I want my old special interest back

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Hello, I have an issue that is causing me massive amounts of stress. I want to pursue mathematics more than anything but now I am unable to. Unwillingly I have become obsessed with useless tv shows and now I can't focus on learning my maths or physics. I really want that interest back! Have any of you managed to change your interest and how? I need to know more than anything. Maths is all I have got.

Get rid of your television - restrict your internet access so you can't watch it there either.

I will try that.

I doubt that will work. You can't bully yourself to be interested in something. If the magic with maths has gone are there other aspects of mathematics that you haven't explored? Are there some new and exciting areas you can explore? Maybe the interest will come back then.

I second the "kill your TV" idea. I got rid of my TV three years ago, and since then I have paid off some lingering debt from my bankruptcy in 2010 and gotten an amateur radio license. I tried my hand at being an entrepreneur, but so far I've failed. I think the tipping point for me was that TPTB transformed "news" into not only entertainment but continuous Obama worship. Whatever your opinion is on the guy, we don't have a god-king in USA, but a president, and I was getting the creeps that TPTB was trying to set O up as a deity.

See if you can find a new special interest where you can apply mathematics. The nice thing about math, is that it has so many uses. Programming, physics and mechanics are all subjects where you'll make use of mathematical skills.

Edit: I haven't watched television for weeks. Not watching television is easier than it sounds at first.

Television is for the most part an evil thing. Do you have a computer? Check out Erlang. If you like maths you'll probably love it.

One thing I have slowly and painfully learned in my decades on this planet is that not everyone thinks like me, so this advice may be useless. But I think more people here on WP think somewhat like me than in most populations, so this might be useful.

My interets change periodically, but they never really go away. What I mean specifically is that , for example, I am no longer into dinosaurs the way I was when I was a boy, but I still understand exactly why I was so into them then and I am no less interested if there is, for example, a documentary about a new find or a new understanding (e.g., the preponderance of feathers on dinosaurs)--that means if I watch that Nova special on the new fossils from Mongolia, I get excited, as of old.

The thing is, my newer or most current interest takes precedence. Meteorology currently has a stronger pull than dinoIasaurs. I have no time for dinosaurs while gathering data on super typhoons, for example. But those old pathways are dormant, not dead.

Think about the patterns in math that most thrilled you when you were most into the subject. Explore related phenomena. Are there problems in geometry, statistics, or physics that are related? Have you read Max Tegmark's latest book?

Is there a way to visualize the structures and relationships in your area of interest?

If you explore these dimensions of the subject, I think you will find that the old connection is still there and it will burn fiercely in your mind. Television can be a powerful diversion and sedative, but the pleasure it offers is a pale shadow of the intense experience that comes with letting your mind embrace the relationships of math.

Give yourself time away from TV and rediscover the things that enthralled you about math. They almost certainly will again. Think about your peak experiences with mathematical discovery and exploration. Surely there is little in life that compares to that kind of awe, thrill, satisfaction? TV can offer nothing of this depth or grandeur.

Well, that's how it is for me, anyway. Fully embracing my mathematical and scienctific interests (sometimes programming) has provided experiences I can't explain to those who haven't been there. Think of a fourteen hour multi-peak orgasm, I'll say. Or that sensation of the most delicious bite of food you ever had, but lasting for hours or days. Can TV give you that?

The pure source of that joy is always there, you have but to let yourself get into it.

Good luck! TV in moderation should be ok, after you get back on track.

Thank you, that is very inspiring. It has thankfully come back now as a result of burying myself in some very hard analysis problems. I appreciate all of the advice.

Awesome news! I am happy for you!