

I have physics this semsester and i hate it, it's not the usual phyiscs it's more in the genre of biomechanics. And i ain't verry good at it, maybe it's because i never realy had a solid foundation for it.
So no you are not alone, I spend most of my time in front of my pc but sience just isn't my thing.

If anyone has tips on how to study this subject best, all help is welcome.
When i had sience when i was 16 - 17 years old I always searched for the fastest way to get to the answer, so i never realy fully got it i just knew how to pass the tests.

[glassmoon]

...
When i had sience when i was 16 - 17 years old I always searched for the fastest way to get to the answer, so i never realy fully got it i just knew how to pass the tests.
This ability can be disastrous. I have about 35% of the score guaranteed, the rest I learn one day before the test. I do most of my learning this way, and I don't learn much this way.

[YardGnome]

I'm taking Discreet Mathematics and Calculus 2 this semester...

And I enjoy both immensely...

[Sir Isaac Lime]

I like metaphysics and philosophy more then the hard sciences. Phenomenology really.

[jread]

I love science but I HATE mathematics. I have to take both pre-calculus and discrete mathematics and I'm totally dreading it. I remember writing off upper-level mathematics back in highschool Algebra II when we got to "imaginary numbers". I remember saying, "Ok, fuck this... I quit."

[Sir Isaac Lime]

I also HATED math. It wasn't the theory it was the number crunching that annoyed me. It always felt so pointless to do it manually.

[kuranes]

Same with me. I like "science" but hate math - of any sort. Yet so much of science IS math, which I found out when I tried to advance in Chemistry and got bogged down in balancing redox equations. Even logic an be reduced to symbols, which is a sort of math. ( I think a guy named Carnap started that up. ) I wish that I DID enjoy math, since so much seems to revolve around it. Especially in a "quantity over quality" mindset so prevalent these days. Maybe if I had different teachers as a kid. My sister hated Math until a High School teacher turned her around. She ended up liking it so much that she majored in it at college. K

[cjs55]

I like popularized wussy science and logic. I hate math. I think my main problem in math is that you cannot ever miss a damn thing without falling behind. Maybe if I did calculus at my own pace sometime it wouldn't be such a problem.

[songbird36]

I love science but I HATE mathematics. I have to take both pre-calculus and discrete mathematics and I'm totally dreading it. I remember writing off upper-level mathematics back in highschool Algebra II when we got to "imaginary numbers". I remember saying, "Ok, fuck this... I quit."

This is me too -I like popular science (Bryson, Hawking etc) and subscribe to Scientific American out of interest, but am pretty average at maths and uninterested.

[Dman]

I’ve found both math & science are far more enjoyable & interesting when I study them on my own than in a classroom setting where it’s being shoved down my throat under time pressures and through the methods of a teacher that can’t communicate well.

It’s only interesting in a classroom setting when you already understand the fundamentals and you’re discussing concepts with others, but of course we can do that here instead.

[Sir Isaac Lime]

I’ve found both math & science are far more enjoyable & interesting when I study them on my own than in a classroom setting where it’s being shoved down my throat under time pressures and through the methods of a teacher that can’t communicate well.

Yeah, I think the classroom environment and the teaching methods involved are at least in part to blame. In fact, I did poorly in school all together.

[songbird36]

Scientific topics I've evinced an interest in recently are: Xenotranplantation, GE technology, biodiversity, pheromones and the neuro chemistry of human sexuality.

I'd actually like to see more science threads on here - I'm keen to expand my knowledge on other topics.

[glassmoon]

I’ve found both math & science are far more enjoyable & interesting when I study them on my own than in a classroom setting where it’s being shoved down my throat under time pressures and through the methods of a teacher that can’t communicate well.

It’s only interesting in a classroom setting when you already understand the fundamentals and you’re discussing concepts with others, but of course we can do that here instead.
Me too. I prefer exploring everything on my own (as many others here seem to). The great downside is that I can't advance much without the push I'm given in class to learn. Sometimes a good teacher's enthusiasm is worth attending a class.

The problem is that there's no way acheiving formal education without going to class...

[Claverhouse]

I find all science boring ( except geology ) and detest all math ( apart from algebra, which was the only bit I understood ).



Claverhouse :ph34r:

[crule81]

The problem is that advanced math is usually a necessity as one gets more and more advanced in an area of science. Consequently, math was the barrier for me when it came to pursuing engineering. Specifically, linear algebra.

[Biff_Loman]

The problem is that there's no way acheiving formal education without going to class...

Distance studies. I'm doing Grade 12 Calculus (heh) via correspondance right now. My progress is slow, but I'm mastering the concepts instead of just punching numbers the right way like I did in high school.

Or, I should say, the right way 65% of the time, according to my transcript.

[jjt]

Although I did maths and science at school and was reasonably good at both, I have no interest in either in their pure sense. I'm not into computors either.
The only bit of science I like is human biology and nutrition. I was into cognitive psychology for a while too.

Anything that can be diectly useful in day to day living, not things like maths that seem way removed.

[Geoff]

This is me too -I like popular science (Bryson, Hawking etc) and subscribe to Scientific American out of interest, but am pretty average at maths and uninterested.

My worldview is that I need to know how *everything* works but I dont like to get bogged down in the detail. So what you quote as popular science works for me. I thoroughly enjoyed "A short history of nearly everything" by Bryson - quite good for the jaded academic!

I also enjoyed the science of discworld series (1 and 2) which I can thoroughly recommend even if you have no interest in pratchett - there is some really good stuff in here akin to the Bryson book, but with a more societal bias.

-Geoff

[melancholeric]

My worldview is that I need to know how *everything* works but I dont like to get bogged down in the detail. So what you quote as popular science works for me.
Exactly. I enjoy pop science books, particularly about physics, but could never get into the theory or the math involved with that.

And while I've always done somewhat decent job with math, High School math ( imaginary numbers and all that ) killed my interest. Geometry was fun though.

[Shai Gar]

scientific process is easy for me cause it is just logic, and i like blowing things up so physics and chemistry slightly interest me. but not much.

math is easy to understand but i dont really like that either.


mythology, language and literature are the ways to go

[songbird36]

My worldview is that I need to know how *everything* works but I dont like to get bogged down in the detail. So what you quote as popular science works for me. I thoroughly enjoyed "A short history of nearly everything" by Bryson - quite good for the jaded academic!

I also enjoyed the science of discworld series (1 and 2) which I can thoroughly recommend even if you have no interest in pratchett - there is some really good stuff in here akin to the Bryson book, but with a more societal bias.

-Geoff

Ok I'll look those out. I've lent the "Short history" to a lot of people including my father who is suffering from mild dementia, and everyone I've lent it to has got a huge amount out of it. It's a book that needs several re-readings though, I think.

[waxwing]

I'm interested in math and science, but they were never my best subjects. Literature, languages, social sciences, philosophy, and the arts were more my style.

What I'm really interested in is fitting everything together. I may turn to scientific theories/axioms to aid my thinking, but I guarantee I'll go back to a work of literature rather than my TI-86.

For some reason, though, I am seriously fascinated by graphs. Graphing derivatives made me ecstatic (explains the TI-86):blush:

[cuspuser]

as a kid i was way ahead in math, then i got to highschool and they didn't give you any time in class to work on problems and i didn't do them at home ... i was one of those who finished before everyone else ...

now i'm interested in the more philosophical aspects of science and to an extent math, and really into the soft-science (psychology) ... but put a chemistry or biology book in front of me, and i wouldn't be very interested, especially chemistry.

math i like to a certain extent ... i do the math puzzel in the paper, i also like looking for patterns in stuff ... but my passion is definately for the more abstract arts ... i wouldn't have necessarily thought INTP's would be computer programming types either, i got real annoyed, real fast with programming.

[s0978]

Hmmm, I wonder if any INTP actually likes math & science, as the profiles claim... I favored them through high school, but when I got to college, humaniites courses blew me away. So, never got to the stage where one can supposedly get creative with math - numbers always just seemed so predictable and uninteresting. :whistle:

[flan2dave]

I like mathematics, the methods with which it is usually taught notwithstanding. I've only had two semesters in math I considered really worthwhile (ironically getting a B in both, bah!). Courses get better as I go higher, and it's satisfying to learn on my own. The stage at which I can be creative with it still remains for the most part elusive. I have a feeling everything will "click" eventually, and if it doesn't it won't hurt to try (progress has been encouraging).

Interested in any science pretty much.

[FactsDontMatter]

Hmmm, I wonder if any INTP actually likes math & science, as the profiles claim... I favored them through high school, but when I got to college, humaniites courses blew me away. So, never got to the stage where one can supposedly get creative with math - numbers always just seemed so predictable and uninteresting. :whistle:
Were you trying to provoke me, young lady? ;)

Well. I find this all seriously distressing. It sounds as if for some of you the problem is the sad state of your education systems, and probably most of all the style of teaching, which is never geared to the odd 1%. Some of you are probably doing more “dynamic math” in your heads than most people are capable of, because you almost have to be doing that to understand systems of any complexity. And one thing we tend to like is complexity. So...

I cannot look down my nose at anybody. I was never a good student before inspiration suddenly struck midway through my undergraduate program [electrical engineering]. I was a sucky calculus and physics student, but made it to differential equations before any of it ever really hit me. But here’s what happened to me… In a single quarter, I took physics, an early electrical circuits class, and differential equations all at the same time. Mid-quarter I was failing physics, and the prof was one of those awesome bigger-than-life types [to me he seemed so, anyway]. I really wanted to understand, but my lousy understanding of calculus was catching up with me. About mid-quarter, something clicked. In what I now think of as an INTP moment, the courses began to make sense together as a whole. I was very excited by the realization that they were all the same thing, just with different emphasis and presentation. That was the moment when my academic self was born, and I was a perfect student from that point on.

But let’s analyze: There was a subject that I really wanted to know about: electrical circuits. I needed the math [especially those imaginary numbers] to understand it. I needed the physics, too, but I hadn’t really understood that completely yet. The excitement came from a sudden networking of things I cared about and other things that I had been exposed to but had not cared about at the time. For both the math and the physics I needed an application, and the more down-to-earth engineering course provided it. What I’m hearing is that many of you never got to that point where you needed the math or the physics to understand something that you really wanted to understand.

I know some people are motivated by pure math and pure physics, but for me they are foundations I stand on to look beyond. I like math and physics like I like air and water, or better, like terra firma. I’ve gotta have’em, but they’re not something that I enjoy in isolation. I’m interested in lots of things, and I haven’t really done electrical engineering much at all over the course of my career. But, I feel that I use the background every day.

The key for us, I believe, is finding that moment of inspiration where things suddenly take on integrated meaning in things that we care about. The list of things we care about is highly individual, and we never know when things are going to click. So, for those of you in the process, remember this when you’re discouraged that what they’re teaching doesn’t seem practical or useful. Even those imaginary numbers are useful… ;)

[misutii]

i think one of the reasons i didn't take mb seriously and didn't look further into it the first time i took the test was because the description of intp just seemed so dull, logical, scientific, computer geekish vs. my ideal of myself as a creative, imaginative, lyrical person. i had always pushed sciences and maths aside in school and my interest in computers goes only so far as using them for things like this

[Warrior413]

So, am I the only one?

Of course I find the odd bit of science interesting but I am not a scientific or mathmatical person. I did well in them at school but generally found them very dull. This is the major difference between me and the classic INTP proto-type. Are there any more like me and what might the explanation be for such 'unorthodoxy'?
Oh definitely. The one major thing I doubted about me being INTP was the math/science thing. I hate math and science.

But a history book on the other hand...

[CapnEnnui]

I used to love math, simply because it's been a natural talent, but I ran into walls in high school (due to studying, homework, etc.) and began to hate it. Science was always too much boring gruntwork nonsense as a class, but I still enjoy knowing about it and am glad I learned quite a bit in those courses. I was also exceedingly bad at language classes due to all the damn grammar and those horribly monotonous worksheet booklets... but I learned how to speak French passingly. Science and language courses killed my GPA.

History and "soft" sciences have always been my favorite courses. Creative Writing courses come in a close second, too...

[avidApathy]

FactsDontMatter we may be the only intp's here who actually enjoy math and science, but i think that is solely due to the education as you have said. I am currently in my senior year at a highly competitive high school in Texas (home of competition let me tell you) anyway there are some really amazing teachers at my school. harvard, yale, oxford grads and phd's are my teachers, plus 70 kids in my grade means 20 or less kids in each class. It a great learning enviroment. There seem to be a higher % of NT and SF types at my school....interesting. and my cacl 2, ap chem and ap physics classes are 90% NT types. Many student learn through concepts and due to this the teachers teach accordingly, mainly because of the petigree of the teaching staff. I HATED math and sciences in lower and middle school, but when i arrived at my high school i had a chain reaction of moments of understanding and a new found appreciation for math and physcics. I am currently taking 3 science courses ( ive taken like 8 in high school ) and 2 math classes linear algebra and calc 2, and i love it. I
think the other intp's havent found that math and science are only about concepts....very little memorization is truely needed if your teacher will teach you the "why?" there is always a "why?" in math its just finding it...dont ask for a list of equations to memorize ask how to prove the equations then youll understand the concept behind the equations. This is how i see math.. a constant system of complexities and proofs one building on top of the last. Science then for me is the next level of theory. I cannot wait for some conceptual physics in college.

It should be noted that i am also taking 2 english courses and i took the pshycology and biology ap test last year and got 5's on both of these (highest you can get for the non-americans). I love all the clases i can find a system of complex systems in...math english sciences. I HATE forgein languages and historys....mabye its because i view these classes as many of you other intp's view math....fact crunching and memorizing.....boron!

[snarled]

Science...has failed... the world.

[nihilist]

I did well in Math (calc I,II,III) courses in college but scored poorly on physics and chemistry. I think many INTPs are inherently adept at applying the science of numbers when required. That is why many of us are computer geeks and programmers.

In programming, we create a system through logically structuring and linking numbers through abstract data types. There is hardly any calculus involved. Technically, the only skill required for programming is basic algebra, geometry, and linear algebra (for graphics). There are also a few other concepts like recursion and counting principles, but these can be easily self taught.

In college, every CS major has to take a Discrete and Combinatorial Mathematics course. Although this subject combines all the mathematical concepts that are used in computer science, many students including myself get a mediocre grade because it's a lot of math without any use to a systems or applications programmer.

The NT temperament is beneficial to quickly understanding theoretical and arithmetic constructs. Yet, possibly due to the P factor, we don't have the capacity to fully become a mathematical or scientific expert.

[Claverhouse]

Were you trying to provoke me, young lady? ;)

Well. I find this all seriously distressing. It sounds as if for some of you the problem is the sad state of your education systems, and probably most of all the style of teaching, which is never geared to the odd 1%. Some of you are probably doing more “dynamic math” in your heads than most people are capable of, because you almost have to be doing that to understand systems of any complexity. And one thing we tend to like is complexity. So...

No. I certainly can't blame anyone else, including my teachers ( detestable as many were ) who no doubt were doing the best they could by their poor lights --- although there is one caveat to that: I struggled for three years to understand long division, when I could, had someone bothered to give me half-an-hour or less explaining it privately, have caught it fairly instantly. ( I was also short-sighted, never so much as to need glasses but just enough to make me squint to view the board ( a source of endless amusement to my peers. )) Going further than that would definitely bore me rigid.

I'm not intelligent enough to understand math ( seriously: although it sounds like Bart Simpson ), and I'm easily bored. I can live with it: math is not important in understanding history, people and motivations, let alone all-being. But if others' enjoy it, fine. I doubt though if any combination of qualities is mandatory for type...



Claverhouse :ph34r:

[songbird36]

I'm not intelligent enough to understand math ( seriously: although it sounds like Bart Simpson ), and I'm easily bored.
Claverhouse :ph34r:

It doesn't sound like Bart Simpson. It sounds like someone who is falsely modest...

[Dunearhp]

Science...has failed... the world.

The world... has failed... science. :devil:

[Warrior413]

The world... has failed... science. :devil:
I... will fail... science.

:(

[FactsDontMatter]

...math is not important in understanding history, people and motivations, let alone all-being.
Can you be so sure?

[FallenAngel]

I've never been big on Math or Science but I'm not 'bad' at any of it. Hrmmm...

[Network Alchemy]

i enjoy both mathematics and physics

if you have not yet reached the point of being creative mathematically you must first have a question to ask yourself because necessity is a great catalyst or perhaps even a requirement ~ said differently you need a problem to work on and because i have a strong curiousity of physics my mind often brings forth problems with no trouble

following this thought i believe my interest is primarily physics and i enjoy mathematics only so far as they can be used in physics ~ mathematics is in a way the sails of my physical intuition with the wind being my curiousity of the way things work the ocean being the universe the boat being my body and the oars being the delicious food i eat every day

similarly if your interest is in history well of course you will not seek mathematical proficiency but something else such as sociology or psychology and i believe there is no incosistency ~ all of you are interested in the mechanics of a particular system

[Trolsk]

Mathematics and physics were the fun subjects in school, although it doesn't really start before university level.

[Network Alchemy]

another note that deserves its own space of attention

~ if you are memorizing in mathematics you are not learning mathematics ~ what you are doing is equivalent to learning the times table and not the entity which is multiplication

this can be said of many other subjects including physics

[Architectonic]

I love scientific theory and mathematics. I just hate doing mathmatics.

Honestly, there should be more INTPs here that are into science, I really do believe it is a failure of the education system.

[flan2dave]

i enjoy both mathematics and physics

if you have not yet reached the point of being creative mathematically you must first have a question to ask yourself because necessity is a great catalyst or perhaps even a requirement ~ said differently you need a problem to work on and because i have a strong curiousity of physics my mind often brings forth problems with no trouble

following this thought i believe my interest is primarily physics and i enjoy mathematics only so far as they can be used in physics ~ mathematics is in a way the sails of my physical intuition with the wind being my curiousity of the way things work the ocean being the universe the boat being my body and the oars being the delicious food i eat every day

similarly if your interest is in history well of course you will not seek mathematical proficiency but something else such as sociology or psychology and i believe there is no incosistency ~ all of you are interested in the mechanics of a particular system

I think calculus of variations is a great example of mathematical problems born out of asking physical questions. I'm reading a casual illustration of it (including problems like the brachistochrone and catenary) at the moment, and find it quite inspiring, but there is still quite a ways before I'm comfortable enough with the ideas and math (some unfamiliar differential equations techniques and tricky substitutions were sprinkled about) before I can think how else it could apply that hasn't been done before. Perhaps if this is something you're already familiar with you can impart some wisdom.

[Network Alchemy]

sadly it is not ~ in fact schoolwise i have no education past simple calculus and general physics ~ everything else i have learned from self education and in truth it is not much

at some point i was performing my daily routine and realized my hobby is physics and that once i reached a great age i would look back on my life and regret not getting a complete education in physics ~ and so recently i decided to acquire a degree or three in physics

[continues life story]
before i entered high school my passion was science but during high school something happened and i have no idea ~ actually i now see what happened ~ my parents divorced

amazing and humorous that i just realized specifically how i went astray ~ my parents divorced and all thoughts of science disappeared and did not return ~ not until recently ~ now to pour the night away with some delicious liquor

being serious again something i have found useful is to see something from various points of view so just reading from a few different books on the same subject is helpful ~ as an example i have a variety of books on relativity ranging from completely intuitive guides to fully exposed mathematical works and even different technical books will have very different approaches

of course there will always be those points where you have to jump a great distance ~ a kick in the ass from someone else or perhaps an arbitrary burro helps greatly but if this is not possible the most reasonable way is to take the time to exercise your legs and keep trying to jump across

this is often difficult for me because i want to know immediately how a system works but i cannot because my mathematical background is insufficient and my impatience leaves me depressed in a way that i wish to become a drunkard ("why did this law have to be expressed in this form using these operations?! could not this have been expressed in a simpler form?!")

but of course the way it is written probably is the simplest form and we simply have to learn it

[Network Alchemy]

i e you know more than me

i gave http://mathworld.wolfram.com/BrachistochroneProblem.html a glance and it looks interesting

[Rojo]

What do you mean uninterested in Science? You must be at least a computers geek...

I'm really not, I dislike computers most of all actually.

Wow there's a lot of us who don't really like maths/science on here. I always hate that about the INTP descriptions, yes, certain attributes would be beneficial to scientists and mathematicians but they could just as easily be used in other fields.

[flan2dave]

Look at step 11 to 12 for instance, that's solving a first order non-linear differential equation. I'm eight weeks into my semester of differential equations, and we haven't even touched upon non-linear. Looking it up, it looks the author solves it with a trig substitution, and a few clever steps. Not obvious in my opinion.

One thing they don't teach very well in school is giving a student a sense of knowing what they are looking at. Everything is in context while they cover it, so it is of little concern. Once you're out in the dark, there's nobody to tell you what you're looking at when you're fiddling around with equations. As a problem like the brachistochrone is done, you have to understand what everything means to proceed forward. This kind of training occurs rarely in lower division, and is mostly reserved to those who reach upper division or graduate mathematics. I don't think you can be too early in teaching this way though.

[Network Alchemy]

agreed

[glassmoon]

...In what I now think of as an INTP moment, the courses began to make sense together as a whole. I was very excited by the realization that they were all the same thing, just with different emphasis and presentation. That was the moment when my academic self was born, and I was a perfect student from that point on. ...
You said some interesting things, FactsDontMatter.

I always wanted to start a poll about INTP's and math. Being an INTP doesn't necessarily mean great math skills. It's interesting to note that all the lecturers I had in math courses were INTP's, and in other courses most were NT's and a few NF's.

[jread]

i e you know more than me

i gave http://mathworld.wolfram.com/BrachistochroneProblem.html a glance and it looks interesting

That made my head hurt just looking at it. I don't even know what one of those symbols is supposed to be....

[misutii]

That made my head hurt just looking at it. I don't even know what one of those symbols is supposed to be....

yeah i would need the symbols to be aesthetically pleasing and have fantastical personalities in order to be remotely interested in the equations they are equating

[mgb]

I used to be a lot better at math and science. One day it just came to me that they weren't going to be able to solve the problems of mankind.

So I guess I am un-interested in them.

[sbw]

I enjoy math, but have never much cared for the "hard sciences". I always tell people that if I had attended college, I would have majored in economics or finance.

Scott

[Network Alchemy]

yeah i would need the symbols to be aesthetically pleasing and have fantastical personalities in order to be remotely interested in the equations they are equatinginterestingly one of the things i enjoy about working math problems is that they seem beautiful to me in an abstract way like asian calligraphy

i may post some work i have done

[Claverhouse]

...math is not important in understanding history, people and motivations, let alone all-being. Can you be so sure?

Yes.

History: A larger army will generally beat a smaller army, unless the latter are German: that may seem to be based on math, but really it's based on resources available.

People: A mathematical rationale for husbands/wives beating each other up, and why the sap being beaten stays with the other longer than one hour ?

Motivations: Why would anyone watch a Steven Seagal movie ?

All-being: Only God gets it all: we just have glimpses. I'm told that drugs help more than maths, but I wouldn't try either...



Claverhouse :ph34r:

[coffeezombie]

I don't like math and science myself. I enjoy humanities, social sciences and foreign languages more. I always did pretty well at math and science but I always had to work at it, which annoyed me.

[flan2dave]

I doubt somebody is going to understand the curve of fastest descent problem from that link, it's too concise. If you've taken some calculus, the book "When Least is Best" by Paul J. Nahin would be a good place to read about it, along with other problems like shortest distance between two points (rigorous proof that it is a straight line ;) ), shape of maximum area enclosure, hanging chain, and soap bubbles. There's interesting history involved too.

I was thinking, this is probably the approach one would take to determine the shape which electrons orbit atoms, or the shape of some simple molecules. I heard from my chem teacher that the mathematics for this is very sophisticated.

[Heather Harrison]

My interest in math and hard-core physical science used to be considerably stronger than it is now. But I have done too much of it, and (typical INTP), my interests have naturally moved on. Now, my scientific interests run more towards life science, and my other interests (always present, but stronger now) include literature, history, writing, language, and psychology - fields that have some "human" component (that's a rather "F" thing to say!). I have even started taking classes again (not for credit, just for fun) and I have no intention of taking any math classes or hard-core physical science classes - I have progressed in those fields as far as I desire.

Nowadays when I look at a complicated math problem, by mind yells, "Run Away! Run Away!" But I can still do complicated math in my head; once learned, it is never totally forgotten.

Heather Harrison

[Bugeater]

I enjoyed all of my science classes except for Physics, which was pretty much a math class. I failed that one deliberately because I absolutely hated the teacher...plus, it wasn't a required course, so it didn't matter to me. I find it funny that I learned more about Physics by reading Hawking's A Brief History of Time on a 6 hour train ride than I ever would have in my high school class. Plus, I've always liked the more advanced Physics over the basic stuff. I think the only math class I really liked was Geometry, but only some of it...because I hated the proofs and the trig functions. I really liked Biology, Chemistry, and Earth Science...but I didn't like doing labs. With the exception of my Ecology teacher, all of my science teachers were wonderful...which could explain why I actually enjoyed the classes. I think all of my math teachers were horrible...which could explain why I hated those classes. Plus, I don't think I learned the basics like I should have. How to read time on an analog clock, multiplication tables, long division...it still takes me a while to figure them out, lol.

[Watermark]

I will never be at the cutting edge of science or math, or become an architect of some new theory, but, I very much enjoy reducing concepts to symbols and equations. There is something elegant and beautiful to see a problem solved with equations. I like the challenge of solving them as well. I've taken numerous math and science courses, from calculus, physics, analytical and organic chemistry to electricity, and found each subject fascinating and fun to explore.

[INTrPosr]

I have always found a bit of irony in descriptions showing INTPs to have such an affinity toward math and science, however, say that many major in social science. I have no interest in pure math and science and never had an interest in taking classes which I could not use in the real world. Also contrary to stereotype, I will not take part in theoretical pursuits without some means of application.

There are examples where type enthusiasts simply pigeonhole types to fit their theories. Mainly I have observed this being partial to Keirsey's temperament. For example, I don't consider myself "Behind the Scenes" interactively, but it is where Berens puts the INTP. Although my MBTI II and DISC resulted in INTP, I am still not sure. Also with the stereotype of S and J, I am unsure of my true type. S and J has a bit of similarity, which makes the ISTP/INTJ types appear similar.

[glassmoon]

...
For both the math and the physics I needed an application, and the more down-to-earth engineering course provided it. What I’m hearing is that many of you never got to that point where you needed the math or the physics to understand something that you really wanted to understand.

I know some people are motivated by pure math and pure physics, but for me they are foundations I stand on to look beyond. I like math and physics like I like air and water, or better, like terra firma. I’ve gotta have’em, but they’re not something that I enjoy in isolation. I’m interested in lots of things, and I haven’t really done electrical engineering much at all over the course of my career. But, I feel that I use the background every day.
...
I like your post, FactsDontMatter. I saw that many raised claims about how the school system is responsible for not teaching math in a comprehensible way, and I think you touched this issue well. I remember now seeing a mathematician on TV who wanted to reform the way math is taught in schools. He suggested that math be taught in a way in which it becomes a tool for problem solving - to give meaning to mathematical methods as, for example in using logic to discuss politaical issues in a mathematical reasoning way defining variables and reaching a conclusion. I think you described the same solution as he had (using it in a context of a real application).

This leads me another issue - is theoretical math an important science (I don't know how important is proving Fermat's last theorem for example)?

[alex]

I'm studying EE but I prefer humanities, language, etc. Biology is probably my science at the moment.
Waiting for the engineering, math and physics stuff to click...
I'd probably work harder & be more interested if I didn't have philosophical issues with technological progress

[asteriatic]

I love nearly all sorts of physics, geology, biology, ecology, astronomy, computer sciences. I am certainly a highly scientific person. Too bad my carreer choices continually conflict with all the other ones (classical musician? lawyer? professor of philosophy?)...

[lbloom]

I'm a science type, but I can't live without music, cinema, books and so on (what with a 4-wing and all.). I didn't want to study the humanities at an advanced level because I didn't think I could take endless anal dissection of my favorite works. How I feel about them is a personal thing, and I don't think I could return to them every so often after having endured hours of pedantic pontification on the subject. That would take something valuable away from me.

Taking the pains to go through advanced science, on the other hand, just sharpens my ability to explain (and understand) increasingly esoteric phenomena, both physically and (hopefully) mathematically, with as little hand-waving as possible.

I've always loved physics and literature. I was never much good at Math, and have now made a sort of uneasy peace with it since some degree of fluency in a language is required for unambiguous communication.

[Pooja]

I love science, and am actually majoring in this area. But after reaching a certain point in Calculus, have lost interest in mathematics.

[ferunandesu]

math and science requires quite a bit of discipline... so... fuck it

[nomir_dva]

I have some kind of psychological disturbance related to math. I'm having far more trouble with basic statistics than with symbolic logic, but they both feel soulless to me. Logic is mildly satisfying but not nearly as interesting as, say, 19th Century Russian literature.

[Pooja]

I love statistics, and have even tutored in it at the college level... so PM me if you need some help.

[Mr. Beef]

I'm taking Discreet Mathematics and Calculus 2 this semester...

Yeah, i've never had discreet math, but i've heard that after it you can take prudent math and tactful math.

[euterpenc]

I find that the scientific method sometimes gets in the way of science.

[mr. treat]

Yeah, i've never had discreet math, but i've heard that after it you can take prudent math and tactful math.

you, sir, made me laugh.

the only two sciences i'm really interested anymore are geology and chemistry, and even then only when i can see their practical application in the real world. theory is a waste of time unless it can be seen as material. i used to enjoy math a lot more than i do now. there's just so much of it, and i only want to know math that is aplicable to what i am doing.

[de groz]

I wouldn't say I'm uninterested, being a computer geek. But I don't spend my time reading about sciences (unless it's "computer science").

In school I generally chose non-science subjects. I got turned off sciences like chemistry and electronics at the start of high school, and I never really got into it again.

Math, I was ok at. But as someone mentioned, like them, I had to work at it to get decent grades. Some people just "got it" it seemed. Funnily, I have forgotten anything slightly more advanced than basic algebra. I was always in the highest-level classes, but I never excelled at it.

I've always been between the quantitive and verbal areas. Most people are usually to one extreme of the left/right hemispheres of the brain, whereas I am in the middle (according to some test I did a few months back). I suppose that is correct, given that I always had consistent interest and grades across all subjects at school.

[Architectonic]

I find that the scientific method sometimes gets in the way of science.

What does that mean?

[dziner]

I hate maths but I enjoy sciences, especially social sciences. I have more affinity of words than numbers.