On May 28, 4:39 am, Darius Malik <malikdari...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Thanks for the advice Magnus; I have heard the same from other people
> familiar with the olympiads.
>
> However:
> - You have observed that solving lots of problems helps with problem-
> solving.
> - As far as I can tell you have _not_ observed that doing n-back does
> _not_ help with problem-solving.
>
> Both of these (that solving problems helps, that n-back may or may not
> help significantly) were already known to me.
> So your post does not much change my view that lots of n-back is
> probably a worthwhile thing.
>
> N-back is something with a small chance of a big payoff (in problem-
> solving ability); solving more problems (in place of n-back) has a
> large chance of a medium-small payoff.
> So whether n-back is worthwhile depends on how much you value
> different levels of success. If it's concave down (10 units of success
> is 1 unit of utility, 100 units of success is 2 units of utility, ...)
> then I should probably go with more problems in place of n-back. If
> it's concave up then n-back is probably better. I think it's concave
> up.
>
> On May 27, 8:05 am, Magnus <trueba...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > As someone who have some experience with training olympiad teams for
> > mathematics and programming I have some tips. Do problems, do
> > problems, do problems. Become active atwww.artofproblemsolving.com,
> > and try to help out with problems there, and post when you're stuck.
>
> > Go through books on problem solving. Do old IMO problems. I don't
> > believe that all this n-back or something will really help you that
> > much, just focus on learning math and coding. Find books just slightly
> > above your level, or material. Kiran Kedlaya has great stuff about
> > Geometry (Geometry unbound is a classic, but at quite a high level),
> > and inequalities.
>
> > So to summarize, do as much math and coding as you can, and hope for
> > the best. I don't think you should spend time on n-back.
>
> > On May 24, 9:00 pm, Darius Malik <malikdari...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > Lately I've resolved to try harder at teaching myself math and
> > > algorithm-coding so I have a better shot at the international
> > > olympiads for math and programming (IMO and IOI). These basically
> > > involve getting, say, three really hard math or programming problems
> > > and trying your best to solve them within 5 hours.
>
> > > What recommendations do you guys have for improving problem-solving
> > > ability, in general and specifically for olympiad-type environments?
> > > How should I practise math and CS, and what other stuff should I do?
> > > Right now my day consists of:
> > > - school (6 hours)
> > > - Anki reps (10-100 minutes)
> > > - n-back (20 sessions; I do position-color 8-back)
> > > - Learning math and coding
> > > - cycling (~ 1 hour 3 times a week)
> > > - weight-training (~20 minutes daily)
> > > I've also been experimenting with cycling caffeine, weekends on,
> > > weekdays off; this seems to work really well - I can do more work at
> > > home and less work at school. IOW, I am most productive exactly when
> > > it matters most :)
> > > Since I'm vegetarian, I've also taken Jonathan's advice and am cycling
> > > creatine.
>
> > > Also, what is the best sort of training I can do at school? In South
> > > Africa there are no honors classes, so I can basically pay literally
> > > no attention and still get acceptable marks. I've been trying mental
> > > arithmetic, writing shorthand (look up 'Gregg shorthand' on
> > > wikipedia), writing with my non-dominant hand, and trying to solve
> > > hard math problems (or just exploring math, for instance, for which n
> > > is 1!+2!+...+n! a square, or a cube, etc.). Bonus points if I can do
> > > the exercise while looking like I am blankly staring off into space.
>
> > > Thanks in advance :)
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