[TrackerFF]

> Personally I find the Khan Academy, 3B1brown stuff to be a waste of time. It's too elementary and cutesy. That is not anything like what I've experienced real mathematics to be like. It is a continuous painful struggle.

Sorry, but what?

You'd be hard pressed to find any single person, in the past 10 years, that has ushered more people into STEM by providing a solid fundamental education, than Salman Khan.

I understand that you're wanting more rigorous math, on a higher-level, but still - to blow off KA, 3B1, etc. as a waste of time sounds more ignorant than anything. Of the millions and millions that have seen these those guys, I'm sure a certain % have gotten their "Aha!" moments there, which have helped them tackle on much more comprehensive topics / fields.

edit: Just to clarify, I do not think these vids are any replacement for a solid book, just in the way I do not think lectures or tutorials are a replacement. But they can be fantastic aids for your learning.

Interactive websites are IMO vastly more efficient at conveying information, compared to static pages (like books, for example).

[laichzeit0]

The value in good mathematical books is mostly the exercises. Like Spivak, Rudin and Pugh. Struggling through those is vastly more valuable than any video or hand holding. I mean most of those problems would take hours or even days to solve. I suppose Khan videos (or at least the ones I’ve watched) are useful but it’s no substitute for active thought. What I like about videos from a real course is that you can “see” how a real mathematician thinks about attacking a problem.

[dtornabene]

Err, uh, where do you get the idea that Khan academy "has ushered more people into STEM than any single person"? Seriously. I don't even know how you would measure something that.

[TrackerFF]

Ok, so it's a very bold claim from my side - but he's done a phenomenal job making fundamental math (and science) lectures accessible, and more so, he does have a teaching style which works for a lot of people. It has been much faster paced, and more concentrated.

As for pure numbers, his videos have a total 1,806,946,640 views and 6M subscribes.

(Sure, there are scientists and inventors that have inspired magnitudes more people to enter STEM over the years)

[detaro]

It's a bit of a leap from the parent sharing their personal experience to claiming that they said the material is a waste of time for everyone.