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

Пікірлер: 143

  • @hemachandran5632
    @hemachandran56323 жыл бұрын

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

  • @mohamedabdou-salami

    @mohamedabdou-salami

    Жыл бұрын

    Same here😂

  • @khanfahimtajwar01

    @khanfahimtajwar01

    2 ай бұрын

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

  • @ti84satact12
    @ti84satact124 жыл бұрын

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

  • @Abstract.x

    @Abstract.x

    4 жыл бұрын

    yeah just saw it yesterday, its great.

  • @psloh

    @psloh

    4 жыл бұрын

    Math can be everyone's passion!

  • @shibuthomas2745

    @shibuthomas2745

    4 жыл бұрын

    thegrandfinale2 Liar

  • @shibuthomas2745

    @shibuthomas2745

    4 жыл бұрын

    twistedblktrekie are u a human or trying to be one

  • @iancasey1486

    @iancasey1486

    4 жыл бұрын

    @twistedblktrekie Wow! That would borr me to death!

  • @rationalsceptic7634
    @rationalsceptic76344 жыл бұрын

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

  • @eights6070

    @eights6070

    Жыл бұрын

    nah

  • @mathisreallyfun
    @mathisreallyfun4 жыл бұрын

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

  • @LydiaJ.304

    @LydiaJ.304

    3 жыл бұрын

    ;)

  • @ChiChi-sw5iu
    @ChiChi-sw5iu3 жыл бұрын

    I wish you were my math teacher 🥺

  • @Historiaspulgadaporpulgada
    @Historiaspulgadaporpulgada3 жыл бұрын

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

  • @begumka999
    @begumka9994 жыл бұрын

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

  • @davidburrell7229
    @davidburrell72294 жыл бұрын

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

  • @satnamo
    @satnamo2 жыл бұрын

    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.

  • @Tiffanyii
    @Tiffanyii3 жыл бұрын

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

  • @jennifera995
    @jennifera9955 жыл бұрын

    he so enthusiastic about math :)

  • @lorihammond3978
    @lorihammond39788 ай бұрын

    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.

  • @SeaGrae
    @SeaGrae4 ай бұрын

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

  • @creepervideo1106
    @creepervideo1106 Жыл бұрын

    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
    @kamranbaloch49772 жыл бұрын

    Great.... The art of thinking

  • @joyfergie9532
    @joyfergie953211 ай бұрын

    You are a real doctor

  • @dynamixthunder724
    @dynamixthunder7243 жыл бұрын

    lots of love from india

  • @tridsonline
    @tridsonline3 жыл бұрын

    👍🏻 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?

  • @fatongilic3961
    @fatongilic39613 жыл бұрын

    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

  • @lakshganesh4776
    @lakshganesh47767 ай бұрын

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

  • @satnamo
    @satnamo2 жыл бұрын

    Why is das ultimate question!

  • @rw7254
    @rw72543 жыл бұрын

    You cannot sugar coat math

  • @mohammadzahidshaikh5718
    @mohammadzahidshaikh57182 жыл бұрын

    I love Maths

  • @yongjunzhang6908
    @yongjunzhang69085 жыл бұрын

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

  • @sporadicdrive5884

    @sporadicdrive5884

    4 жыл бұрын

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

  • @rackzz9358
    @rackzz93584 жыл бұрын

    most beautiful question

  • @JordanPAT
    @JordanPAT4 жыл бұрын

    Free programs like Khan will improve the world.

  • @Ensource

    @Ensource

    3 жыл бұрын

    i added them to my charity on amazon smile

  • @katsuranguyen1835
    @katsuranguyen18354 жыл бұрын

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

  • @lianduan209

    @lianduan209

    3 жыл бұрын

    where i can found his live stream plz:)

  • @ivymcginnis8271

    @ivymcginnis8271

    3 жыл бұрын

    Daily Challenge with Po Shen Loh (KZread Channel)

  • @shwethad3107
    @shwethad3107 Жыл бұрын

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

  • @Aditya-khurmi
    @Aditya-khurmi5 жыл бұрын

    I liked the beverage riddle!

  • @debayuchakraborti1963

    @debayuchakraborti1963

    3 жыл бұрын

    omg omg aditya khurmi !!love your book

  • @quirtt

    @quirtt

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@debayuchakraborti1963 thonk

  • @debayuchakraborti1963

    @debayuchakraborti1963

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@quirtt thonkerooo

  • @notagain3732
    @notagain37323 жыл бұрын

    Zankoku na tenshi no youni shonen iru tiro ane yamiii

  • @alfredhitchcock45
    @alfredhitchcock452 жыл бұрын

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

  • @NyimiSemo
    @NyimiSemoАй бұрын

    The shortest distance between two points is uma linha reta 🙃

  • @nirv2796
    @nirv27965 жыл бұрын

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

  • @BryWMac
    @BryWMac3 жыл бұрын

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

  • @misan2002
    @misan20022 жыл бұрын

    I want him as my teacher

  • @arjyasresthaaich7061
    @arjyasresthaaich70613 жыл бұрын

    Nice

  • @entubatumahumasu4132
    @entubatumahumasu41323 жыл бұрын

    its a shame this film crew doesnt exist on the internet

  • @manli4055
    @manli40555 жыл бұрын

    I went to his class live

  • @hannahz2622

    @hannahz2622

    4 жыл бұрын

    same

  • @tahsanmollah
    @tahsanmollah10 ай бұрын

    I have finally overcome the fear of math...

  • @dna1238
    @dna12383 жыл бұрын

    Well debunked . Great Talk Mr. Po-Shen Lo

  • @BryWMac

    @BryWMac

    3 жыл бұрын

    What's debunked?

  • @alfredhitchcock45
    @alfredhitchcock452 жыл бұрын

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

  • @TheGuruNetOn
    @TheGuruNetOn5 жыл бұрын

    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

    @coolguycoolguy150

    5 жыл бұрын

    Ok einstein

  • @evanong1393
    @evanong13934 жыл бұрын

    ❤️

  • @reubs91
    @reubs912 жыл бұрын

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

  • @pamelafrancis4476
    @pamelafrancis44763 жыл бұрын

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

  • @jessicaxi4000
    @jessicaxi40003 ай бұрын

    i got a picture next to this guy lol

  • @StephJ0seph
    @StephJ0seph3 жыл бұрын

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

  • @tierdrop6041
    @tierdrop60414 жыл бұрын

    what is the show callwed

  • @ainbrisk545

    @ainbrisk545

    3 жыл бұрын

    Search up TedTalk.

  • @kylesayshi
    @kylesayshi3 жыл бұрын

    No, thank you! 13:53

  • @LonelySpecter
    @LonelySpecter4 жыл бұрын

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

  • @JohnSmith-vq8ho

    @JohnSmith-vq8ho

    4 жыл бұрын

    Unbalance Madness The Pythagorean Theorem

  • @LonelySpecter

    @LonelySpecter

    4 жыл бұрын

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

  • @JohnSmith-vq8ho

    @JohnSmith-vq8ho

    4 жыл бұрын

    Unbalance Madness You’re welcome

  • @u.v.s.5583

    @u.v.s.5583

    3 жыл бұрын

    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.

  • @thatkarlguy

    @thatkarlguy

    3 жыл бұрын

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

  • @axizz100
    @axizz1003 жыл бұрын

    Dude, I hate maths, but I loved this lol

  • @jiaheliu6965
    @jiaheliu69653 жыл бұрын

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

  • @jiaheliu6965

    @jiaheliu6965

    3 жыл бұрын

    thanks

  • @user-qx4ow3bn7q

    @user-qx4ow3bn7q

    3 жыл бұрын

    orz

  • @yangliu2935

    @yangliu2935

    3 жыл бұрын

    yas john

  • @jiaheliu6965

    @jiaheliu6965

    3 жыл бұрын

    thanks A1001

  • @jiaheliu6965

    @jiaheliu6965

    3 жыл бұрын

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

  • @ladanweheliye5688
    @ladanweheliye56885 жыл бұрын

  • @notagain3732
    @notagain37323 жыл бұрын

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

  • @suyashishan1960
    @suyashishan19603 жыл бұрын

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

  • @deerh2o
    @deerh2o4 жыл бұрын

    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.

  • @Jabezrt
    @Jabezrt4 жыл бұрын

    *simple answer "just run faster"

  • @TEACHER.CLEOPHAS
    @TEACHER.CLEOPHAS3 жыл бұрын

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

  • @u.v.s.5583
    @u.v.s.55833 жыл бұрын

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

  • @karthik.vjirlimath8198

    @karthik.vjirlimath8198

    3 жыл бұрын

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

  • @u.v.s.5583

    @u.v.s.5583

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@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.

  • @thatkarlguy

    @thatkarlguy

    3 жыл бұрын

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

  • @FannyMDominguez
    @FannyMDominguez3 жыл бұрын

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

  • @iancasey1486
    @iancasey14864 жыл бұрын

    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.

  • @letsgoBrandon204
    @letsgoBrandon2043 жыл бұрын

    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.

  • @mayday1457
    @mayday14572 жыл бұрын

    I want your clone

  • @birkensocks
    @birkensocks5 жыл бұрын

    Fourth comment

  • @smitthummar6839
    @smitthummar68396 жыл бұрын

    1st view

  • @aasthasharma3820
    @aasthasharma38206 жыл бұрын

    second comment

  • @vongstudio
    @vongstudio6 жыл бұрын

    third comment

  • @chriszeng1488
    @chriszeng1488 Жыл бұрын

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

  • @lakshganesh4776

    @lakshganesh4776

    7 ай бұрын

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

  • @sricharanreddy8071
    @sricharanreddy80713 жыл бұрын

    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

  • @jaysonbalanday6054
    @jaysonbalanday60543 жыл бұрын

    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

    @egregiouslytalented2381

    3 жыл бұрын

    that would be gr8 mate !!

  • @nolifeonearth9046
    @nolifeonearth90465 жыл бұрын

    last comment

  • @canadianbro9327

    @canadianbro9327

    4 жыл бұрын

    No, I am the last one

  • @letstalk4368

    @letstalk4368

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@canadianbro9327 Now I am

  • @techwithareeb1607

    @techwithareeb1607

    2 жыл бұрын

    Oh yeah here we go again

  • @willday9316
    @willday93164 жыл бұрын

    Animals think all the time.

  • @ericvega9160
    @ericvega91604 жыл бұрын

    you are wrong po you are wrong

  • @HDitzzDH

    @HDitzzDH

    4 жыл бұрын

    ?

  • @willrocksBR

    @willrocksBR

    4 жыл бұрын

    That's it, you convinced me.

  • @ericvega9160

    @ericvega9160

    4 жыл бұрын

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

  • @Anku-xi5yz

    @Anku-xi5yz

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@ericvega9160 dont do people so hard

  • @ultravires4074
    @ultravires40744 жыл бұрын

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

  • @Ensource

    @Ensource

    3 жыл бұрын

    dont hate. appreciate

  • @anyariv
    @anyariv Жыл бұрын

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

  • @lakshganesh4776

    @lakshganesh4776

    7 ай бұрын

    Brilliantly said

  • @Linshark
    @Linshark4 жыл бұрын

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

  • @xavierkreiss8394
    @xavierkreiss83943 жыл бұрын

    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

    @BryWMac

    3 жыл бұрын

    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

    @xavierkreiss8394

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@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

    @kawosdhdos

    2 жыл бұрын

    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.

  • @CalBruin
    @CalBruin3 жыл бұрын

    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

    @BryWMac

    3 жыл бұрын

    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

    @CalBruin

    3 жыл бұрын

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