u/PhilosopherOptimal69

I admit that I have a long way to go on education in the world of sustainability — I am going to be minoring in it, so I apologize if this is an ignorant question.

From my understanding, a large portion of sustainable solutions are locked by political and economic barriers much more than technological. For example, the technology to recycle (or repurpose into other forms of energy) already exists, but is far from possible in most of the world due to economic and political barriers, like it being cheaper to make virgin plastic than to recycle and oil companies lobbying to continue making plastics.

At least within the United States, I am noticing that there is a lot of technology that I think would be beneficial, and even low cost, but it remains largely politically blocked or slowly implemented. From my understanding, I believe that the most significant developments would serve low income countries in cheaper ways than what is being done already, and I see this working because there is both political and economic benefit for much of the technology that could be developed.

I am curious on your input, and I want to clarify that I am thinking worldwide and on any area of sustainable action.

TLDR:

What is the technology that could make a real difference that remains undeveloped that is hard to argue against politically and economically?

I am taking Calc II as an online course for credit towards my degree. I absolutely need to pass or else I will be off track. If I am off track, I go deeper into debt. It does help that I am truly motivated and I do want to learn the material out of both interest and necessity.

Right now I am spending at least 6 hours a day trying to learn, but I am finding that I am forced to acknowledge that this class is really just damn hard.

Here is where the issues come in. I spend quite a lot of time with the material and even so, I still don't feel like I am truly making as much progress as I should. I spend this time working through the lessons, taking notes, and working the homework problems that we are given.

I am consistently noticing a pattern where I am completely exhausted and frustrated near the end of the day or the problems I am working on, and I end up using AI. I feel guilty about this because I know that I am cheating myself of learning, and off-sourcing my thinking, but I really don't know what else to do. Metaphorically, it feels like I have spent the day ramming my head into a brick wall with the problems and I am still getting them wrong.

If grades did not matter, there is no reason that I would use AI. I would simply stay with material that I am struggling on for a bit longer, and then move on. However, because I am taking this class for credit towards a degree, grades do matter. Additionally, because it is a summer class, I can't really slow down on subjects that I don't understand, I kind of just have to move on.

The schedule for assignments is consistent:

We have 3 lessons due on Wednesday (opened on Monday), 20 homework problems with no time limit and no restrictions due Thursday, and then a quiz with 20 more problems and a time limit of 2 hours where we are only supposed to use our notes and calculator due on Friday.

I admittedly end up using AI even though I try not to on the quizzes. I find that this is because I cannot do the problems in 2 hours and without AI I would not be completing more than half of the problems and I would still be getting them wrong.

After that I have two days, and this is where I usually complete the work for the physics class that I am taking as well. I unfortunately end up neglecting this class for the week because I have been doing calculus, but luckily I am finding physics easier.

Then, Monday hits and I am back at it again. I know that I am not using my time in the best way, and I might even be wrong with how much I am spending my time on it, but it at least feels like I am constantly interacting with the material, and that leaves very little time for other things. When I do spend time on hobbies or socializing, I feel guilty because I know that I need to spend more time on calculus. I know for a fact that there have been days where I have worked with the material for the whole day except for the last hour or two of me being awake. Those hours were spent at the gym, and I only had them because I used AI.

Calc II is the hardest (academic) thing that I have ever faced. There is no other course like this that I have ever taken, and that is after a year in an engineering program. I took chemistry and that was hard for me, but it wasn't "all consuming" hard.

Meeting with my professor to understand the material is a lot less of an option since it is an online class, but she is responsive and would likely understand if I asked for something, though I haven't yet. There is tutoring available online through the college, and I will likely use that next week though I don't know how to maximize the benefit.

TLDR:

I’m getting destroyed in an online summer Calc II course. Because my degree, track, and finances are on the line, the volume, intensity, and time I take to solve problems forces me to rely on AI just to pass, which makes me feel incredibly guilty. I'm neglecting my physics class more than I should be and using only Saturday/Sunday to do the work. I am losing most of my personal time on the work and am starting to get burnt out.

All that said, what can I do to better understand the material? How can I get faster and more precise with the problems? Is there any other way to understand what to do when faced with a problem other than ridiculous amounts of practice? Is there any other advice or suggestions I should keep in mind?