What could it signify if I find most forms of abstract math (e.g. Calculus) much easier than Physics, Chemistry, and so on? I'm an undergraduate now, and am faced with a genuine lack of ability when it comes to Physics. Seeing how my peers react to lectures and catch on faster, it's clear that the issue isn't my professors, but the way my mind takes (or doesn't take) to the material. I had similar trouble with high school Chemistry, and even in college, I completed all levels of Calculus and Differential Equations as well, and didn't struggle nearly as much in those. Doing the calculations in Physics or Chemistry is easy of course, but using definitions and formulas to relate real-world concepts to each other and work on them is extremely challenging to me.
Does anyone know why this might be? Advice is also appreciated on improving upon this weakness.
I have felt more or less the same about certain topics within mathematics and to an extent about physics, biology etc, so I thought I would share my experience and thoughts. My level is different from yours but the feelings are certainly similar.
In early years of high school, I did both math and physics competitions to the National Olympiad level but I picked math because I excelled at it much more than I did at physics. Continuing with the math, I competed at IMO's; however, the topics like combinatorics came much harder to me than the other areas. I have known a number of students who are way better than I was at combinatorics but overall did not remotely reach my level because of the other areas math. Nevertheless, I always felt that those students, if tried as hard and was interested in geometry, algebra, and number theory as much as I did, would have blown me out of the water.
Now I am about to finish my PhD and still feel the same way about topics like Algebra, Topology etc. They just don't come naturally to me as do Analysis or Probability. Venturing into non-math subjects, I failed art history and botany 101, the latter of which is often considered as a free-A class. On the other hand, I have heard similar stories from my peers who are doing excellent research in Algebra - they would struggle quite a bit in an introductory analysis course, for instance.
What I am trying to get at in my ramblings is that certain things are just easier for some people and not for others. This, compounded with the lack of interest you have in certain subjects, most likely lead to the feeling of &quot;inadequacy&quot; that you are perhaps describing.