Why Mathematics Considered Difficult.

1.    Mathematics is not difficult: Mathematics is no more difficult than other fields. Cooking is difficult. Ballet is difficult. However #2...

2.    Your lack of ability "hits you in the face": People find mathematics difficult because it is easier to realize that it is difficult. With other difficult tasks it is easier to fool one's self into believing that one is good at said task, but this doesn't work with mathematics. If you're bad at mathematics it will show you just how bad you are.

3.    Mathematics not an option: Students are taught mathematics regardless of interest, and everyone is expected to learn it to some degree. If one had no interest in ballet and it were made compulsory, we may find that few have the talent for it.

4.    Poor pedagogy: Mathematics is taught badly. School mathematics is often far removed from what professional mathematicians do.  The syllabus expects students to commit to rote learning or adherence to methodology which kills the creativity and imagination that is at the core of the field. This also leads to students hating the subject which further compounds the problem.

5.    Lockhart's Lament: #3 and #4 are two central themes in "A Mathematician's Lament" by Paul Lockhart's. This is worth a read.

6.    Strong Dependencies: Topics build on other topics and this dependency is so strong that, without the necessary background, the more advanced topics are unintelligible.

7.    Cultural Bias: Mathematics seems difficult because we are told to expect it to be difficult.

8.    Mathematics is difficult: Mathematics is inherently difficult because it is abstract, and animals (including humans) evolved to concrete problems. Humans find abstract problems difficult. It is also difficult because one cannot couch an idea in flowery prose and expect to awe onlookers. One must solve actual problems or prove theorems, and these have definite results.