this may vaguely interest you.

[SilentChaos]

It’s time to choose my subjects for the next semester, and I’m conflicted... I know this doesn’t sound interesting but perhaps it will start to sound so when I explain why.

Art, Psychology, Design, Biology are subjects that I find easy and enjoy, but they don’t interest me very much, they are just subjects I take for my own enjoyment. Now Physics, Chem and Maths are subject I really find interesting... but I don’t really enjoy them..(there is a line between interests and enjoyments) I have no natural talent for these subjects, and because I get no enjoyment out of them have been thinking about dropping them next semester.. However without these subjects, I wouldn’t have anything that interests me at school.

So my question is, have you ever had this kind of conflict between likes and interests? And can you make any suggestions for my personal case?

 

[Words]

What do you mean by "interest"?

 

[Melllvar]

I make this distinction most often with books. Most of what I read is textbooks, not because they're particularly enjoyable, but they're more rewarding than other types. Of course novels and non-fiction are more fun to read (it's pretty rare that I get sucked into a physics book and stay up all night reading it, where as that often happens with novels), but you end up with less in the end once you've finished them. You enjoy something fun and easy while you're doing it, but then once it's over, that's the end of it, where as something tedious and difficult can leave you with the satisfaction of having overcome a challenge, and having added new skills/knowledge to your repertoire. Plus the ability to have fun with the acquired knowledge once you're past the tedious/difficult portion of the learning curve.

The question seems to be Enjoyable vs. Rewarding.

Personal case - I'm guessing you already see the inherent value in the stuff you don't really enjoy (or else it wouldn't be interesting to you). So obviously I wouldn't recommend abandoning your pursuit of all that stuff. But if it's just for school, picking classes, etc., I don't see why either option would be preferable. Why not just take the minimum classes you need to graduate, dictated by the requirements for your degree? You can always study whatever you want outside of class, for pure fun or enrichment purposes. It's not like a literature class is going to be more fun than reading the books you want on your own, or that you can't just buy a math/physics/chem book and studying it yourself without the pressure of being in a formal class setting.

 

[scorpiomover]

Yes.

I've been having the same problem with learning to drive.

I have found that what I enjoy, I find easy, because I don't think of it as work.

I really only have a problem with stuff that I would like to do, and know that it's really important for my life goals to do them, but don't enjoy them, and find them incredibly hard. It's almost always stuff that I am struggling to get my head around. This is usually because the underlying philosophy of the subject requires a perspective that I haven't yet learned, and even once I have, I have not become accustomed to thinking in that way.

This was the case for driving for me. I hadn't yet learned how people think when they are driving, and had to figure it out very slowly, and also get used to doing it. It's taken ages to grasp both and make it second nature.

I suggest that you spend some time trying to skim the biographies of great mathematicians, great physicists and great chemists. Learn about how they lived, and what their underlying philosophies were. Then I think you'll find these subjects MUCH, MUCH easier.

For instance, the basic fundamental of maths, for me, was summed up by the story about Archimedes, which I heard when I was about 8, and what made me so obsessed with mathematics.

When the Romans tried to take Archimedes' city, he made such fabulous inventions for defending the city, that the minute the Romans saw something peeping over the walls of the city, they turned tail and ran. When the Romans finally got into the city, the Roman general in charge told his soldiers to bring Archimedes to him, as he wanted to meet this one man who could stand up to the might of the Roman army. One of the soldiers found Archimedes, making drawings in the sand. The Roman soldier told Archimedes to come with him. Archimedes said "Do not disturb my circles", and just kept on doing what he was doing. The Roman got angry, and killed him.

The thing about this story that got me so, was that the Romans were legendary, and this act of brutality was entirely in keeping with the character of the Romans. So Archimedes had to have known that he would probably be killed for being so insolent to a Roman soldier. Still, he didn't care.

I thought to myself: If Archimedes could so love mathematics, that he would rather keep doing it than stop, even to save his life, then mathematics sounds like there is definitely something in it worth doing.

Mathematics is about the doing, not about the results. It's about the experience of problem-solving, not the solution. It's puzzle-solving. If you like being given puzzles to solve, you'll love mathematics.

Next time you read a maths problem, think of it like a puzzle to be solved. THEN try to solve it, not because you have to, but because you enjoy solving puzzles.

 

[SilentChaos]

What do you mean by "interest"?

It means something that is a puzzle, not fully understood and, just by existing creates thousands of questions
Example: The world is an interesting place, but I do not enjoy it.

Personal case - I'm guessing you already see the inherent value in the stuff you don't really enjoy (or else it wouldn't be interesting to you). So obviously I wouldn't recommend abandoning your pursuit of all that stuff. But if it's just for school, picking classes, etc., I don't see why either option would be preferable. Why not just take the minimum classes you need to graduate, dictated by the requirements for your degree? You can always study whatever you want outside of class, for pure fun or enrichment purposes. It's not like a literature class is going to be more fun than reading the books you want on your own, or that you can't just buy a math/physics/chem book and studying it yourself without the pressure of being in a formal class setting.

Thanks.
I kinda don’t know what classes I need to meet the requirements of a future degree because I'm not sure what future job I should take (ONCE AGAIN) it is the choice between, as you described, enjoyable vs. rewarding.

I guess the whole studying anything of interest outside of school thing could work, but what if whilst searching through a branch of Chemisty I found the ideal job? Or more tragically what if I never find the energy to study science and maths outside of school (I don’t doubt that a lack of energy even for things I want to do is entirely possible).

Yes.
I suggest that you spend some time trying to skim the biographies of great mathematicians, great physicists and great chemists. Learn about how they lived, and what their underlying philosophies were. Then I think you'll find these subjects MUCH, MUCH easier.

I don’t desire to make these subjects easier.... Although you bring up an appealing idea, I will certainly (if I find time) read through biographies of scientists and mathematicians, I have only read one or two at the moment and I enjoy fitting into their mindset.

 

[Artsu Tharaz]

Take some subjects that you enjoy and some that interest you.

 

[intpz]

Yes, I have. And I am now in this conflict, in fact. I am interested in maths, physics, chemistry, but I enjoy psychology and IT.
However, not what I learn at school. I like theory over formulas, which I hate, so at school - I don't enjoy anything (12-grader here), but at home - I enjoy them a lot. I enjoy maths and physics too, but at very distinctive levels, mostly theory, so I couldn't really call that an enjoyment, I think.
I'd agree with Artsu, take some of both. That'd be best, in my opinion.