[bananaflag]

I also have problems reading math, even though I work in a math heavy field. I have no problem with actually understanding math, just with forcing myself to read the symbols.

My problem stems from being very good at speedreading, being hyperlexic, and since I was a kid I devour books very fast, and I cannot transfer that skill completely to math and this disappoints me.

I know very good mathematicians who have problems reading both literature and math, and because there is no discrepancy, they don't experience it in a "I hate math" way as I do.

I actually managed to apply my "superpower" by reading a lot of what smart people say about math (e.g. introductions to papers, long mathoverflow answers, blog posts) and thus I internalized a lot of math thinking processes without actually doing the work (I know people say "there is no royal road to geometry" but for me it worked).

[lejalv]

Thanks for sharing your experience.

Upon reading I felt identified (hyperlexic having trouble reading math as if it was prose). I still tell myself “I like math”. But it's true that when I think of “doing math”, I envision a study situation with the stressors removed.

I also had a similar experience with meta readings, funny.