I'm not into mathematics or algorithms and the like at all, but if someone explains things like PageRank in layman's terms, I'm like, "yeah I get that". That's been the recurring theme with me and mathematics, if it's just the theory, language and formulas I'm like "what?", but give me a practical example / use case, a way to visualize it, and I get it. I struggled with linear algebra in school - I don't even know why it's called that, and I can't explain it in proper terms - but if it would be called "the math of video games" then it instantly becomes a lot more accessible and visualizable (to me).
Anyway. I think I've intuited plenty of CS algorithms in my career, but don't ask me to explain the theory.
In my experience, there’s a language of mathematics that makes an almost comically strong attempt to make itself inaccessible through jargon, single-letter variable names, and an over reliance on symbolic manipulation.
If you talk to most mathematicians or algorithm researchers, you’ll find that they are some of the most intuitive people you’ll ever meet, and they use visualization and other intuitive techniques all the time.
And then the classes are all about symbol manipulation.
I swear there are millions of people out there who could be mathematicians but just couldn’t get excited by all the symbol manipulation.
Anyway. I think I've intuited plenty of CS algorithms in my career, but don't ask me to explain the theory.