The "Why" of Math | Po-Shen Loh | TEDxCMU

Math is much more than memorizing equations; it is the pathway to solving global problems. To illuminate the incredible scope and opportunity math offers, the question asked by every student, every pioneer, every revolutionary mind must become a central cog in how we teach and explore math.
That question is "Why?"
"Why do I have to learn this?"
"Why does this matter in my real life?"
Dr. Po-Shen Loh will share with the audience how, right here in Pittsburgh, with the help of brilliant young minds and advancements in technology, education is being transformed. By striving to answer the "Why?" question, STEM education can grow towards more creative, inclusive, and accessible ways to learn, focused on the individual's personal achievement and growth.
Dr. Po-Shen Loh is a math enthusiast and evangelist. He is a math professor at Carnegie Mellon University, the national coach of the USA International Mathematical Olympiad team, and the founder of the social enterprise expii.com, an education technology startup providing a free personalized learning platform, which combines algorithms and crowdsourcing to deliver a free artificial intelligence-powered tutor for the world of math and science. As an educator, he led Carnegie Mellon University’s math team to its first-ever #1 rank among all North American universities, and led the USA Math Olympiad team to its first-ever back-to-back #1-rank victories in 2015 and 2016. 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

[@hemachandran5632]

"I liked math because me , I couldn't remember anything " the truth has been spoken ,lol.

[@mohamedabdou-salami]

Same here😂

[@khanfahimtajwar01]

Totally agree, that's why I chose engineering over medical study.

[@ti84satact12]

No wonder he found an alternative method for solving quadratics. Math is his passion!

[@Abstract.x]

yeah just saw it yesterday, its great.

[@psloh]

Math can be everyone's passion!

[@shibuthomas2745]

thegrandfinale2 Liar

[@shibuthomas2745]

twistedblktrekie are u a human or trying to be one

[@iancasey1486]

@twistedblktrekie Wow! That would borr me to death!

[@rationalsceptic7634]

A brilliant Mathematician ..one of the world's best Teachers

[@eights6070]

nah

[@mathisreallyfun]

“We want to build a more thoughtful world”. That’s powerful. Thank you!

[@LydiaJ.304]

;)

[@Historiaspulgadaporpulgada]

There is nothing more enjoyable than listening a person that is passionate about something.

[@ChiChi-sw5iu]

I wish you were my math teacher 🥺

[@lorihammond3978]

I just had the pleasure of seeing Po-Shen Loh speak at Florida Gulf Coast University. Absolutely wonderful- enjoyed how he connected math to real-world issues.

[@begumka999]

“we want to build a more thoughtful world” 🥺🌸🌸

[@satnamo]

Language speaks: Mathematic is that which I learn by thinking clearly about simplest things like prime numbers and triangles and we want to build a thoughtful world.

[@davidburrell7229]

This is the most reasonable, passionate defense of the importance and value of mathematics I have had the pleasure of watching.

[@SeaGrae]

Incredible passion and competence, Po-Shen Loh is an inspiration.

[@Mindgearss]

His ideas are really great . I agreed strongly with the part about not having to memorize because that what makes math a great subject

[@creepervideo1106]

I literally truly learned the Pythagorean theorem when I was walking to and from a learning place, there was market in the diagonal, residential spaces on the base and perpendicular, the safer path turned out longer.

[@kamranbaloch4977]

Great.... The art of thinking

[@jennifera995]

he so enthusiastic about math :)

[@joyfergie9532]

You are a real doctor

[@tridsonline]

👍🏻 Brilliant! Another reason i bless my high school math is when i need to compare prices for different quantities/volumes of a product. Also pizzas: is 1 XL pizza better value for money than 2 L?

[@lakshganesh4776]

Math has less concepts to learn compared to history.. A brilliant quote which should be the morning mantra for every middle and high schoolers.

[@dynamixthunder724]

lots of love from india

[@fatongilic3961]

i was horrible at math during k-12 grade. college, i aced every class because i found it interesting. i found a passion for it. and that 6th sense Po-Shen is talking about is real. being able to measure and see the world in a mathematical view was amazing........its now been 10 years and havent practiced math so im down to my 5 senses now............lol

[@satnamo]

Why is das ultimate question!

[@rw7254]

You cannot sugar coat math

[@mohammadzahidshaikh5718]

I love Maths

[@yongjunzhang6908]

It looks so interesting. Could inspire students' intersts in math

[@sporadicdrive5884]

Yeah, he's doing great work as a coach for the US Math Olympiad team

[@JordanPAT]

Free programs like Khan will improve the world.

[@Ensource]

i added them to my charity on amazon smile

[@rackzz9358]

most beautiful question

[@NyimiSemo]

The shortest distance between two points is uma linha reta 🙃

[@katsuranguyen1835]

you guys can watch his daily live stream, he streams every day besides Sunday now. :)))

[@lianduan209]

where i can found his live stream plz：）

[@ivymcginnis8271]

Daily Challenge with Po Shen Loh (KZbin Channel)

[@notagain3732]

Zankoku na tenshi no youni shonen iru tiro ane yamiii

[@Aditya-khurmi]

I liked the beverage riddle!

[@debayuchakraborti1963]

omg omg aditya khurmi !!love your book

[@quirtt]

@@debayuchakraborti1963 thonk

[@debayuchakraborti1963]

@@quirtt thonkerooo

[@arjyasresthaaich7061]

Nice

[@nirv2796]

At 4:03 its like a person in an anime thinking super fast in his head

[@alfredhitchcock45]

My suggestion: bring back the Divinity of Numbers and Math like what Pythagoras did

[@shwethad3107]

wooooooooooooooooooow.....................

[@BryWMac]

I'm 24 and would like to get better at math

[@evanong1393]

❤️

[@manli4055]

I went to his class live

[@hannahz2622]

same

[@misan2002]

I want him as my teacher

[@entubatumahumasu4132]

its a shame this film crew doesnt exist on the internet

[@tahsanmollah]

I have finally overcome the fear of math...

[@dna1238]

Well debunked . Great Talk Mr. Po-Shen Lo

[@BryWMac]

What's debunked?

[@alfredhitchcock45]

“Thinking is what makes us human” - Very poignant!

[@TheGuruNetOn]

So does the half-full martini-glass explain the counterintuitive 80-20 Pareto Principle?!! Where 20% of what you learn is successful against 80% that's unused. Because it describes a 3D space like a valley or a peak instead of a 2D space "learning curve"? 3Dimensions here might mean breadth, depth of learning and time instead of 2Dimensions of learning and time. Just a thought!!

[@coolguycoolguy150]

Ok einstein

[@pamelafrancis4476]

Math is a way of thinking and there are many other ways.

[@reubs91]

It’s called winging it, like intuition, you don’t know the equations you just know how to solve it!

[@StephJ0seph]

This whole Ted Talk was just an ad for Expii lol But there are some useful tidbits of information as well

[@ladanweheliye5688]

[@kylesayshi]

No, thank you! 13:53

[@jessicaxi4000]

i got a picture next to this guy lol

[@tierdrop6041]

what is the show callwed

[@ainbrisk545]

Search up TedTalk.

[@jiaheliu6965]

omg. this is real???? also 8:07 0512???????????? btw im john0512 on aops lol

[@jiaheliu6965]

thanks

[@user-qx4ow3bn7q]

orz

[@yangliu2935]

yas john

[@jiaheliu6965]

thanks A1001

[@jiaheliu6965]

@Qiao Zhang ORZ ORZ ORZ HOW TO GET 150 ON AMC 10

[@suyashishan1960]

I taught the video was about "Why Mathematics is as it is?"

[@LonelySpecter]

Someone answer this What theorem did the student use to catch the bus?

[@JohnSmith-vq8ho]

Unbalance Madness The Pythagorean Theorem

[@LonelySpecter]

@@JohnSmith-vq8ho thank u you just saved a bunch of students time

[@JohnSmith-vq8ho]

Unbalance Madness You’re welcome

[@u.v.s.5583]

By the way, he is wrong. It is something about geodesics being the shortest lines connecting two points and rays of light following geodesics. I would also accept the triangle inequality for an answer, but Pythagorean theorem is simply badly misplaced here.

[@karllynch4571]

@@u.v.s.5583 You are a painfully boring person.

[@Jabezrtp2]

*simple answer "just run faster"

[@FannyMDominguez]

3:59 This part made me laugh, it reminded me of anime fight scenes XD

[@TEACHER.CLEOPHAS]

Wonderful . A young youtuber here. Any support would be highly appreciated guys. Thanks.

[@axizz100]

Dude, I hate maths, but I loved this lol

[@deerh2o]

He clearly loves math, but his first two examples are counterproductive to his argument -- the teenagers using the Pythagorean theorem is a slick video, but it is obvious that going on a diagonal is less than traveling the legs and what city has a 5 block diagonal to a 3-4-5- triangle? The volume problem is set in 2-dimensional drawings -- so asking about volume when drawing area leads folks to choose the wrong answer. In area, the correct answer of 71% is closer to 67% than 80%. The Why of math is in its power to model and its beauty -- no need to compromise on expressing those values.

[@u.v.s.5583]

That video though does not make any sense... It should be about the triangle inequality, not the Pythagorean theorem.

[@karthik.vjirlimath8198]

Video was conveying that hypotenuse of right triangle is the shortest path any 2 points in Euclidean space

[@u.v.s.5583]

@@karthik.vjirlimath8198 It has nothing to do with it being a hypothenusis. Just that it is the most trivial and boring of all geodesics, i.e., the straight line.

[@karllynch4571]

@@u.v.s.5583 The video would be aimed at middle schoolers dude.

[@notagain3732]

Future me you have watched this don't watch it again

[@letsgoBrandon204]

They also taught languages wrong when I was at school in the 90s. Maths and French were the worst subjects for me. They still are. They don't make a song and dance about the poor performance at learning foreign languages because, frankly, they're not as useful as maths (if you're a native English speaker). Another thing lacking is that many people don't get enjoyment from maths or foreign languages, so there's no draw. His point about basketball is a case in point, I didn't/don't like basketball, so I don't know how to play it. Ditto with other sports. If it's your thing, you're going to make an effort. If it isn't, you're not.

[@iancasey1486]

Very wonderful topic. To me math and physics were the easiest subjects in school. Geography and Technical Drawing came next. History and Literature and Languages were the worst.

[@chriszeng1488]

If this guy was a little less nerdier, he would be able to reach out to more people.

[@lakshganesh4776]

He is a great teacher that's all what matters.

[@jaysonbalanday6054]

Good Pm maam/sir im JAYSON E. BALANDAY from the Philippines. I just want to beg a help from other countries who is mathematically inclined i just want to present also my alternative method of evaluating quadratic Equations in easy method in simplest way and also a child friendly approach i hope their is someone who can helps me im just a student. Thanks and Godbless 🙏🙏🙏

[@egregiouslytalented2381]

that would be gr8 mate !!

[@sricharanreddy8071]

I have a doubt from my childhood my mom always says eat lady's finger it will help in learning math . Does it really work comment who knows it. I don't believe in that

[@mayday1457]

I want your clone

[@smitthummar6839]

1st view

[@birkensocks]

Fourth comment

[@aasthasharma3820]

second comment

[@vongstudio]

third comment

[@nolifeonearth9046]

last comment

[@canadianbro9327]

No, I am the last one

[@letstalk4368]

@@canadianbro9327 Now I am

[@techwithareeb1607]

Oh yeah here we go again

[@willday9316]

Animals think all the time.

[@CalBruin]

Sorry, I disagree. Those who pursue mathematics do so for two reasons (a) they were intrigued by some aspect of experienced encounter with mathematics or (b) they see mathematics as a means to an end i.e. for Computers, physics, engineering, or some area in science. More people graduate with degrees in Psychology or Political Science than in Mathematics (except, obviously say at CalTech 😄). Yet there is little to none advertising encouraging teens to pursue Psych or Poli Sci. Even those who do degrees in Economics are reluctant sometimes to do mathematics, not realizing they should have studied up more on their ODEs and PDEs. Again, those who pursued Economics and work in stock trading did not enter because they were excited about spreadsheets and graphs.

[@BryWMac]

If you are really passionate about a profession, you should learn the math necessary to keep up with some current research. I studied finance, it was mostly memorizing formulas for an exam, so I skipped class and would study the night before. I wish I had (and am on the road to pursuing) a more rigorous math education because I believe it shapes your mind and rather than just role playing, you'll actually understand what you're doing, whether it's creating ML algos, working on a lib arts study, or analyzing econometrics.

[@CalBruin]

@@BryWMac that is (a). check out KZbinr Zack Star

[@ultravires4074]

i hate math, but this dude is a Lina spammer in Dota 2 !

[@Ensource]

dont hate. appreciate

[@xavierkreiss8394]

The talk starts by making people laugh at those who have maths anxiety or phobia. Does Dr. Po-Shen Loh have any idea of what it feels like? It'seasier to laugh at people than to try and understand them. Further: I don't understand the explanation he gives for the martini glass. Where does 0,8 come from? He says it's eighty percent... I 'm totally lost. Heightened sensiivity? Is he kidding?Like so many others,he is addressing an audience who understand maths. He has certanly not made me understand it any better. Yes, there are many people who are good at maths and our modern society is based on their work. That does not help me to understand maths or make it more attractive. "Why does this matter in my real life?" It doesn't. Maths is crucially important but whether I myself can do it or not is not important at all. I have lived happily for 70 years without doing maths (I can do simple numerical calculations). I wondered if this talk would make me think differently. It hasn't done so.

[@BryWMac]

Math is becoming more and more important now that we have computers, everything from an accountant to a customer service representative has the potential of being automated, or at least a chunk of its labor forces being disrupted. Learning math is going to be more vital now than ever. I know you've seen disruption in your life but computational power is exponential, not linear, it's progressing faster and faster. I wish I cared about math earlier and I'm only 24.

[@xavierkreiss8394]

@@BryWMac Thanks for responding. You will have noticed that I call maths crucially important and I readily acknowledge that maths is everywhere in our technological society. But I and many of us would say “so what?”: it doesn't mean that all of us should learn maths. And even if this was true, Dr Lo isn't helping. Here he's addressing people who don't seem to have any problems. Looking again (for instance) at the video of the two young men waiting for a bus: it seems to have been put together by people who are good at maths and who find it witty. But if it’s meant to reach people like me, then it fails. I can’t understand it. The glasses puzzle : no idea. And again, here, I don’t understand that "0.8 x0.8 x0.8". He says why but it’s incomprehensible to me. When I make remarks of this kind I often get reactions such as “but what don’t you understand?” “it’s simple”. Yes, simple to you, not to me (and to many others). A few years ago friend tried to help me understand a few points: “but it’s as clear as daylight”, she said often… After trying forover a month (exchanging Facebook Messenger, emails,etc) she gave up, saying she couldn’t help because she couldn’t understand how my brain worked. Ah, I said, it's reciprocal. And that is the point: clever explanations don’t work for many of us. Until those like Dr Lo who are good at maths try to understand those who “don’t get it”, the problem will remain unsolved and will get worse.

[@kawosdhdos]

You're taking the laughter out of context. It's a joke. and you're making a bold assumption about the audience members not having any problems. You have no real evidence or any actual clues to prove that. in fact, most people have problems in math (if they didn't, you should be expecting most people to score above 95 in most math tests but that's simply not the case). Some try to fix them. Sitting there and complaining about how you don't understand it and painting yourself as a victim also helps no one. And Dr. Po-Shen Loh isn't actively trying to help you; this is merely a TedTalk. As for your friend scenario, there are a bunch of reasons it might have not worked. Perhaps her explanations simply didn't work for you. You might've had trouble converting her words into understanding. Perhaps you are lacking visual diagrams. Perhaps you have not thought long enough (I for example spent 4 hours thinking about something I did not understand in math and eventually understood it). Perhaps you're lacking foundations. More reasons that could affect your mathematical ability are that you may be obese, unhealthy, don't get enough sleep, have brain issues, smoke, poor cognitive ability, lack of focus, etc. Perhaps you have dyscalculia, but I think even that can be pushed through with enough training. The situation is not as simple as "people who get math" and "people who don't get math". Most people don't neatly fit into either category. sometimes they understand, sometimes they don't. There are many many factors. I didn't understand the martini thing either, but as you can see, most of the audience voted for the wrong answer. most of them probably did not understand the thing afterwards either if they got the wrong answer. I think its a lot more about lacking context here than actual mathematical ability.

[@ericvega9160]

you are wrong po you are wrong

[@HDitzzDH]

?

[@willrocksBR]

That's it, you convinced me.

[@ericvega9160]

@@willrocksBR damn!! Just like your mom,easy to convience ;())

[@Anku-xi5yz]

@@ericvega9160 dont do people so hard

[@anyariv]

We just sent 40 billion to Ukraine in weapons, why not spend 1 billion of it on teaching math?

[@lakshganesh4776]

Brilliantly said

[@Linshark]

Maybe one should accept that math is for the few..