Math Learning Myths – Compassionate Math

April 15, 2026

I spend a lot of time talking with parents, students, teachers, and people I meet about math. It’s a passion of mine, to listen as people share their experiences including their challenges, defeats, and triumphs around math. What gets me more than anything is hearing some of the math myths our society holds. Here are some myths about math that may (or may not have) affected your successes in your mathematical life.

Learning math means memorizing how to do problems.

Contrary for what some teachers I’ve met may think, math isn’t about memorizing how to do problems, but rather it’s learning techniques to solve them.

Think about it this way, a chef doesn’t memorize a recipe as much as they use recipes and learn from them. Recipes teach chefs basic structures of a dish and from there a chef will learn how to develop their own style of cooking or make a meal from a bunch of random ingredients.

The same can be said for learning problem solving in math.

The goal is to figure out how to solve problems to build a base of knowledge and skills that will help you answer problems you’ve never seen before.

Memorizing ends up not being the goal, but the outcome of hard work, practice, and mastery.

When you’re trying to learn math, your goal should be to understand the fundamental concepts that you’re wrestling with.

What does that mean? It means seeing how your core concept is related to other ideas, what the general underlying rules are around that concept, why those rules work, and how to apply them in different circumstances.

That’s the goal of math lessons, even if you don’t always see it or if it isn’t clearly stated.

Once you understand the concepts, then memorization flies out the window. You don’t need to memorize if you understand something because you can always reason your way back to where you need to go.

The only thing memorization does is make that process quicker, which is always helpful. But this means that memorization (good, meaningful memorization that sticks) comes from understanding the concepts.

When you’re studying math, you should never focus on memorization; you should focus on understanding because ultimately, learning math means learning how to solve problems.

I need a calculator to learn math.

I once took math classes at Columbia University. On the first day of one class, a student asked what kind of calculator would be needed for the class. The professor laughed.

I’m not saying he should have laughed (not a nice way to introduce yourself to students, I’ll admit), but there is a reason that calculators are not necessary in most math classes.

Mathematics is all about making connections. Many of these connections can be made if you have a good “number sense,” Which can be the basis for your mathematical intuition.

Think of it as your mathematical “Spidey Sense.”

This intuition develops from experience, not some mystical psychic ability.

It happens when you’re engaging in the work in a way that allows your mind to build and make connections.

This won’t happen if you don’t actively let your brain do the work, which means spending time doing arithmetic manually, not using a calculator

Now, as much as I’m encouraging you not to use a calculator, I understand the desire and recognize that there are legitimate times to do so.

A calculator is really helpful for making sure your work is accurate, so it’s perfect when you want to check your work or you’re taking a test and accuracy is crucial. After all, when the stakes are high, you should take advantage of every available tool.

Calculators are also extremely useful when the numbers are just too annoying. If you understand how to divide 5,346 by 43, do you really need to do the calculation by hand? Maybe, but a calculator will be very helpful in that moment.

Technology is fantastic for helping us test our ideas, or see how things work, and that’s really how you should think about your calculator.

But you shouldn’t rely on your calculator because doing so will short-circuit the process of building math experience and intuition.

And yes, I’m avoiding talking about AI for the moment. AI absolutely limits both your quantitative and your reasoning skills.

Fast = smart.

Unfortunately, teachers are always stuck for time; they don’t get the time they need or deserve to develop quality lessons, teach them well, and provide deep meaningful feedback to the students.

In a period of 45 minutes, there’s only so much time to think. If you ask students a question, you end up calling on the first person who raises their hand. If you give an exam, the students don’t have an opportunity to mull over the problems and play with ideas and test solutions, or wrestle with interesting, rich problems.

In a world where we’re all rushed, math class is a fast-paced place.

This belief doesn’t just come from the classroom. The history of math contributes to the cultural belief that one’s best math is done when someone is young.

The Fields Medal, known as the Nobel Prize of mathematics, is only given to mathematicians who are under 40.

This results in a terrible belief about math, that being smart in math means you solve problems quickly.

If learning, doing, and being successful in math is understanding concepts, relating ideas, and executing on them, how is it that spending time reflecting on your work should not be valued?

In fact, the biggest math problems that have been recently solved have taken years to resolve.

Being fast doesn’t mean you’re smart; it just means your first, but it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re the best.

Solving a math problem should be quick.

When you’re first learning how to solve math problems (just like when you learn anything), you start small and build up.

For most algebra classes, you’re learning basics. Lots of basics. This means the problem in most algebra classes are basic, introductory, and with the goal of building algebraic skills.

Once you get past those classes, when you start taking advanced algebra, precalculus, and calculus, the problems start to get bigger, because you’re starting to put together different tools and solving strategies to get to your solution.

Just like in life, your problems you see early in your life are simple and are likely quick to solve (even if they’re hard for you at the time because quick does not mean easy).

With time, life gets more complicated, the problems get bigger, and you have to put different strategies and tools together to solve your problem. Once things get more complicated, solutions aren’t quick (or short).

I say this because often, students want to solve a problem in one or two steps, not realizing that they’re reaching a space where the problems are getting more complicated and require more thought, writing, and tools.

Solving math problems in school doesn’t always take a step or two. It may take more. Do what you need to do, and don’t expect that solutions come quickly.

With that, teachers, you should consider reminding students of this by providing longer problems with multiply pieces and steps to either work on in groups, as a whole class, or for extra projects or homework.

There are “math people” and “not math people”

This myth may be the one that does the most harm on this list.

Math is a skill like any other. That’s all it is. We all have the ability to develop this skill because our brains are inherently mathematical. As human beings, we like to analyze our world so we can understand and change or control it. That is our mathematical part.

Does this mean that our mathematical capabilities vary between people? Of course it does.

Like all of our human capacities, our mathematical capabilities are not the same from one person to the next.

Some people have exceptional abilities, some not so much. Just like everything else in nature that’s distributed randomly in a population.

Although our mathematical capabilities vary, that doesn’t mean that there are “math people” and “not math people”. Everyone has some mathematical capability.

Again, because we’re human beings and human beings are mathematical beings. Even if you’re not mathematically gifted, you’re it’s very unlikely that you’re not able to successful in the type of math that’s done in school.

Even if you have dyscalculia or another learning disability, you can still be successful in school math (check out this resource).

Remember as well that school math isn’t the same as math. If you’re a crafter, a chef, a successful business owner, or anyone who has to break down a problem and solve it, you’re a math person because you need mathematical thinking to do these things.

If you feel that you’re not a math person, or if you’re told you’re not a math person, then you should consider why that messaging is coming to you.

In our society we define who should or should not be good at math by the color of their skin, how much money they have, or other nonsensical characteristics.

Did you have an experience that made you internalize this belief? Did someone make you believe this? Why do you think that is? What in your life can change if you start believing that you are a “math person”?

These are the questions you could explore to help debunk this myth for yourself.