The 10,958 Problem - Numberphile

Featuring Matt Parker... Part 2 (solution) here: • A 10,958 Solution - Nu...
More links & stuff in full description below ↓↓↓
Discuss this video on Brady's subreddit: redd.it/6628q2
We appreciate any help on Patreon - it lets us make a few more and better videos: / numberphile
Matt Parker on Numberphile playlist: bit.ly/Matt_Videos
Matt's channel: bit.ly/StandUpMaths
Parker Square T-Shirt: bit.ly/ParkerSquareTshirt
Inder J. Taneja papers...
Single Digit Representations of Natural Numbers
arxiv.org/abs/1502.03501
Crazy Sequential Representation: Numbers from 0 to 11111 in terms of Increasing and Decreasing Orders of 1 to 9
arxiv.org/abs/1302.1479
Videos by Brady Haran
Numberphile is supported by the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI): bit.ly/MSRINumberphile
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[@Kyrbai]

Q: How do you cheat on a test? A: *learn it*

[@tmc990]

big brain

[@siroshcelot]

Wow this is very deep.

[@tmc990]

@@siroshcelot *It is.*

[@nicholasz2510]

Parker method of memorization

[@guest273]

It's all coming together

[@NobleNobbler]

2+2+2 = 6 and I'm prepared to accept that as given.

[@duckmeister5385]

2+2x2, 2^2+2 It's a crazy world.

[@joshuacg1583]

2^(2+2)-(2*2*2+2)

[@Aiden-vg4xs]

2^2x2/2x2x2^2

[@smartstudyingdoggo9031]

2*3

[@smartstudyingdoggo9031]

2 cubed

[@irecycleoxygen2730]

i thought he was joking about memorizing the whole table. And then he wasn't joking. And I was filled with fear of the man.

[@JimBaumbach]

When I was young, I memorized a bunch of useless stuff like that and now my memory is obese and sluggish due to early abuse. It's not like exercising a muscle, it's like an eating disorder. You don't have to believe me. You'll find out on your own. By then I won't be able to say "I told you so" so I'm saying it now.

[@CHROMIUMHEROmusic]

not sure if you're joking about him not joking, but Matt *was* joking

[@CHROMIUMHEROmusic]

@Mastema :O

[@tyler7992]

Jim Baumbach I hope this is a troll comment lol

[@zdcyclops1lickley190]

Why? He doesn't know you know. Know what mean.

[@user-lh2hx5xf4e]

"Is there a rigorous proof?" Nah he just tried a BRAZILIAN times

[@user-lh2hx5xf4e]

@@ullasgargi6815 I took numberphile's word for it and didnt check myself, my bad.

[@paulsutton5896]

It worked. But it was a close shave.

[@vaquirino]

Iam brasilian

[@brenoandreata49]

That's how Brazilians do it kkk (I'm Brazilian, I can say that)

[@jamesbroom7178]

That's brilliant!

[@road2dawn26]

Lol "Keep your cheat notes in your head and no one knows you're cheating." "Also known as learning." "Shhhh."

[@CoolGuy55000]

road 2dawn26 Exactly how I cheated in my exams. I memorised it before. Those bastards never saw it coming.

[@ryanstanley6372]

CoolGuy55000 I'm mesmerising GCSE maths answers on the Internet lol. I'm doing it 2 years early but I will definitely get a C without cheating lol

[@Peter_1986]

I always try to develop a real intuition for everything in my engineering courses. I don't like using formulas and handbooks, I feel much more flexible when I can actually derive things from scratch. =P In fact, I recently spent several hours making sure that I could derive all the formulas for central-force motion, and then reviewed them once a day for a couple weeks until it really had stuck. Now I can derive periapsides, apoapsides, distances, velocities and eccentricities without having to look up a damn thing. :D

[@ManuLeach]

Laurelindo that is pretty much what i do as well

[@Noremaad]

+Laurelindo This. This one-thousand times. This is the exact problem I had all throughout school. Every single teacher I had threw formulae at me, told me to remember them, and made no effort to explain their derivatives. May as well have made random numbers up and said they were important. It wasn't until a few years ago that I had to start tracking inventories that I ended up having to (reluctantly at first) relearn basic maths, as there came a point where I didn't know the operations I wanted Excel to do. Best decision I've ever made. Not that I'm particularly far along, mind you - but, figuring out how the different branches fit together, how they came to be, and more importantly WHY these things are true is fascinating, and quickly became something I was utterly obsessed with. I might also add that, with an intuitive understanding of the rules and why things function the way they do, there are indeed the real-life applications that people so often spout about, even if they themselves couldn't have given you a single example.

[@rawtrout3402]

I cheated on the SAT by memorizing all my textbooks

[@abolfazl2255]

I cheated in fortnite by memorizing how to aim

[@arushverma4077]

@@abolfazl2255 no u

[@russhoward3037]

*College Board would like to know your location*

[@gregoryjclark81]

I cheated in life by killing my ego, making a 180° turn, and giving chase to death rather than death chasing me.

[@zizfie3782]

​@@syntaxerror8955 I'm sorry but... r/woooosh before anyone screams "IT'S 4 O'S NOT 3" at me...

[@leo17921]

2:00 "Oh, I've done 2 pluses there, that is a mega plus, oh my goodness, that's pretty plus"

[@TheBlackEternalWings]

At least he was positive about it...

[@Xynful]

@@TheBlackEternalWings Hhahhahahahhaha

[@ktwolnuts]

@@TheBlackEternalWings actually he seemed pretty nonplussed...

[@nicholasz2510]

Parker plus

[@xmpts3898]

Plus ultra?

[@mr_snowy14]

So has he always considered memorising as cheating? Teacher: Parker you got an A+ in your maths exam. Matt: Thanks, I cheated.

[@mattschottland3777]

U used two diff names for Matt and Parker

[@rawanthebookworm1536]

Technically you don’t need to memorise anything to get an A+ in maths, now if that was a biology test on the other hand ...

[@vinos1629]

Maths isn't about memory

[@olivebranch7769]

@@mattschottland3777 His name's Matt Parker.

[@mohammednasheed9638]

Vinos part of it is.

[@RDSk0]

_From the creator of Parker Square_ comes *MEGAPLUS* _put the "add" into "addiction"_

[@nonachyourbusiness1164]

KinRedysko Hah, love it

[@wobblysauce]

Parkers Addition.

[@jeffirwin7862]

It's a real Parker Square of an operator.

[@qbwkp]

Hahahaha

[@andymcl92]

But where does it fit into BODMAS (/PEDMAS)?

[@rokljhui864]

"Never memorize anything you can look up" Albert Einstein. Even that quote, I needed to look up.

[@andrewmat]

"how much is 2 + 2?" "Let me look up on the calculator"

[@robertolvera4390]

That quote aged poorly

[@alexeysaranchev6118]

@@andrewmat But that is solvable.

[@codinghub3759]

Exactly. Call it laziness if you want, but if all the information I need can be searched in less than a second, why do I need to memorize it?

[@reizinhodojogo3956]

@@codinghub3759 cause not always u have ur home internet router flying out of ur home to give u internet

[@prathampatel7408]

Teacher : You can’t bring any cheat notes in the exams Student : but you can memorise the cheat notes *”modern problems require modern solutions”*

[@pongopea]

i still can’t believe you took a month to learn the tables just to prove a point

[@erictalkington5674]

That is a determination that many people do not have. Don't underestimate it. That kind of tenacity will make someone be the kind of person who becomes a billionaire just to prove a point.

[@tramquangpho]

I feel really guilty about this , I spend a year to get a certificate N1 in Japanese- highest level just to prove a point to my teacher said I can only learn English and French fast just because it is Latin alphabet- same as my native language. Despite I didnt like Japanese that much

[@richardfeynman2960]

He didn't 😁😁 it's a joke.

[@epicac100]

"If you wanna cheat, it's really quite straightforward. You put aside a month or two just to memorize this, and you can cheat with this inside your brain. That's the great thing about the human brain: you can cheat by memorizing your cheat notes, and then you can look at them without anyone being able to tell. It's a real loophole in life--you can cheat by memorizing." -Parker 2k17

[@user-ju5rt6ph1o]

thats called studying

[@MichaelClark-uw7ex]

That's how I got through high school and university, no wonder it was so easy...and boring. The subject matter such as this video wasn't boring, it was the way my instructors taught, I learned more by memorizing the text books and reference books, like Matt said.

[@GamiCross]

I have a friend with perfect recall memory and I think he's being a jackass every time he brings something like THAT up "Just remember every detail perfectly, it's easy."

[@MaksKCS]

@@athiwatackaramongkolrotn4842 Studying = learning

[@heiljakepie3347]

omg ill cheat like this from now on dude ur a genius i can get in harvard now

[@davidfelso1932]

thank you numberphile for helping me "cheat" on tests

[@cryoshakespeare4465]

Studying is just like preemptive cheating.

[@aepokkvulpex]

I honestly feel like I saw his whole line about "cheating" referenced in a tumblr post recently and it's just bizarre to think that a meme possibly caught traction from Numberphile - but I'm proud

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

214244 isn't bad either :D

[@IamGrimalkin]

I think I heard him use that line at a live show several years ago, it's not that new.

[@asmus3738]

oh Ho- o

[@JTKatz07]

Boss: where are those reports? Me: *still not available*

[@tommyproductions891]

Jay Tee Kay too busy memorising a few 100,000 maths equations

[@pasunurusaivineeth3739]

"You know, if I had another holiday on the beach, I could sit there and memorize this one, too" - Matt Parker

[@AbudBakri]

I got 10958 problems, but numberphile ain't one

[@achyuthramachandran7391]

Dr.StickFigure idk y buy for some reason ur statement reminded me of Iggy Azalea 😺

[@AbudBakri]

Try a different artist!

[@daksh8747]

Dr.StickFigure I see you everywhere

[@tdoge]

You omnipresent poltergeist

[@TheZenytram]

it is 10958 dude "58", i hope that was a typo.

[@michaelfalkner1186]

Another 8 1's solution: 998 = (111 * ( 11 - 1 - 1)) - 1

[@lunaticnomad0]

Cool!

[@thelevellord574]

Nice you got it shorter by an addition and an exponent 10/10

[@erictalkington5674]

Brutha, you lost me at "Another" lol.

[@IndieGuvenc]

8:02 maybe I'm lost but didn't he say using 1-9 in ascending order. What's up with the 111 i your solution. I don't get this video

[@thelevellord574]

@@IndieGuvenc the thing he is talking about is the number 998 solved with only ones near the beginning of the video

[@dozer1642]

I can’t imagine ever being this bored.

[@sillidill5227]

Ha ha ha

[@vanhelsing4602]

Take it easy there Bubbles

[@StefanoD420]

“Hey bro you wanna play some videogames or wanna see a movie?” “Nahh G I’ve got these math problems I’m working on”

[@jeffkosterewa9848]

to him, doing this stuff cures boredom.

[@dozer1642]

jeff kosterewa no doubt. I don’t think any less of him for enjoying it, I just can’t picture myself spending more than five minutes in a row trying to beat this problem. Looking back, this probably explains my math grades in high school.

[@bluedragon219123]

*What one digit number do you want to use?* Zero. :)

[@anugar106]

That is

[@BrutalOverride]

0!=1. You thought you were ready.

[@thealexanderk1782]

bluedragon219123 he said natural numbers, 0 isn’t a natural number

[@BrutalOverride]

@@thealexanderk1782 0 is a very natural number. If I take all your stuff, how much stuff ya got? 0. You have 0 stuff's.

[@poparobertandrei1698]

@Jatin Bangar Aren't thosr the counting numbers? Or are the natural numbers and the counting numbers the same?

[@windfall2147]

We need to wait the next Universe patch to fix this bug.

[@IAmStaka]

Blizzard spinning in their graves reading this.

[@victorh5513]

Don’t hold your breath. We’re still waiting on the Mandela bug fix.

[@TechnicolourMan]

LOL.

[@lolno6975]

@EXP Sheepy did u hear that???

[@lolno6975]

@EXP Sheepy it was the joke

[@absharhassan2566]

6:17 EA would love this guy. 😂

[@sandeepssanlab8029]

Hahaha

[@zachariasprice3762]

He received a job invite for a high ranking position in their marketing department 4 days later. His math knowledge will surely come in handy.

[@jimilowe6642]

XD

[@AbandonedMines11]

This was a very interesting video. I find obscure stuff like this to be very enlightening and entertaining. Thanks also for providing the links to the PDF downloads of Taneja’s formulas. Very cool.

[@taserto2508]

damn i didnt know u liked math lol (or found it interesting

[@ArnoldPranks]

2:40 - Inder Jeet Taneja is a Professor from India, but teaches in Brazil, yes.

[@marcuscasagrande7596]

Obrigado! Eu já estava pensando "isso nao é um nome brasileiro definitivamente" hahahha

[@InAnotherLife90]

If it said Pajeet I would've known. The Inder was pretty obvious tho too

[@allisround]

Yes, taneja is an indian surname

[@pbr3s]

i think he was naturalized brazilian.. as i found in google a CV that says he was born in Delhi and is Brazilian. The guy in the video is not that wrong

[@devd_rx]

@@pbr3s no he isn't natural Brazilian, taneja is indian name

[@theatheistpaladin]

Next Numberphile video, how to use the new mega plus function.

[@sadhlife]

it's a basic increment funtion in c++ and java, etc. eg. a = 5; a++; cout

[@flourbvoy1269]

Well done, mate. :D

[@user-vo8zx1db6m]

I imagine it would just be: 2(n+x) or alternatively (depending on how you feel) n²+x², or even (n+x)²

[@LupeFenrir]

What kind of genius could memorize such a crazy long list of stuff... *Notices my 3DS on the desk with pokémon in it. Right, never mind.

[@muazkashif8554]

LupeFenrir SAME

[@zackrakesh6151]

lol i can memorise over 700+ pokemon names, moves and abilities but not a simple proof i need for the exam.

[@HK_BLAU]

You remember things you're interested in *shrugs*

[@DekuStickGamer]

+HJ BLAU /thread

[@gasquakestudios]

The human brain is amazing!

[@jrsleao]

He eas my professor at UFSC in south Brazil. He is originally from India but has been in Brazil for many many years now. Brilliant guy. Great professsor!

[@MattsCrazyArt]

"I can sit here on the beach and memorize all of these" (Holds up 50 page packet of Algebra problems in 14 pt. font) Me: Clearly not all people are built the same. You couldn't pay me enough money to sit on a beach and do that.

[@jamesbatley173]

It's official guys. Mega-plus is now an operator. 2:02

[@Peter_1986]

How does the mega-plus operator work?

[@content1968]

@@Peter_1986 yes

[@Peter_1986]

@@content1968 So every time you write a mega-plus you say "yes" and this solves the equation?

[@reidmartin6209]

3 + 3 = 6 3 *_+_* 3 = *_s i c k s_*

[@donnerrob6615]

It looks like a parker plus to me...

[@sorariver]

I completed 10957, and im so tired! ugh, one more wont hurt..

[@HexCypherr]

aylia well you are L

[@Mrz00mik]

(1+2+34)×(5×6+7)×8+(√9)!=10958 It's present for you.

[@Bibibosh]

_z00m1k_ no square roots

[@Bibibosh]

or factorials

[@dj0ml4]

@@Mrz00mik it's 10955

[@Peters-swamp]

*Glitch in the matrix has been found*

[@namelastname4077]

I took the blue pill, so...

[@tommyproductions891]

smarmy Omega he found the source code of life

[@alexandertownsend3291]

Does the matrix have an inverse? Lol

[@schrodinger1cat]

I love how these papers give you the old-timey feel before computers and you had to go through physical records to get something. I wasn't born in time to see that but man that's amazing.

[@red2theelectricboogaloo961]

"memorize your cheat notes" *thats not cheating*

[@SreenikethanI]

**wait. that's illegal!**

[@marselmusic]

_"you can cheat by memorizing you're cheat notes and no one will know"_

[@rebelfriend1818]

*thats the joke*

[@siggodg5950]

The joke just went right over your head *woooosh*

[@raphidae]

That depends. If you need to formally prove something on a test, you *could* memorize the entire proof, but that would be cheating the test. If you pass the test without having the requisite knowledge the test is testing you for, you have cheated the test (and yourself).

[@HoTrEtArDeDcHiXx]

Likable mathematicians like Parker are hard to find. He's a keeper

[@maddy3852]

I've known about him for a while but I've been diving into his videos and they're so entertaining.

[@patrickboyle3106]

I wish I had a math teacher like this. Someone who so enthusiastically showed the beauty in math, instead of the snooze factory I was forced to attend in high school. Bravo all.

[@tsresc]

02:37 Inder Jeet Taneja is a brilliant Mathematician. He is one of my fav. Mathematicians who came up with innovative and funny math problems. Great video! I love your channel. Math is super awesome.

[@rg-hd6sb]

are you inder jeet taneja?

[@krish28july]

Matt Parker is the BEST .

[@standupmaths]

Krish Vijayan This comment is the BEST.

[@twwc960]

No it isn't. It's a fairly dull comment. I'm not saying it is (or isn't) true, merely that it is far from being the best comment.

[@schadenfreudebuddha]

well, he's not exactly impartial. a Parker Square of impartiality, if you will.

[@unflexian]

2:00 That's a parker plus

[@SomethingUnreal]

A plarkus?

[@robinsparrow1618]

parker portmanteau sorry

[@Reitenshii]

sagiksp With the Parker plus, is there a "magic plus"?

[@willdebeast3172]

There are basically 3 types of people in this world: 1. Those who can't do math 3. Those who can’t do math

[@leonardoraphael8867]

2. Those who can't do math

[@sumsarsiranen]

3. Those who claim 0=1

[@weetabixharry]

There are 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary and those who don't.

[@georgen.2959]

I wrote only 2 of 3, that’s other one?

[@icantth1nkofanam40]

@@weetabixharry so original

[@austinholt8987]

This Brazilian dude must have been INCREDIBLY bored though

[@solaribass2491]

10958 is part of the premium version

[@funfus90]

1+-2+3×(4+65×7×8+9) = 10958

[@britishsausage9993]

fun fus 65**

[@want-diversecontent3887]

@@funfus90 123465789

[@sly4u247]

3:22 best definition of learning ever!!

[@cj222100]

Geez that first paper you memorized!?! That's absolutely insane, I wouldn't be able to memorize even one column of one page!

[@fl641]

First video i watch in this channel and im already subscribing. Great one!

[@whoeveriam0iam14222]

today is the 1 year anniversary of the Parker Square

[@thatzachary]

Pulling out those sheets of paper was a pretty funny moment.

[@colinnewton7291]

Your enthusiasm is infectious.

[@I_SuperHiro_I]

Can you imagine how crappy he felt when he found 1 that doesn’t work after 10957 others? Lol

[@inkyscrolls5193]

I was just waiting for that Parker Square reference!

[@Yaka95]

Did he actually memorize all the solutions to the 999 numbers?

[@elinag5743]

Yaka95 I feel like that's a lot of brain space wasted... LOL

[@Yaka95]

Yeah, I'm not sure if he was joking or not lol

[@JakeDavidHarrison]

I think he was probably joking, that's a huge task for anybody who isn't a savant.

[@jacks.4390]

If he did, I'm sure there are some patterns. Seems too hard to memorize 9000 independent pieces of information, at least in a month.

[@IamGrimalkin]

Well he did actually do 10 coin flips in a row... and then the confetti cannon broke.This is a guy with patience.

[@JamesCFan]

3:02 Here I am studying for every test while I could have just cheated by memorizing everything...

[@kevinl6231]

How fascinating. What could you possibly do with this information?!

[@liammartinsmith1]

The actual information is likely 99% useless as it's pretty abstract. But if the Indian dude has come up with a method for verifying that his calculations are the shortest possible root to get an answer and with just the resources available each time, that likely has some very useful applications in computing or quantum mechanics or something similar if it can be made into an algorithm in A.I. Sometimes we don't always have a full set of tools to do something or we don't use our tools in the most efficient way. This guy likely does a lot of useful maths too and this little party trick could be an offshoot of something massive he has worked on and solved. Peniscillin was an accidental discovery that came from just dicking about carelessly though so even not having a purpose in the outset can be amazingly useful in the end.

[@shaunsurname8275]

You could use it to focus on if you were in a back room of a pawn shop being abused by a policeman and his friend. It would take the edge off a bit

[@dnjj1845]

You never know. It can be applied to a computer algorithm to solve a significant problem that would otherwise be unsolvable. Just look at cyber security.

[@shaunsurname8275]

@@dnjj1845 or end up providing concious thought, free will, ambition and unquenchable thirst for human blood and power to otherwise mundane machinery. Slippery slope messing about with numbers that have no use for people. Very slippery indeed

[@ikickss]

I don't know. But.... since even magic squares found applications(IC designs), it's only matter of time, someone find a use for this.

[@sams6306]

2:12 "but people would cease watching the video quite quickly" Try me

[@Fishbunnn]

2:01 "Ugh, I've done two pluses there, that is a mega plus, oh my godness that's pretty plus" I died xD

[@Thornskade]

I can't even begin to fathom how long this must've taken to assemble, and the hilarious part is that there's probably a method to this madness that allowed him to get to the results much faster which is even further beyond my grasp.

[@ErikID142]

He probably just wrote a script to solve it by brute force.

[@BigAl6405]

Didn't learn anything useful from this video, but I did find it very relaxing to watch

[@Mrz00mik]

If you can't find answer for this question, that's it (1+2+34)×(5×6+7)×8+(√9)!=10958

[@harshadpatil4961]

Nice.. 3 factorial...

[@neo778]

Wow - great!

[@classygamingcollective2749]

That you memorized that many things is more impressive than the trick you were doing. You should just lead with the cheat sheet and tell people you got it memorized.

[@DoofEvil]

Dogman G *8,991. For every number there is 9 expressions

[@denialater7775]

you guys honestly think he memorized these? lol

[@egenuch9844]

@@denialater7775 I thought he was definitely being sarcastic at first, but then he didn't explain a non memorizing way to get there. So I guess you know he didn't do it by memory and how??

[@denialater7775]

@@egenuch9844 in sure it was scripted or it he was looking at the sheet when the camera was looking at the paper

[@zwan1886]

@@egenuch9844 A non memorizing way like.. looking it up in the piece of paper he has right next to him? Are you that dense?

[@craigcook3801]

I've literally only just started watching your channel because the KZbin algorithm proposed a video of how to beat Dr. Nim and then after watching one more I'm now I'm in love with maths... Also I'm from the UK so we say maths rather than math lol.. But wow super hyped to find out that "math" is actually fun

[@slavengerdrmassepoyves-mar1969]

man , should give this J. Taneja a special prize> ascending descending nobel prize !

[@orhan771]

11000 - 10958 = 42 (The Answer)

[@thibautguerquin6087]

I see what you did there, Google is your friend ;)

[@treyhibbard]

The legend has been real all along. How could we be so blind

[@matthewplayspiano7053]

That’s real funny Sadam Huseyn

[@kroneyt1493]

@@matthewplayspiano7053 gg

[@arinerm1331]

I just added the 42nd Like. Do I win the Universe?

[@UselessGTAV]

This BLEW my mind

[@nachovyofficial]

Numberphile: *finds a number* Also Numberphile: *THE PROBLEM WITH THIS RANDOM NUMBER WE FOUND NOW*

[@mexicanhonoka]

This is like a Life Hack that I never knew existed. I feel poweful now but sadly I dont know how to use this power.

[@Mayhzon]

If it doesn't enhance your life, it's not a life hack. Just more useless "knowledge" you get a ton of in "education". This is so bored and tired, it isn't even a fun fact, because it isn't fun. Just typical math nerds thinking they're super smart about something that won't help you or anyone else for that matter.

[@FromTheMountain]

Time to test my Python skills :).

Any results after 6 hours?

[@FromTheMountain]

Hmm.... i might have underestimated the problem a little bit. I have to make the script place all kinds of operators in an expression and then make it evaluate it, which is a bit more difficult than I thought. Plus, I have to tell the script to put brackets in all types of places... I've given up on it for now, however I might get back on it soon.

[@lucbourhis3142]

Obvious tip: abstract! Expression tree… Similar method as used to find solutions for the infamous game "Countdown"

Ok, here are my findings so far: You can have the following different operators: +;-;*;/;_ (nothing, just chaining the digits to a bigger number);*- (multiply with the negative) and /- (divide by the negative). +- is just - and -- is just +. On 8 positions, that's 7^8=5.764.801 combinations, which should be pretty straightforward to implement (_ before * / *- /- before + -). Also the 1 can be negative, which doubles this. Now to the brackets, which are the really difficult part about this: You could try to optimize it and put in all the rules so that you get all different possibilities, but only the necessary variants. But that's extremely difficult, because you could for example have multiple opening and/or closing brackets between two numbers, you can have a closing bracket, an operator and an opening bracket, but that not if the operator is _, because obviously you can't put two digits together to one number, but have it split with brackets. That would just be multiplication, we don't want that. Also you would want to exclude things like (1) or ((1+2)). And the more you think about it, the more can go wrong. So don't restrict the position of brackets too much. But what can you restrict? The total amount. In the worst case you might get something like 1-(2-(3-(4-(5-(6-(7-(8-9))))))), which are 7 pairs of brackets, but you can shorten that to 1-2+3-4+5-6+7-8+9. And I haven't found any combination yet that needs more than 4 brackets. So that's pretty reasonable. You can start a bracket from [before the 1] to [between 7 and 8] and end it after at least two numbers. So depending on how much effort you want to put into reducing the number of possibilities further, you can spend different amounts of time with that or let the computer do it. You could just (or I could, I want to do it, too) let the computer place four starting brackets at the 7 different positions and the ending brackets at the end positions >=2 after the opening one. That way you would also have the brackets linked and never have too many early closing brackets. And invalid cases like )_( it could just skip, there shouldn't be too many of those. All that's left now is to program the actual operator evaluation, which should be a fun programming challenge unrelated to math(s). The limited amount of brackets should allow you to rearrange it as you need it before actually evaluating it. Maybe give every digit group a priority index? I don't know, I haven't thought about that too much yet. I'm pretty sure that the brackets will make the number of possible combinations insanely high, so it might need some more optimizations to run in a reasonable time. I would keep my PC on for a week if that's definitely necessary, but I wouldn't want a full month. So if it takes too long, I would have to optimize further.

But... If the computer already runs that long... Why not save ALL the results and sort them? Then you have a complete index! It's a limited amount of possibilities anyway, you can't go to 10 or 11 (or A or B), because it's all base 10 based and the length is also limited. So we can make a complete table, not just a small one that this quoted person (whose name I forgot) made!

[@DanielQRT]

Mitochondrion is the powerhouse of the cell.

[@edmundsmith9482]

The solution to 998

[@TheDjurze]

Daniel mitochondria is plural! The mitochondrion is the powerhouse of the cell

[@hecko-yes]

George William Sykes Nobody says it like that though.

[@nauvalrifky3502]

oh,well thanks im 9th grade btw,and i need that info how about you?

[@lereff1382]

Digestion begins in the mouth!

[@rn5598]

I’ve no idea how I’ve arrived at this video but I love it

[@JordanHJ]

10958? That's Numberwang!

[@paulduncan3214]

I've got it . I have written it down in the margin of my maths book as it's so simple . Must dash .

[@Statalyzer]

^ Amazing.

[@BiggieTrismegistus]

Nice

[@funfus90]

1+-2+3×(4+65×7×8+9) = 10958

[@greennuckles1875]

@@funfus90 wrong order

[@killiman8289]

Your name is Matt Parker and you look like a mix between Matt Stone and Trey Parker.

[@luckyducki]

DufferTheRoleplayer this is really scaring me

[@marcuscasagrande7596]

HAHAHAHAHAHA

[@promerops]

With a dash of Michael Palin thrown in. Have any statistical studies been done on the limit of facial characteristics combinations?

[@FlawlessRythym]

Illuminati

[@siestaface]

Hah! Gae!!!!

[@Danimal1177]

Okay, smartass, my three digit number is 181, and my single digit is 0. Proceed.

[@booshwireless]

0 is a lack of digits not a digit itself

[@HunterPhenomMakoy]

Matt White Wrong

[@booshwireless]

@@HunterPhenomMakoy I give it's a digit

[@McDe_]

Most mathematicians dont count 0 as a natural number tho

[@HunterPhenomMakoy]

Dennis L I agree on that.

[@bengieg3152]

I really enjoyed watching this video!

[@b.clarenc9517]

6:16 This is the 2nd time in my life I hear the word "freemium", the last one was 1h ago. Nice coincidence, cosmos.

[@GewelReal]

Freemium*

[@steamaccount3442]

That's the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon.

[@rawtrout3402]

life is freemium

[@tubester358]

All modern cloud services that people have access to for free and can pay for more premium features use the freemium business model; e.g. all cloud storage services, website making/hosting sites like wix/wordpress, free apps with pro versions etc.

[@rawtrout3402]

freemium is a very common word among gamers especially mobile games where u pay to win (freemium)

[@DiamondzFinder_]

I would happily watch a ten hour video of Matt showing off this trick.

[@Skelingtronnn]

"Here is a problem no one was really looking for solution for... but I think I found one" Yep, mathematicians in a nutshell.

[@xedron1079]

DEAR KZbin I FINALLY WATCHED THIS VIDEO NOW PLEASE STOP RECOMMENDING IT TO ME

[@smyasir0]

EXACTLY !

[@CinematicLaboratory]

They also say 'division by zero' can't be done even though the Universe did it right from the start. This is probably why we still don't have warp drives. But a great video, regardless.

[@belgaer4943]

I would love to study you

[@theillestvillain9409]

Did anyone just went to the comment section just to find someone who solved the 10958 problem?

[@deadaces7949]

still searching!

[@rawtrout3402]

he cheated. he memorized 10,000 number combinations

[@11metalfan]

Send it to 4chan

[@rawtrout3402]

10958chan*

[@11metalfan]

@@rawtrout3402 (4+(4÷4))×(4^(4))×(4)×((4+4)÷4)+(44×(4×4))+((4×4)−(4 +4)÷4) chan

[@samueldeandrade8535]

Oh! My! Euler! Taneja??? I met him! I studied in the university in which he works. Or worked. What a surprise!!!

[@PianoScenesMoviesandSeries]

I really thought I had a cool new math trick to impress family and friends at boring parties. Turns out this wizard just remembered the combinations.

[@achu11th]

Happy parker birthday, matt.

[@achu11th]

The mega plus: a parker square of a matt operation

[@alef97]

two plus two is four, minus one, thats three, QUICK MAFFS

[@sel5595]

dashD 😂😂I love this comment

[@XxXedig21XxX]

dashD Take off your jacket man, kmon

[@adbrz09]

I'm laughing at this waaaaay more than I should... I don't know why..!!! ROFL

[@tommyv4980]

SKEEYAAAAAAA

[@zenterno-zt1pl]

Scrrrrrŕraaaaah pop pop pop pop pah

[@marchaustein1429]

I could go on the whole day Would love to see that with every 3-digit number

[@Peter_1986]

Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me at all if Matt actually did memorise all of these tables while chilling at the beach. He just is that kind of person.

[@kamon9339]

i am the 10958. viewer... i am the problem

[@Tastyspanishpaella]

you're not the problem, you was a mistake

[@99bits46]

king betalot xDD

[@bigrainbowdog]

Salman Mehmood "was a mistake" Strokes beard I see

[@johannesvanderhorst9778]

I'd like to like your comment, but then I saw you already have the perfect amount of 42 likes.

[@markfox1545]

@@johannesvanderhorst9778 number not amount.

[@genhen]

"learning"

[@cee_yarr3177]

L E A R N I N G

[@philn.4692]

wat

[@ethanshort9319]

+Kyle Amoroso GLEARNIN

[@lightning77125]

This is the 10,958th unknown problem Numberphile has solved.

[@davidbaranski7718]

this guy remembered a whole thesis in 1-2 months, and I can even learn a paragraph for my french homework

[@JonathanGray89]

I'm thinking the 10958 problem could maybe be feasibly brute forced. The numbers stay the same it's basically just the mathematical instructions and brackets that are different and change the result. I can't imagine it being too difficult for a computer to calculate a list of all of the possibilities.

[@gyurhanaziz7676]

Technically yes. The possibilities are around 4⁸ but if we need brackets things can get out of hand quickly.

[@kirtanshah26]

“That is a mega plus, oh my goodness that is pretty plus”

[@chhayapatel4098]

I use this information to writing an article . So it is very important and useful for me .

[@jakegleinser9648]

This is so absurdly nerdy. I love it.

[@hangugeohaksaeng]

Mat, Did you really memorize that list? If so, I'd love to see a quick video on your method.

[@btnskillsh0t810]

I'm kinda mad at this **** number. Why is it like this? Why does it exist in first place? Was it bullied in school? Maybe unloving parents..

[@kevinmason5093]

What a wonderful use of time it is to find out which numbers make other numbers.

[@MelancoliaI]

This guy is having way too much fun with this number.

[@kchapps973]

Hey man i love your videos. You've single handedly given me hope getting back into mathmatics after abandoning it in grade school. Have you considered doing an episode on the dimensions of the grate pyramid at Giza and it's relationship to the Earth's precision?

[@namelastname4077]

History Channel has an entire week dedicated to this riveting fact

[@thinBillyBoy]

You know he likes math when he calls memorization cheating, because that would mean he didn't work it out and solve it himself.

[@BlakeSegafredo]

Numbers are crazy!! I love this.

[@dvkprod]

"A problem noone's looking for a solution for, but I think I found one." Matt Parker, ladies and gentlemen