My favourite scene from the movie: Sol Robeson: Have you met Archimedes? The one with the black spots, you see? You remember Archimedes of Syracuse, eh? The king asks Archimedes to determine if a present he's received is actually solid gold. Unsolved problem at the time. It tortures the great Greek mathematician for weeks - insomnia haunts him and he twists and turns in his bed for nights on end. Finally, his equally exhausted wife - she's forced to share a bed with this genius - convinces him to take a bath to relax. While he's entering the tub, Archimedes notices the bath water rise. Displacement, a way to determine volume, and that's a way to determine density - weight over volume. And thus, Archimedes solves the problem. He screams "Eureka" and he is so overwhelmed he runs dripping naked through the streets to the king's palace to report his discovery. Sol Robeson: [finishes story of Archimedes' breakthrough] Now, what is the moral of the story? Maximillian Cohen: That a breakthrough will come. Sol Robeson: Wrong! The point of the story is the wife. You listen to your wife, she will give you perspective, meaning. You need a break, you have to take a bath or you will get nowhere.

"As soon as you discard scientific rigor, you are no longer a mathematician, you are a numerologist." --My favorite line from this movie.

@Sethdominus777

4 жыл бұрын

And goes to show the true nature of the author in not knowing that numerology is also symbollic not necessarily literate ....it's literally code and numerology is where it's at

I always saw Pi as a retelling of the story of Icarus. He flew too close to the sun (he even recites a story about staring into the sun) he gained knowledge about the workings of the universe that were too vast for his finite brain to hold. The Kabala group and the stock market traders all want to know the number but they could never comprehend it's true meaning. Max says as much. He understands the universe for a short period and it nearly drives him insane. He has to physically remove that knowledge to save himself.

"But for Aronofsky, God is pain." So, basically, this is the pre-mother! ?

@gjvmbmvm575

3 жыл бұрын

the grandmother

My high school math teacher showed us this movie. I think she thought it was an educational film. It kinda traumatized us.

@KyleKallgrenBHH

7 жыл бұрын

You had a bad high school math teacher.

@stickmangrit

7 жыл бұрын

or, from another perspective, you had THE BEST high school math teacher...

@pineapplepie52

7 жыл бұрын

Tony Goldmark was that before or after you were traumatized by It's a Small World?

@boxorak

7 жыл бұрын

Hey, I've *been* on that ride. You will never know the brain-scarring terror of that song until it's been chanted at you incessantly by soulless animatronics attempting to pass themselves off as human children.

@MsOal

7 жыл бұрын

Love u Tony, fortune and good faith to you

As a mathematician, I feel a lot of people misunderstand what math is, and especially what statistics are. I could go into Gödel's incompleteness theorems, Tarski's undefinability theorem, and so on, and I do recommend you look these up. However, I think the most important thing to remember here is that math, including statistics, is essentially language intended to create models. And as the famous statistician George E. P. Box stated: "Essentially, all models are wrong, but some are useful."

@BretGammons

6 жыл бұрын

Might have a corollary in this Gaiman quote: "The more accurate the map, the more it resembles the territory. The most accurate map possible would be the territory, and thus would be perfectly accurate and perfectly useless."

@The420033

6 жыл бұрын

"MODELS" was the word that was stuck in my head for this entire video.

@derekshoemaker8990

5 жыл бұрын

I'm thinking about going into economics. A field that's been invadee by math. This information is very useful. Thank you.

I saw this film with my Mom on HBO during a vacation back home to Thailand. The last scene with the power drill and the stairway scene has always stuck with me.

The protagonist's name is Cohen, which in Hebrew is the name for priest who performed daily and holiday sacrificial offerings. Could it be that Aronofsky subtly implied that Cohen is the priest of numbers and by their mystical extension of God? He certainly does sacrifice his mental wellbeing a bit every day. And his reward for seeing God is clear "But,' he said, 'you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.'" (Exodus XXXIII:20, NIV) Also, before we attach a descripting integer to something, we must first define it. So, 1+1=2, but what is 1? Is it the value of a set?

I got this movie in a pack with Requiem for a Dream and I still think Pi is the more disturbing film

@grantbarnes3678

5 жыл бұрын

Certainly the better one.

I'm so glad I commissioned this episode. You more than did it justice.

as an atheist jew with a keen interest in jewish mysticism and the esoteric can i just say these last few episodes have been such happy, amazing surprises. no one talks about this stuff! i cant even nerd at other jews about it. you're the best. thank you.

@phinhager6509

4 жыл бұрын

Hey, unsure jew here. Hi.

By the way, I'd like to say that I really appreciate your content warnings. I read the with care and take serious thought over whether to watch the video. Knowing you have warnings makes me more confident that nothing's going to be sprung on me unawares. So thank you.

I kind of wanted you to explore the 'closer to God = pain' side of the story. It's an element that doesn't get picked up a lot in modern stories about interaction with the Divine as a concept. I recall you briefly touching on it in your Angels in America review. I'm reminded of the story of Zeus and Semele, where Semele sees Zeus in his true form and is essentially disintegrated. The Divine, when experienced on a human level, can be catastrophically destructive in an unfiltered form. For all that humans do desire the Divine throughout history and mythology, it is still the unknown, a form of Other, and is thus terrifying. The God that Aronofsky is tapping into is less Six Pounds Eight Ounces Baby Jesus and more Great Cthulhu, so to speak.

i'm a non-believer, but i have no problem "mysterious ways". i find "i know his ways" much more frustrating. anyway, i really enjoy your videos, good work!

Much of the tone and plot of this movie reminds me of H.P. Lovecrafts works. The unknowable truth that obliterates the human mind should the two ever meet.

@murciadoxial8056

5 жыл бұрын

I think aronofsky should adapt lovecraft

@alejandromolina7270

5 жыл бұрын

I think Lovecraft took that concept from the Greeks. To understand the gods is to invite madness.

@iam9991000

5 жыл бұрын

Pi was recommended watching for GMs of Delta Green, a Lovecraft inspired work. You're right on that front.

I'm surprised you didn't mention anything about the Japanese Cyber-Punk influence on this. Huge Testuo The Iron Man vibes in the cinematography and editing

With Kyle's videos, there's always the temptation to watch before one's even seen the movie. Should I? Decisions...

@Perchumovic

7 жыл бұрын

Nooooooooo!

@Perchumovic

7 жыл бұрын

JaredMithrandir "pretentious" but you haven't even seen it..

@Lexivor

7 жыл бұрын

No, definitely see the movie first.

Aargh I love this movie. It's everything I love, arthouse aesthetic, paranoid conspiracies, body horror, meandering philosophizing...!

I was hoping for this. I first saw this movie when I was like 13 cuz it was on Netflix and watch it every so often since then. This film is great.

After watching this I Finally was able to Finish writing a poem I started writing about six months ago. The poem is about being in a toxic relationship with someone who is basically the human equivalent of a leech. A person who only gets involved with creative people to find their spark of creativity, their wellspring of Artistry, the "God" within; only to Discard them once they've Found and Killed said spark. I've been trying to write two or three more bars to it to give it a good finish but I just couldn't find it. That is until I watched this. So Thank you for inadvertently assisting in Creating an ending for my poem. I'm so glad I found your channel. Keep up the Amazing Work.

I'm sad there's no Ray Liotta "Fear me!" in this episode.

@bul13ts

7 жыл бұрын

That's because he is not a good fella! He's a bad bad fella!

God is like the Dao--"The Dao that can be trodden is not the enduring and unchanging Dao. The name that can be named is not the enduring and unchanging name."

@samk522

7 жыл бұрын

Organic Fantasy The Tao is God is the universe is you is me is the Tao. And yet not. "I am and I are all we," as they say.

@brotherdorianj

5 жыл бұрын

@Organic Fantasy: "Tao te Ching"-Lao Tzu. One of my favorite books. I recommend the Stephen Mitchell translation.

Two videos in a week #bless

@HxH2011DRA

7 жыл бұрын

thebookworm1997 Indeed

@aadityabhattacharya

7 жыл бұрын

thebookworm1997 I wish he will be prolific from now

@maximeteppe7627

7 жыл бұрын

it's funny he didn't make it a kaballah week... are there more movies that make notable use of it around?

Yeah, it's great to accept maths at face value until you decide to do a degree in it and find yourself in a 2-hour long lecture on how proving just basic algebra and 5 month-long course on essentially proving differentiation and integration. Not that I'm oddly resentful of my past self for choosing this for me. Not at all. The bitch.

@jadegecko

7 жыл бұрын

I'm still impressed. Hey, at least you (maybe) escaped Dirac Notation!

@ericb4652

7 жыл бұрын

It's coming

@steliostoulis1875

6 жыл бұрын

You don't understand math

"DRILL ......... pleasant voices calmly reciting numbers in harmony" That juxtaposition. Damn.

@FalconPain

7 жыл бұрын

The verses of that song are a fairly decent summary of the philosophy behind this video and movie as well. The video and the Dragon Boy Suede bridge... not so much.

Thank you for the content warning on high frequency sounds. Very few people make note of these things, and it's really considerate that you did so. It gave me enough of a heads-up to keep my volume low.

Nice use of Massive Attack in the background. Also, great video as always Kyle :)

I think it maybe because of this film that I am agnostic. It's almost impossible to know anything is certain. What I do know is that Aronofsky is one of my favourite directors, and this was the review I've been waiting for on Pi. Excellent stuff!

Kyle's videos are always so solid. He really deserves to have all the views.

"Kabbalah is a wonderful religion that mixes the fun part of Judaism with magic." -- Jenna Maroney

It's about time Kyle examined a Darren Aronofsky movie! Pi is one of my all-time favorite films!

@markriva4259

3 жыл бұрын

Why Pi?

This movie was fantastic. One of my top 3.

That's the problem with trying to expand our understanding. Sometimes there is just too much to comprehend. Like butter being spread over too much toast. Human beings are small. Our minds are small. We can not possibly hope to define all the Big Questions in a single lifetime. But personally, the fact that we even try in the first place is beautiful. Hope, ambition, and creativity are beautiful. But they are also just as beautiful as a wave, or a flame, or a tiger. Just as dangerous as well.

In the words of Prof. John Frink: "PI IS EXACTLY THREE!"

@helenanilsson5666

6 жыл бұрын

I recall one Discworld book (Going Postal) where "Bloody Stupid" Johnson had invented a machine with pi being exactly three. It kind of bent reality around it, and since it was used to sort letters, you'd sometimes get letters out of it that technically hadn't been written yet, and other such weirdness. I think it's better for everyone if pi is "three and a bit".

"Hey Egon, remember that time you tried to drill a hole in your head?" "That would've worked if you hadn't stopped me."

On the subject of Aranofsky, I'd love to see your take on The Fountain.

@alejoparedes2388

2 жыл бұрын

I recommend checking out Folding Ideas' video for it.

Oh, I love Pi! I'm so glad you reviewed this!!! :) Nice surprise!

Thank you for doing this, Kyle. I've actually waited years for this. Pi is how I found Darren's work, and I'm taking this movie to the grave with me.

If you have ever seriously considering drilling a hole in your head, you know what a bad sinus headache feels like. In all seriousness, Aronofsky's films fascinate me. I have seen (so far) Pi, Requiem for a Dream, and The Wrestler. Each are very different movies, but also very stylish. I still find it fascinating that, for me, Requiem went from being that movie I can't handle watching ever again to "Hey once I took notice of some visual styles and the editing in this movie, it became a whole new experience!" It never occurred to me that transcendence was a them in these movies, and now I have to rewatch them...woe is me lol Speaking on Pi specifically, I could never put my finger on it, but something about the way it's edited made me respond to the question "What is it about this movie that you like so much?" with "It has a really cool style." I like Max's monologues, ramblings, and the choice to make it a black and white film. In retrospect, the theological discussion had within the movie actually brings to mind Lovecraftian horror. Max suffers pain in his pursuit of this number because God is incomprehensible, and attempts to comprehend Him(?) result in detrimental effects to the mind and even the body.

Kyle, I will just go outright and say it - this is one of your best videos in a while!

A very fascinating film and philosophical discussion to watch. Great video and choice Kyle!

I love this movie so glad your covering it

I am surprised it took you this long to look at a Darren Aronofsky film

With what I know now, thank you Kyle. That you treat us believers and what we live by with the frankness it needs and the respect it deserves.

I should be working on a term paper right now, but then I saw a BHH upload and dropped EVERYTHING

First time i saw this film, me and my friend had nothing to do and so we were zapping around on the telly and suddenly this film comes up, we're like ''what a hell''. Watched it and loved it.

One day Kyle will make a video that doesn't somehow make me teary eyed. But not today.

the episode we all have been waiting for

One of the best movie that no one has seen.

Kyle, I have followed brows held high for years. And I show my friends your content whenever I deem it appropriate. But I would love to see you and Leon Thomas from "renegade cut " discuss film.

I watched this film with my brother when I was quite a bit younger (maybe 14 or 15) after we found it on video at a charity shop and thought it looked interesting. We were both completely baffled by the film, and immediately went online afterwards to find an explanation of the plot. The bit that I found strangest (and which I'm surprised Kyle didn't mention in his review) was the line about looking into the sun and what that had to do with anything.

Thank you for this, just thank you.

glad youre still making videos

I have legit been hoping that you would cover this film since I discovered your work! So I was excited when you dropped the hint during your last video. I watched this movie my freshman year of college for a seminar on Kabbalah. And boy did it eff me up for a couple days... Yeah I can attest that the content warning is spot on.

F E A R M E !

I don't know how to express my feelings about this review in a simple comment. I saw this movie when I was in highschool and at the time I felt frustrated because I thought I didn't understand it. After watching this review I realized that I did understand it and it actually had a profound impact on me. Thank you, this video really moved me.

One of my favorite facts about this movie is how there was no money in the budget for shooting permits, so they just had one guy as a lookout to warn if cops were coming.

Dood. Have no words for this review. Loved it. Pi is my favorite movie and you summed it up perfectly. First video I see from you, and now, I have subscribe. You just get it. First up review I see that gets it. David Aronofsky is amazing.

Aronofsky's movies get under my skin like nobody else's, and I mean that in a good way (I think?). I'm convinced he suffers from migraines. Pi feels like one giant migraine, put on screen, with sporadic flashes and buzzing noises as representations of flaring pain. When Cohen imagines opening up his skull to touch the part that hurts him, I think "That's it. That's what a bad migraine feels like." His hallucinations become more frequent, culminating in a literal drill to the head. I can't watch this movie a second time because it hits too close to home. Do any other migraine-prone viewers feel that way about Pi?

Great video! This particular film could not have been easy to decipher.

Your content warnings actually make sense

Only 4 minutes in, but props to Kyle for the track from Vampire: Bloodlines :)

Great video! I love seeing you talk about Jewish concepts, Kyle!

Hey, finally a movie I've seen prior to an episode. I feel so smart now.

As a mathematician, I love this movie. But, the question present in the movie regarding the nature of "mathematical truth" is explained in the mainstream of Philosophy of Mathematics as follows: Math works because it's just a set of rules. To say that "2+2=4" is an absolute truth is akin to say that "a touchdown gives six points" is also an absolute truth. And indeed, it is "absolute truth", but just because the "rules say so", and that's also the case with math. "2+2=4" is true in the sense that, if I follow some rules, then the expression can be reduced to another expression which is "valid" in the criteria set by the rules. In mathematics there are two kinds of rules: rules of replacement "the symbol 2 stands for 1+1", and rules of validation. For example, if I say "2+2=3", that doesn't fit with the validation rules in mathematics, and thus, it is considered a false statement. The movie is a representation of what is called "Platonism", which is the mystification of mathematics. The idea that these "rules" are universal, or preexist in a way. And, it makes Max go insane at the end. Not a nice propaganda piece for Platonism or mathematics, but, in any case, a very fun and intense movie.

final u analysis work of a director who I know and appreciate

@aadityabhattacharya

7 жыл бұрын

his work I mean

I love your video. As a jew turned atheistic physicist/mathematician, I can relate strongly to some of the ideas presented. I do have an issue (very nitpicky, I'll admit) with the "accept math to be true, because it is". Math operations have a non arbitrary execution process. Addition and multiplication can be represented as sliding and contracting of the number line respectably. Furthermore, numbers (integers in this case) in numerical mathematics are the size (cardinality) of sets of objects of the given number: 5 is the size of a set with 5 objects in it, 0 is an empty set. I see it a bit like Bertrand Russell, where a mathematical concept cannot exist purely on the basis of "It is true" or "I defined it as an axiom", there must be a concrete definition for concept, unless by intention they are set to be arbitrary. Also, in regard to the god question, Sean Carroll gave a presentation analyzing god from a scientific prospective, which I hope you'd like kzread.info/dash/bejne/l6uTxbCIfsvOe6w.html

I watched this movie alone on Netflix and I interpreted I first this as a horror movie. The ants, the capitalist conspiracy, the growing bluge on the side of the guy's head, the cluttered computer room, and the lack of color all lead me to believe that something incredibly horrifying was about to happen, (which arguably does happen.) "God" doesn't need to show off some powerful magic, smite people, or even exist to be scary, it just needs to be represented by something just as incomprehensible.

Love you kyle

this movie has a kickass soundtrack.

@jadegecko

7 жыл бұрын

It was my introduction to electronica. Never looked back.

@fluidthought42

7 жыл бұрын

Is that the amen break I hear?

"What is Knowledge?" "Knowing" is half the battle.

My favorite thing about this movie is that by the end it turns into Raiders of the Lost Ark

For all the unpleasant shit that my brain subjects me to, I do like the fact that I'm able to conceive of these types of arguments before explicitly coming in contact with them.

Excellent analysis. The only thing you missed was dangerous knowledge, which is the entire point of the movie IMHO. Some truths are opposed to living, and Max had to literally drill a hole in his head in order to expel his dangerous truth and continue living.

That pi song at the end reminds me of College Humor's "She's My Number Pi."

Somebody's gotta say it. Tau. I said it.

Called it.

It's nice to see a youtuber come out about his lack of spirituality so casually. As a kid I was always raised to think of the concept of atheism as shocking or horrible. Those who didn't believe in God were, in a very extreme sense, the "other," and it took a while to eventually come to terms with the fact that I just didn't believe what I was being told, in part because I was so heavily in denial. I hope that in time people won't treat this sort of reveal as shocking, and anyone who doesn't believe won't ever have to cling to their belief out of fear.

@folksurvival

5 жыл бұрын

Most people don't consider it shocking at all.

after watching this film as a kid, I wrote a small--but dense--10 pages long analysis of what each character might represent in our modern intellectual world. then I destroyed it.

Ah yes, the old debate between the Incanters and the Rhetors. ...raise your hand if you got that. If so, HIGH FIVE!

@Lexivor

7 жыл бұрын

I was actually just reading through that book again yesterday.

@davidcolby167

7 жыл бұрын

HIGH FIVE!

Shit, I need to rewatch this movie. I saw it in high school and even though I didn't understand the math/theology discussions I greatly enjoyed the energy, music, and beautiful visuals. I knew there was a lot more going on than I was mature enough to grasp but felt like I was getting a lot out of it anyway. Now that I'm older I should really revisit it.

Angel by Massive Attack.....damn. It's been a long time since I've listened to that.

this movies is the re-telling of the Icarus Myth

Huh, here I thought 1 + 1 = 10

@anyanP

7 жыл бұрын

But 1+1 equals 10, indeed

@vincentroy-croteau2303

7 жыл бұрын

anyanP (ex AlphaP) è_é Everyone hate programer guys

@Lexivor

7 жыл бұрын

Actually 1 + 1 = 11 (in unary).

@Erika-gn1tv

7 жыл бұрын

Lexivor Hey now, watch your language, we use zeroes in this thread!

@bul13ts

7 жыл бұрын

There are 10 kimds of people in this world: those who understand binary, and those who don't. (I stole that line off a t shirt)

This would be an interesting double feature with Noah, the Aronofsky film in which Sir Anthony Hopkins plays Yoda

The idea that the world can be explained by math could be taken to believe that the world is a simulation. After figuring out the code or coming close figuring it out, causes pain, causes people to pull away from knowing, in most extreme examples it results in severe physical problems and possible death, which would explain why Sol had two strokes after figuring it out.

Your description of of the inherent being of mathematics is almost entirely why I'm a STEM major--although I'm hardly against more liberal arts-y type disciplines, I adore the simplicity yet power of numbers. You can tell a number's inherent worth just by looking at it, and their use and existence is omnipresent. If you're doing a math problem, and it doesn't make sense, the issue lies in your understanding of it--if you're reading a philosophy and it doesn't make sense, it's entirely possible it's the fault of the writer. Math doesn't have that gray area of whether something is correct or not, like an essay might; a number either is or it isn't.

Revelation is ruination, the exemplification of the Eldritch. God is a number, eh? That's a great idea. XD I guess you could say... This number pranked us.

There's a video i like called "Astronomy! Cryptography! Epistemology! Oh my!" about some controversies in the history of philosophy over what counts as knowledge. It's good stuff.

Man, the indentation job on that code is more upsetting to me than it probably should be.

The way I saw it this film is not about Pi at all, or maths or religion, to me those seemed like they just were things that the main character obsessed about. To me the film was about mental illness; about knowing what is true and what is imagined when your brain plays tricks on you. The "assumptions" constantly referred to also makes an interesting parallel to the fundamentals of maths, that while seemingly rigorous is ultimately based on a handful of unproven (possibly unprovable) axioms (sort of assumptions). Thinking about this can make you really start to question everything even without mental illness.

ayyy Idea Channel woot

I feel like Sydney and Justin McElroy would be very disappointed in him.

I look forward to the day when I'm not too dumb to comprehend 90% of this. As it is, I'll probably be navel-gazing at the ceiling for some time before I sleep. And because text is insidious for making me sound like a total grouch, let me clarify that exactly none of that was a complaint. ^_^ [skips away]

According to Google's quantum computer, there are 31.4 TRILLION digits in Pi... Which is the kind of random shit that keeps me awake at night.

I was thinking of the episode of "Person of Interest" where Harold has to go undercover as a school teacher, and gives them his own take of Pi.

@Redem10

7 жыл бұрын

End up accidently creating a crime boss because of it! I love person of interest

@J1P2K

7 жыл бұрын

No. I think you are thinking about a different episode. "2'Pi'R". That's the episode I was thinking of.

@Redem10

7 жыл бұрын

Dominic specifically mention Harold story for Pi for being his inspiration for becoming a kingpin

@J1P2K

7 жыл бұрын

Okay.

If you really really really overthink things, there's a point where things stop making sense. Zeno's Paradox for example. If you only think about it for a second, of course a human can outrun a tortoise. Duh. But if you think way too much about fractions of fractions of fractions, it stops making sense that a human could ever catch up to the tortoise. HOWEVER, zoom back out again, and you remember that time is not slowing down as Achiles gets closer and closer to the tortoise, time still continues at the same rate. Also an infinitely small fraction is basically 0. Then a zeroth of a second later, it IS in fact zero. Then, a second later, time moves on again. Even in the original story, Achiles and the tortoise didn't actually race, they just argued about mathomatics.

i think this is the only film he's reviewed that i've actually seen

Funny and informative review

I think the pain represents him obtaining​ a higher truth without that understanding. Him being a non-believer and found God through mathematics, he's unable to cope being close to a higher power. Being Mage ST, I also took it has a forced awakening to magick. He forced himself to find that truth about reality and the pain is the universe backlashing. the theists being the synagogue and the technocrats being the financial company want that process he used to awaken himself, adding on additional stress. so in order to seal away that process, well yeah.