What Makes People Engage With Math | Grant Sanderson | TEDxBerkeley

Grant Sanderson (@3blue1brown) is the founder of the math outreach and education KZbin channel 3blue1brown, which has over two million subscribers and over 85 million total views. He’s collaborated with many other online educators, such as MinutePhysics, Smarter Every day, Ben Eater and more. The topics covered on the channel range from pure math, like prime numbers and strange occurrences of pi, to more applied topics, like neural networks, physics, and how cryptocurrencies work, and from topics commonly seen in school, like calculus, to ones outside a traditional curriculum, like fractal dimension. Grant Sanderson (@3blue1brown) is the founder of the math outreach and education KZbin channel 3blue1brown, which has over two million subscribers and over 85 million total views. He’s collaborated with many other online educators, such as MinutePhysics, Smarter Every day, Ben Eater and more. The topics covered on the channel range from pure math, like prime numbers and strange occurrences of pi, to more applied topics, like neural networks, physics, and how cryptocurrencies work, and from topics commonly seen in school, like calculus, to ones outside a traditional curriculum, like fractal dimension. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

[@somachakraborty9952]

wait, so you're telling me he is not a talking pi symbol?

[@advaithbala3087]

Netflix adaptation

[@JM-us3fr]

The Pi creature's animation has gotten really good

[@anandsuralkar2947]

Pie has evolved into a human being

[@rockysage7760]

Haha. Nice one

[@jewulo]

I am as surprised as you. It is actual a person? I always thought I was learning Mathematics from an Irrationally Transcendental Number. Or is it Transcendentally Irrational Number?

[@vijaysubramanian2037]

"If you have a soul!, then you have to know why. Right?" - Grant, 2020

[@1111macca]

Reminds me of listening to Carl Sagan.

[@vijaysubramanian2037]

"If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe."Totally unrelated, But One of Carl sagan's quotes :)

[@fmjs5146]

You need caps lock and more vowels... "If you HAVE a SOOOOOUUUUULLL!"

[@JordanMetroidManiac]

FMJ S I love how passionately furious he is when he says that 😂

[@rishisharma5827]

Make that soul all caps.

[@fyradur]

I think Grant is one of the most important people alive today. Imagine how many incredible mathematicians in the future would have been inspired and persuaded into mathematics because of him.

[@Beny123]

314?

[@lamatfoschini1891]

I was always good at math but never enjoyed it, thanks to his videos i was able to improve my math grade from 8/10 to 10/10 and to win the regional math competition. I'm probably not going to be someone important in the field (i will study finance) but i perceive what you said and i completely agree with you

[@metubeisawesome]

I changed my major to math and graduated with high honors because of him. Just got accepted into a master’s program in math as well.

[@suryavikaas5963]

No " incredible mathematicians" need inspiration from someone else. They can take the positives from a person but ultimately they can't be good enough if they came to mathematics just because of influence and not a personal discovery. Applies to every field.

[@nabagaca]

@@suryavikaas5963 While there is value in what you say, I would argue that people like Richard Feynman in physics changed the way it was taught so fundamentally, that there were great physicists who never would have discovered what they did, had Feynman not revolutionized the way we look at what was challenging physics. It's as the saying goes "If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants."

[@shire7949]

When people were applauding and laughing, I can imagine him thinking.. 'Look at me Feynman, are you proud?'

[@shire7949]

I said the thing about Feynman since I think Grant admires him. Among many reasons, cause of Feynman's idea of pure, honest learning and teaching. No complex words that add nothing in a lesson, no complex memorization techniques, pure intuition and imagination at the root of teaching. I feel that, Grant is on this stage, and will be on many more, (besides his math skills) because he has followed and improved on Feynman's steps. His videos, this talk... no bologne. (If you know you know) Anyways.. my comment is not about people applauding. It's about why he is on this stage

[@lynxfl]

cringe

[@pranavlimaye]

@@lynxfl no

[@wanitooo]

Grant even says "weird shape" for tetrahedron hahaha. I really believe he always has Feynman in mind whenever he teaches, it's wonderful.

[@joostvanrens]

I imagine he's thinking : "phew, that is over and it went relatively well, but I should have done [insert minor thing] differently"

[@anikettiratkar]

His TED talk released on 3/14, this cannot just be a coincidence.

[@vanessasu7530]

i think you mean 3/13 but it would have been cool if it was on pi day lol

[@anhta9001]

@@vanessasu7530 I think it depends on which country you are in.

[@coffeedude]

@@anhta9001 Yeah, it released in pi day for me

[@oz_jones]

*13/3

[@user-rv9vk8by5i]

@@oz_jones 3-14 in the ISO standard, objectively better than both the UK and US formats.

[@laythfadhala9380]

I never get bored listening to him.

[@catedoge3206]

cus WE'RE ENGAGED!

[@DaiLoDong]

hes an excellent speaker

[@zacharyhizon5165]

Yep. Grant's a really great speaker.

[@shanineedwards6894]

.... He's pretty cute too >~

[@jewulo]

@@shanineedwards6894 In what way?

[@ephi124]

"If you have a soul, you have to know why."

[@Sam785211578]

Thats a reference to Khan, from Khan academy explaining e^(i*pi) + 1 = 0 :)

[@ephi124]

@@Sam785211578 Oh i didn't know that.

[@ephi124]

@Suman me too

[@conanichigawa]

He is weirdly poetic. One time he said on a Brady Haran video, "Consistency is a virtue only if you're not a screw-up."

[@ephi124]

@@conanichigawa i'm becoming a huge fan of him.

[@TylerHallHiveTech]

It’s weird to tie his voice with a body. Like I subconsciously think his voice and videos just kind of manifested on KZbin because some math equation just produced it. But man this guy is good. Makes me love math. And I have a difficult love/hate relationship with math as an engineer.

[@anch95]

I associate this voice with a sort of mathematical entity ,which I think less as a human and more as the brown pi.

[@ivanjermakov]

I though he looks like a brown pi

[@ekremdincel1505]

@@ivanjermakov lol

[@diegosanchez894]

He is if LaTeX had a voice

[@HungNguyen-lz5xb]

A Pi creature.

[@uzairm3816]

I think this quote by Paul Lockhart _perfectly_ conveys his point "Also, as I said before, just because a subject happens to have some mundane practical use does not mean that we have to make that use the focus of our teaching and learning. It may be true that you have to be able to read in order to fill out forms at the DMV, but that’s not why we teach children to read. We teach them to read for the higher purpose of allowing them access to beautiful and meaningful ideas. Not only would it be cruel to teach reading in such a way- to force third graders to fill out purchase orders and tax forms- it wouldn’t work! We learn things because they interest us now, not because they might be useful later. But this is exactly what we are asking children to do with math."

[@jacksonpercy8044]

That quote is absolute gold.

[@genioretardo3963]

The whole essay is beautiful. I highly recommend it. It's called "A Mathematician's Lament" for those wondering.

[@karangarg4631]

@@genioretardo3963 Thank you!

[@NoriMori1992]

Reminds me of another great quote, by Edward Frenkel: "The analogy I make is: Imagine an art class in which they only teach you how to paint fences and walls, but never show you the paintings of the great masters. Then of course you will say, 'I hate art.' But in fact what you would really be saying is 'I hate painting the fence.' And so it is with mathematics, that we teach our students how to paint fences, and never show them the mathematics of the great masters."

[@uzairm3816]

@@NoriMori1992 interesting analogy

[@vivekprabhakar3331]

This guy is so passionate about teaching Math that it shows in the way he talks. I work at a Bank. Probably I will never use any of the Math he talks about. But...I never miss any video featuring him because some of the dust of his passion falls on me too.

[@randomdude9135]

@Italian Pills Mathematical orgasm?

[@randomdude9135]

@Italian Pills How's it going in Italy? I've seen that over 1000 people have died of Coronavirus. Hope all the patients recover.

[@alekosbantias3962]

Well said. Same thing here too

[@emperorpingusmathchannel5365]

You sort of missed his point. The math he talks about may or may not be useful. Usefulness is quite random. You never know when you'll need some pure math to solve a problem with your spread sheets or whatever.

[@emperorpingusmathchannel5365]

@Italian Pills what does "math man" even mean. Anybody can do math. Watch the ted talk.

[@NoriMori1992]

"Imagine an art class in which they only teach you how to paint fences and walls, but never show you the paintings of the great masters. Then of course you will say, 'I hate art.' But in fact what you would really be saying is 'I hate painting the fence.' And so it is with mathematics, that we teach our students how to paint fences, and never show them the mathematics of the great masters." - Edward Frenkel (The Numberphile Podcast: "Coffin Problems with Edward Frenkel")

[@noahniederklein8081]

I love the Numberphile Podcast, it's so good.

[@lewismassie]

My math tutor, who had recently finished a degree in theoretical physics, once said a similar thing about painting a fence. 5 months later Math ended up being my highest grade

[@freddyfozzyfilms2688]

@@lewismassie nice!

[@sealy999]

@@noahniederklein8081 3blue1brown was on the numpberphile podcast!

[@joy2000cyber]

Most math teachers can’t appreciate the beauty of great math master’s works, so they just have students paint fences and walls.

[@ishaanvatus3536]

_"There always a circle"_ _- Grant Sanderson_

[@sabinrawr]

I didn't want to like this comment, because it had 314 likes already.

[@alexandroskarypidis1891]

@@sabinrawr Nah, we're well on our way to 3,141,592.......

[@musaibshaikh3554]

Every stuff will end a circle - Grant Sanderson

[@henryh2985]

The issue is when people create the mental block that they can't do math, resulting in low confidence and little effort

[@fhhfhdfdhhdhhdfhdf138]

that happens all the time in our society; people give up far too early

[@ThatLazyyGuy]

Henry H Right. Too bad school will literally set students up for that by having them do worksheets and take quizzes/tests at a pace that may or may not be right for them when, like in 3Blue1Brown’s channel, slowly walking them through the problem solving process often is a lot more motivating

[@kingplunger6033]

My sister always says that she can't do Maths, but she never puts in the effort. I were average in school, didn't even do the physics exam in the last school year, started studying chemistry and realized that uni maths was actually kind of cool. Because I like science though I went for physics and even though I "only" have 6 Math courses (2 that go very fast through topics so you can understand the first physics courses and 4 that are proof centered) in the first 2 years of the bachelor degree (more later) this demonstrates how big of a difference the environment of learning can make. Another big step for me was not being ashamed to go back and learn the basics again, something my sister never will. It is a spiral, because every new topic gets harder and you understand less and less, demotivating you further, reinforcing your believe that you can't do maths even though all you have to do is put some effort in and learn the fundamentals again, but that step of going back is something most people won't do.

[@PaulPower4]

I suppose that's the thing: I believe *anyone* can do maths - it's just that it takes a tremendous amount of hard work. And if you don't have the motivation (either extrinsically in terms of its applications, or intrinsically in terms of the curiosity it provokes), you understandably aren't going to want to do the work.

[@darkseid856]

@@kingplunger6033 your comment is spot on and highly accurate .

[@honkhonk8009]

School makes math seem like mental torture. Reality makes math seem like a fun puzzle almost. Its just how our school teaches it

[@MHWGamer]

I think it has something to do with exams. At least for me is it that I am generally very interested in science, tech and maths but as soon as I have to learn under pressure for a test, I absolutely hate it. In school everything is pretty easy and somebody teaches it to you in countless hours. Now at university you have to do everything, it's way harder of course and you don't have that much time for every subject. You don't learn because you really want to know how the world works, you learn to be ok-good in the exam! I think there must be a change, but I have no idea what else is a better alternative. (nevertheless studying mechanical engineering)

[@MichaelKelly-hw7yz]

am i at a elite level

[@mryup6100]

So true

[@stevenm3914]

MHWGamer I can tell you how much this sound the way I feel... and yup studying mechanical engineering

[@randomdude9135]

Yeah, but using animations in education has the same effect as the usual way of teaching. No difference. So doesn't how your school teaches it. See Veritasium's video of "this will revolutionize education" to see what I'm arguing.

[@AbdulRehman-gi7yy]

"If you have a soul, you need to know why." that's just beautiful

[@elischlossberg5275]

I'm starting my PhD in math soon and Grant is a big reason why. His way of teaching makes all these complex topics so clear to the point that the beauty really jumps out of them. Whenever I teach my students I try to steal his style, make the lesson a question of discovery instead of just learning the raw information behind it. What is it that we're asking about and how could we even approach such a topic?

[@dorkle9085]

How's it going mate

[@dudeimortal6281]

Best of Luck. Hop you get a position early!

[@jflopezfernandez]

Congratulations! I’m halfway through my Masters and I’m hoping to get a doctorate one day

[@blackpenredpen]

Have been waiting for this!!

[@kairostimeYT]

Hey bprp.

[@vedantvardhan2590]

Big Fan of both Of Youuuu

[@nisargbhavsar25]

I am happy that you have again started uploading on your channel!!!

[@christophert8419]

The avengers are uniting

[@ArnolfiniIII]

lovely interaction between two amazing people

[@mkoldewijn]

This man was made for presentations. The voice, the tempo, the stance, it all works. So soothing. 3blue1brown is such a good channel to watch!

[@luisfranciscocordero9627]

Could not possibly agree more.

[@Abhishek-hy8xe]

The scientist does not study nature because it is useful; he studies it because he delights in it, and he delights in it because it is beautiful. If nature were not beautiful, it would not be worth knowing, and if nature were not worth knowing, life would not be worth living. Of course I do not here speak of that beauty that strikes the senses, the beauty of qualities and appearances; not that I undervalue such beauty, far from it, but it has nothing to do with science; I mean that profounder beauty which comes from the harmonious order of the parts, and which a pure intelligence can grasp. -Henri Poincaré

[@SiMeGamer]

Not to be too pedantic but nature is not beautiful intrinsically. Nature becomes beautiful to us because we are taught that and/or because we constantly discover new reasons why it is beautiful to us as individuals through value discovery. Being useful is a great piece of why something can be beautiful to someone. It's for the same reason that someone who is kind or a great teacher, looks much prettier than when initially encountered. Why the people you love will usually look way prettier than they were initially and they in turn inform you of new beauty standards. Why straight men with great mothers will usually find women who have similar features to their mothers as beautiful and of taste. The values it adheres to is what makes it beautiful if those values coincide with your own. If a person doesn't share the same values they will not find it beautiful or will but by a different hierarchy of values. I'm talking about philosophical principles here of aesthetics and epistemology. The questions Grant here presents are peeking at our curiosity and after learning how it works even if not actually understanding it, gives us the knowledge of the tools that exist to solve problems in general and how sometimes the results are completely unexpected which prompts further curiosity. It's a constant loop. The more you encounter the more you are willing to grind through it and the more beautiful it becomes. Understanding and acquisition of knowledge are great forms of developing pride and confidence in oneself. It is proof of competence. Anyway, I really digressed. Just wanted to say that beauty is not intrinsic and that bothered me in that quote. That is all :]

[@neoanderson367]

Beauty is obviously intrinsic. So is Truth.

[@timh.6872]

@@SiMeGamer The beauty of a written work is not derived from its agreement with my value system, moral or utilitarian. It is from the recursive arrangement of ever larger and more intricate components that convey a story or a conclusion. So too with visual and auditory arts, the arrangement of smaller pieces to make a coherent whole is how we make beautiful things. when disagreements arise over things being beautiful, it comes from not being able to interpret the whole into its parts for further analysis, much like a text in a language I do not know. The developmental aesthetic preferences we see in humans come from what "beauty languages" you're exposed to. By exploring ones you don't know, you can learn and grow to appreciate them as well. Intentionality and purposive arrangement of components to make a meaningful whole is beauty, but can only be appreciated when you know how to look for them. I find certain pieces of software 'beautiful', much to the confusion of non programmers, and it's because the code expresses the ideas and the intent of the author with clarity and precision, nothing present that isn't needed and nothing absent that is required. Each module and component has its place and purpose, and the sum of all of them accomplishes the goal set out before it. So too with nature. The natural world is so vast in breadth and depth of its intricate interactions that we have dozens if not hundreds of specializations for those that wish to study it, to learn some little part of the language of nature and appreciate its beauty.

[@SiMeGamer]

@@timh.6872 Everything you said here is in line with values. You value a beautiful arrangement of words that say so much in a little amount (poetry) or at least you think it does. That's efficient and efficiency is something many people value subconsciously. You don't read it and think "oh, it's so efficient with words". No. That's explicit thought. You usually don't get there. You are more focused on the meaning but the beauty comes from it being able to covey so much meaning. Same with the code you described. Concise code just like concise language is efficient. Nature is usually extremely efficient. The more people study and understand how it works the more beautiful it becomes. It's way less superficial. When the sun sets down, we think the red sky is beautiful. I can almost guarantee that it has to do with us being taught it to be beautiful and also from positive associations with a sunset. It's no different than a good poem in that sense. It "says" a lot with a few colour shifts because we have associated a lot of subconscious meaning into it from just living every day. I'm talking about all this from an epistemological perspective because that is the absolute core of understanding and acquiring knowledge. I cannot give you definitive proof for what I'm claiming since I have not experimented (those experiments being following children as they grow up and asking them why they think something or other are beautiful to them and where did that click happened). I value the time, knowledge and skill that goes into craftsmanship, art and engineering. That's the subtext of almost everything I see. That's why I appreciate little icon designs, comics, camera technology, a nice solid chair. I value things I don't know how to do so I'm very appreciative and sometimes in awe of bus and truck drivers (I have a license for driving a car but I find it extremely stressful and so I do not use it). Extreme sports and video game speedrunning require dedication I've never achieved and most likely will never achieve. These things are beautiful to me. They hold a lot of value behind them. Thing I value and would like to possess. Or things I possess and understand what it took to get there. Or extreme efficiency which gives something beauty beyond the superficial (nature). There is no such thing as inherent knowledge. And beauty is something that is learned. Superficially through association and concretely through understanding and value adherence - the latter giving a far deeper/greater feeling.

[@firstcobra88]

Now that a lot of school closed for coronavirus, take the time to watch all of his math videos. You'll probably learn more than you'll ever did in class.

[@HungryForPi]

Yeah that's all I've been doing lmao

[@saar5947]

“You’ll ever did”

[@1blue0brown30]

His videos are great tools for inspiration, but if you actually want to truly learn math then you need a teacher and a textbook. By truly learn I mean being able to answer tough questions and apply it.

[@anoteblock]

1Blue0Brown I completely agree with you. I feel like this is the case for many students because they keep themselves from being interested, which in turn keeps them from exploring its applications. Even if worksheets feel burdening, being able to solve them really fast on your own can feel accomplishing. It’s all about the mindset!

[@treyhibbard]

Saar he’s a mathematician not an English teacher :)

[@jfr9964]

Those clacks of perfectly elastic block collisions just restore my faith in humanity

[@abhijitmajee6754]

But actually that sound itself is a wastage of energy and thus it won't remain a perfectly elastic collision

[@awboqm]

This man revealed to everyone why I like theoretical physics

[@xCorvus7x]

What was it?

[@awboqm]

Fantasy feeling and feeling of wonder despite no obvious real world application

[@xCorvus7x]

@@awboqm ah, okay; thanks

[@bobnob4393]

I'm studying physics and love it but Im finding it really hard to drag my backside through some of the mundane topics when I'm having to read page after page of boringness.

[@ASLUHLUHCE]

YES

[@M4rtingale]

The Feynman of our time

[@pranavlimaye]

Undoubtedly!

[@rashmisrivastava5261]

Yes

[@ryanlyle9201]

M4rtingale wow! It makes me wonder what it would be like to show Feynman a 3blue1brown video. Or somehow get a collaboration video from both of them.

[@alexissercho]

I don't think so, unless He wins a Nobel Prize

[@lovingspirit4160]

Not even close...

[@cicobalico]

"If you have a SOUL, you have to know WHY!". I love this man.

[@surprisedpikachu3782]

I love his voice, its so calm and soothing, i can listen to him all day.

[@fhhfhdfdhhdhhdfhdf138]

have you seen the new series of Cosmos

[@shambho1171]

I too love his voice

[@varundixit1365]

Him and Joe Devine of Tifo Football have most soothing voice I have ever heard !

[@skyrimax]

@@fhhfhdfdhhdhhdfhdf138 dude the first season came out in 1980 hosted by Carl Sagan, what is playing rn is the third season

[@fhhfhdfdhhdhhdfhdf138]

@@skyrimax thats why i said new series of; the latest released

[@brianmclogan]

Great talk Grant! Thank you for the knowledge

[@ClumpypooCP]

Brian!

[@santhoshkumarp2361]

Legend Brian Mclogan.

[@blackboardbits]

I love the point that we don't ask, "When will I ever use that?" for fiction. Great talk, thank you!

[@roeesi-personal]

I watched the Blocks video and I knew Grover's algorithm but I DIDN'T MAKE THAT CONNECTION!!! Just when you mentioned that quantum scientist I started shouting "Grover" In the middle of the kitchen with my headphones on because it felt SO amazing to find out that this is actually the same math, and I've never thought about it! Wow. Just Wow. If there was an option to give 3 likes to a youtube video I'd give this talk 3 likes. It was amazing. Just amazing.

[@JM-us3fr]

I wish I understood Grover's algorithm better. I mostly understand Shor's, but the quantum stuff still kinda trips me up (since I'm not a physicist)

[@sujith3914]

Well I guess quantum stuff trips up even physicists, anyone who doesn't accept that is lying according to Feynman. The little quantum physics I studied in my engineering is out of my brain already, but I always aspire to learn at least a little bit more, just because of its beauty and that eventually it will be a dominant force in the world. Maybe we should just keep learning for fun as Grant and we eventually will be okay with things being that way.

[@roeesi-personal]

@@sujith3914 Luckily I'm not a physicist but a computer scientist so I just need to work with qbits and finite dimensional spaces which are not as confusing as the general case.

[@orion3043]

היי!

[@roeesi-personal]

@@orion3043 שלום! אנחנו מכירים?

[@all462]

Released on pi day. 14 March, What a timing...

[@blueeyedpanda5051]

Who liked the video before even playing it.. knowing this was THE guy behind 3Blue1Brown ?

[@randybell101190]

Grant nailed this. I highly recommend his channel 3blue1brown. Appeals to the experienced and novel learners alike. Perfect combination of complexity, nuance, and relevance in a concise and engaging way. It’s so rare to find someone this smart, hard working, and tech savvy that explains math in such a digestible, empathetic way. The channel alone is a work of art and may well be the best free content in history.

[@piman7319]

So true

[@nishatiwari9212]

Mathematics is painting just with the colors our eyes cannot see but our brain can.

[@mrnarason]

I think Grant touches on a massively important point. The way math is taught to young people is misguiding. That math is monotonous and dry. But it really has this obvious usefulness to physical reality and that it simply genuinely interesting. Teachers need to emphasis both parts to get students to engage with math. For K-12, that require teachers with deep understanding of mathematics and also the pedagogically talent to distill it down to something students can deal with. You can guess if that reflects our american education system or not.

[@southernkatrina8161]

Eddie Woo. Look him up.

[@mrnarason]

@@southernkatrina8161 W H OMEGALUL

[@SimonMeskens]

Or we could just change the math curriculum across the world to actually showcase math that isn't monotonous and dry, but creates a sense of wonder, amazement and thirst for answers that will make the students want to learn more. Part of the problem is the vicious circle that only a select few people will come out of the torture that is high school mathematics thinking: "I enjoyed that", but it's those people that will go on to become math teachers that try to pass on that love to a new generation. We should instead find the millions of people that absolutely HATED high school math like most of us, but discovered how beautiful math can be later in life and let them teach the new generation. Maybe we won't be stuck then with teachers that think drawing graphs is somehow useful or interesting in an age where every kid in the class has a device in his pocket that can draw any graph you want.

[@kaizal3161]

K-12 teachers don't actually need to know that much math tho.

[@southernkatrina8161]

@@kaizal3161 yeah...sort of...but the attitude has to inspire kids. I've known a couple of teachers who think it's cute to be scared of spiders, and who don't think mathematically. Maths describes the real world, as does science, and to not get that across to kids at any level is a fundamental failure of education.

[@coscorrodrift]

Love Grant. He's a great animator, a great teacher, a great entertainer, and apparently a great speaker too. Leave some for the rest of us! hahaha Also from the way he speaks you can tell that this dude knows more about psychology just from intuition than a 1000 PhDs, I'm certain about that. He just pulls you in.

[@quillaja]

He just imagined the audience as pi creatures, then it felt like a normal day on youtube.

[@GnumpStonetoe]

@@quillaja Thanks, you made me laugh with that :)

[@archanamotagi1675]

He's also a great programmer

[@pranavlimaye]

Let's not forget how cute he is and how calming his voice is.... The perfect life form

[@ttowelie]

He has also great musical taste like Punch Brothers.

[@richardsilva5110]

"That's what math does: it shines a light on unexpected connections". I've been returning to math to pursue a new graduation and that really inspired me. Thanks a lot!

[@Putrycz]

"Mathematics is the art of giving the same name to different things." -Henri Poincare

[@dharnasahu2506]

He protecc, He teach math Most importantly... He cute as hecc

[@dexter2392]

He thicc

[@ddcddc_]

True

[@okbasto9541]

@Say Sike Right Now lollz

[@esquilax5563]

I had no idea good Ted Talks were still being made! Wish I could give this 10 likes

[@Gaswafers]

Blocks: *clack together* Everybody: *claps*

[@nadivkaspi6211]

Whats so amazing about this talk is that he articulates something I have always struggled to explain why I love these useless little puzzles that he shared on his channel so much. My friends just didn't get it. Why are these concepts and topics so interesting to someone? But in this talk, the way he frames learning about these topics as *stories*, and broadening what our perception of maths actually is, is EXACTLY what I've been trying to explain to friends and colleagues for years now. My thanks to Grant, not only for his exceptional work on his channel, but now having given me the words to describe something I've been trying to explain for a long time now.

[@tyrannicalthesaurus4672]

What I love about what Grant does is that he doesn't try to bog you down with overly formal mathematics, but rather, he brings out the inate wonders of mathematics.

[@ritamroychowdhury]

"if you have a soul, you have to know why!!" - i'm having goosebumps!

[@vishalagarwal4766]

This guy's voice has been created to teach math; the way it is soft yet firm, and very welcoming so as to not intimidate you from the topics he's discussing. Amazing guy!

[@alsadab7151]

Grant Sanderson is my most favourite person on the internet

[@StreuB1]

Grant is so utterly fantastic. My tutor in calc1 turned me onto his videos and I've never looked back since then. He turned math into something magical for me.

[@GBY13]

He should get Nobel prize for education. People like him are much more important and valuable than professors and researchers who cannot give good lectures to students.

[@evanrushton1]

15:52 @LookingGlassUniverse "you almost hear in the narration, the smile behind each word" Watch out. Grant got game.

[@pranavchaudhari1738]

While watching his calculus playlist, at some point in time when the concepts started to come together, I literally had tears in my eyes. Math is beautiful, and the approach that we use will surely change in the near future and yes I can listen to him all day long :P

[@ASLUHLUHCE]

Checl out Welch Lab's "Imaginary Numbers are Real" series. It's a 3b1b level of incredible, maybe more

[@senthamizhan2422]

@@ASLUHLUHCE Too bad Welch Labs is not active anymore. I loved their videos and personally wrote to him appreciating his explanations.

[@dvirkomlosh4152]

So he is also a great live talker. Thank you Grant.

[@MikeHathawayMusic]

When he said that it follows the digits of Pi, I literally shot up from my chair and looked at the screen with confusion. I couldn't help but smile. he's so right.

[@sds123faf]

The most articulate person I ve ever listened

[@defaultd-6979]

Watch Jordan Peterson

[@theflaggeddragon9472]

Your point about beautiful math being engaging is one I've been making for YEARS. Every time we had a "problem solving" session in my ordinary drone of a high school math class, if the problem was interesting, challenging, aesthetic, and cool for its own sake, people were more engaged than any amount of the teacher telling us how useful the math we were learning would be for our careers. The students who would otherwise play on their phones or read books or otherwise zone out were actively offering insights, asking questions, and trying new creative ways to solve whatever puzzle was posed. To make math fun and engaging, it doesn't need to be useful for our careers and I don't quite understand why, when I tell people I study math, they ask what I'm going to use it for or why I find it interesting. No one asks that to artists, musicians, creative writing majors, etc. I'm really glad Grant is making this message spread farther than I ever could.

[@antimatter2376]

This is criminally underwatched!! This is probably the most engaging ted talk i have ever seen. It was near impossible to click off this video because of how good it was

[@erikmedina09]

Outstanding! I thoroughly enjoyed this talk. "So what makes people engage with math? ... neither the usefulness nor the story but understanding the bizarre way that they intertwine with each other" Interesting that sometimes what turns out the be the most useful math starts with no application in mind, but only imagination and story.

[@emiliecote8248]

Erik! I took pre-calculus from you! you also made math engaging. in the talk, I thought it was interesting that 3B1B mentioned topology as being "the good stuff" but not useful yet a few months ago I read a book by Janna Levin on how topology is being used to predict thermal distributions of the microwave background radiation depending on the different shapes our universe could be. If topology can help us find out if we live in a finite universe, I would call that useful.

[@erikmedina09]

@@emiliecote8248 Hi Emilie!! Great to hear from you, and I hope you're doing well! That's interesting what you mention about topology, haha. When I learned topology, I saw it as quite abstract and detached from reality. Although I'm not too familiar with the science you're referring to, your comment does point to the interesting ability of branches of math to become useful many years after they were invented.

[@markday3145]

One of my favorite moments in my career was when I realized I could apply number theory to speed up a very practical, tactical engineering problem (verifying and fixing computer file systems). It's something I never imagined I would ever actually use.

[@eccentricOrange]

Bro... Many good youtubers are good only on camera. Grant, meanwhile.... Bruh that was sooo well delivered

[@torpezaincreible8692]

He has the best voice on this planet and he knows it

[@icantollie]

May I introduce you to a certain Rodney Mullen

[@markkennedy9767]

Grant is an amazing person. The way he motivates maths is incredible. He understands the psychology of the whole thing and approaches maths as a human being unlike so many college lecturers. His Linear Algebra series alone is utterly beautiful. A great human being.

[@tomasrios4541]

"That's what math does, it shines a light on unexpected connections..."

[@emmadabdelkrim3073]

Grant delivered a TEDx talk titled What Makes People Engage With Math on February 9, 2020. A 20-minute video of the talk was uploaded to KZbin on Pi Day of the same year. When i see 3 and 14 and Grant i do not see coincidence i see providence i see purpose.

[@markkennedy9767]

"If you have a soul, you have to know why!". I love Grant

[@michaelpisciarino5348]

7:49 When will I ever use this? 9:35 Fiction fills the heart, appeals to our emotions. Math does too. G.H. Hardy 10:47 It’s delightfully beautiful 13:13 What is happening there? Dive into mystery 14:53 Problem Solving 15:38 Humanity, Comedy/Whit 16:39 Relativity 18:00 What a coincidence 18:32 Narrative rooted in good application

[@muses_4719]

LIFE SAVER

[@cufflink44]

When I'm feeling down about the world, young people like Grant Sanderson make me think there's hope for the future.

[@Marcsine]

Next he could do one on What Makes People Engage With TED Talks, this was stellar.

[@harjeck9518]

He's just genius..

[@lifeofphyraprun7601]

Whenever I listen to Grant,it seems like I will be jumping out of my position by just how excited I am about what he's gonna say next.If I do great at Physics and Mathematics in future ,then definitely Grant will be a pivotal part of it.

[@sfs8730]

Their is no more safer feeling than searching a math topic and seeing 3B 1B has a video on it.

[@RaviYadav-nj8zh]

His simplicity in teaching as well as talking sometimes make me think how simple and satisfying not just maths but everything can be.

[@SeeTv.]

7:50 and 12:55 are the highlights. Amazing talk Grant!

[@innerufomaker]

You, you alone, have changed my life. What you’ve given me in your videos is beyond great. And this speech was the best I’ve seen on this show.

[@trizgo_]

hearing grant get loudly excited is jarring, i love it

[@AGeniusDexter]

"If you have a SOUL , you have to know WHY?" So beautifully put.

[@tensorflow5777]

Grant is the Feinman of our time. Period.

[@Anonymous-df8it]

*Feynman

[@audiofile8311]

I don't watch his channel for math, it just helps me go to sleep very quickly

[@vamishhh]

This guy is the real mvp when it comes to KZbin education no cap...

[@---ml4jd]

his sound is the one major factor for his success.

[@Erik-um7hq]

Yess! This guy (and some other great youtubers) completely got me interested in math. If the only math input had been from my collage professors, I would have dropped out long ago. Thank you Grant!

[@AbhishekSachans]

"If you a soul, you have to know why?" Yoo, Grant the great! Hats off! Yours is truly a work of art! It's hard to adequately contain in one comment all the words of appreciation that you deserve. You are an addition to the likes of Fyenman!! Fortunate to be living in the times of as great mathematician as you. Much respect!

[@SudJ10]

"If you have soul, you have to know why" at 13.06 ... Super liked.

[@ano2math5]

3:35 The idea is even if you don’t have a deep technical background, you can come to a substitutive understanding of what the Fourier transform is doing before you see the calculus and complex numbers. And that part once brings you into formalisms, it has a way of articulating an idea that’s already in your mind and explaining the usefulness of those calculus and complex numbers.

[@kumarsatyam3314]

I am a second-year engineering undergrad. Thanks to your stuff (like videos on divergence, curl, heat conduction, Fourier, etc) I actually enjoy what I am supposed to study. This has been since I came into college. I could say, you're one of the reasons why I'm surviving engineering.

[@johnchessant3012]

When will I ever use Wingardium Leviosa?

[@jettaeschroff6924]

Never again! Avada Kedavra! *AVADA KEDAVRA!*

[@southernkatrina8161]

As a Latin student, I have a great interest in those spells.

[@tolep]

You just did.

[@canIpleeeeaasseeegetawaffle]

I was supposed to go to this and I’m so sad that I missed it 😓 couldn’t get out of work but I’m so glad you got this opportunity grant! Please do a live talk again in the Bay Area so I can see you live someday 😭 been watching your videos for about 4 years now ❤️❤️❤️

[@derek5353]

Anyone loves his voice？

[@ankushkothiyal5372]

If you are new to him I would strongly suggest you yo watch Essence of Linear Algebra on his channel.

[@dwarfyman4899]

Makes 1st year linear algebra a breeze

[@yuxin7440]

Exactly, that is how I know this channel 3 years ago.

[@jinjunliu2401]

I think those single problem like videos are the best to recommend to new (to math) people

[@acasualviewer5861]

best video ever

[@tyrannicalthesaurus4672]

Not to forget about his fantastic calculus series. He is fantastic at taking things that seem really complicated, and demystifying them into things that almost seem obvious.

[@WaterTea22]

a Masters student in physics. this guy made me fall in love with math a little bit before my first semester. I know a lot of people who feel the same way. keep going! you are contributing so much to the next generation of researchers, science and mathematics!!!

[@sethgilbertson2474]

Im an elementary math teacher and the summary of all the training i received over the past few years is that we NEED TO USE PICTURES! This brilliant entry point allows kids who might not think of themselves as mathematical to engage in mathematical discussions and problem solving in without worrying about the confusion that numbers can cause.

[@fhz3062]

I recently published a book about quaternions and how to use them in Matlab. When I was finishing the contents Sanderson just published his videos on the topic. I had to insert links to the videos on my book because it was so beautifully done that no student or reader could not read my book and not know about Sanderson's videos. Thanks.

[@fakerrain]

This man and Destin from Smarter everyday are the only two people whose videos I never ever miss. My fist love is art but I cheat on it with math and science.

[@jessicahewitt8072]

Whose favourite subject is math

[@ferlou2373]

Whose*

[@jessicahewitt8072]

@@ferlou2373 thanks didn't see that

[@mohammadazad8350]

Math is everything for me

[@That_One_Guy...]

Thanks to Khan academy, Grant, and one other online course from my country (it's named Zenius), math has been my favorite lesson just approximately a year ago.

[@izzzzz_5]

I love math but for me physics is the first then math

[@sumitasahu329]

That's what Maths does, It shines the light on unexpected connections! This guy is pure gem!

[@kingbradley3402]

His video on Bayes Theorem just blew my mind. And the entire Fourier Transform series just cemented my foundations as an Electrical Engineer. Probably the best math teacher around. I would pay an entire 4 year fees of subject to learn what he has put up on KZbin for free. It's a literal gold mine

[@AbhishekSachans]

Everytime Grant makes me feel and realize that Indeed, Mathematics is the language of the universe. And we must know this language if we want to truly and deeply understand it which is most joyful thing one can ever do!

[@fabhi]

Actually Grant, I watch it for your voice, the maths comes naturally !!

[@205lng3]

You can clearly feel the love and passion towards math in his words.

[@ehsantamrabadi]

That was exactly what I thaught about math. The strange way it connects things together... It shows layers deep down and how all this weaving is beautiful.

[@tryfindme1573]

That's my guy. Everyday interested in math. Thanks. Keep doing!

[@pixie5146]

One of the best TED-talks I've ever watch. Having math anxiety, I indeed subscribed to his channel and still enjoy his video a lot.

[@erinm9445]

"If you have a SOUL, you have to know why!" 😂 So good! And so true.

[@TommyPritty]

This is exactly how I feel about maths and education. I will be showing my students this at the beginning of every year