ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Arthur Benjamin - Mathemagician
Using daring displays of algorithmic trickery, lightning calculator and number wizard Arthur Benjamin mesmerizes audiences with mathematical mystery and beauty.

Why you should listen

Arthur Benjamin makes numbers dance. In his day job, he's a professor of math at Harvey Mudd College; in his other day job, he's a "Mathemagician," taking the stage in his tuxedo to perform high-speed mental calculations, memorizations and other astounding math stunts. It's part of his drive to teach math and mental agility in interesting ways, following in the footsteps of such heroes as Martin Gardner.

Benjamin is the co-author, with Michael Shermer, of Secrets of Mental Math (which shares his secrets for rapid mental calculation), as well as the co-author of the MAA award-winning Proofs That Really Count: The Art of Combinatorial Proof. For a glimpse of his broad approach to math, see the list of research talks on his website, which seesaws between high-level math (such as his "Vandermonde's Determinant and Fibonacci SAWs," presented at MIT in 2004) and engaging math talks for the rest of us ("An Amazing Mathematical Card Trick").

More profile about the speaker
Arthur Benjamin | Speaker | TED.com
TED2009

Arthur Benjamin: Teach statistics before calculus!

La formulo de Arthur Benjamin por ŝanĝi la instruadon de matematiko

Filmed:
2,625,810 views

Ĉiam estas iu, kiu demandas al sia instruisto de matematiko "Ĉu vere mi iam uzos kalkulon en la vivo?". Kaj por la plej multaj inter ni, diras Arthur Benjamin, la respondo estas ne. Li prezentas kuraĝan proponon por igi la instruadon de matematiko signifa en la cifereca erao.
- Mathemagician
Using daring displays of algorithmic trickery, lightning calculator and number wizard Arthur Benjamin mesmerizes audiences with mathematical mystery and beauty. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
Now, if President Obama
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Se nun prezidento Obama
00:15
invited me to be the next Czar of Mathematics,
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invitus min fariĝi la nova Caro de Matematiko,
00:19
then I would have a suggestion for him
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mi tiam proponus al li ion,
00:22
that I think would vastly improve
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kio multe plibonigus, mi kredas,
00:24
the mathematics education in this country.
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la instruadon de matematiko en Usono.
00:27
And it would be easy to implement
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Estus facile kaj malmultekoste
00:29
and inexpensive.
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starigi tion.
00:31
The mathematics curriculum that we have
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La nuna instruprogramo de matematiko
00:33
is based on a foundation of arithmetic and algebra.
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baziĝas sur aritmetiko kaj algebro.
00:37
And everything we learn after that
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Kaj ĉio, kion ni lernas poste
00:39
is building up towards one subject.
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direktiĝas al unu temo.
00:42
And at top of that pyramid, it's calculus.
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Kaj je la pinto de tiu piramido estas kalkulo.
00:46
And I'm here to say
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Kaj mi venis por diri,
00:48
that I think that that is the wrong summit of the pyramid ...
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ke mi kredas, ke ĝi estas la malĝusta pinto de la piramido,
00:52
that the correct summit -- that all of our students,
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ke la ĝusta pinto - kion ĉiuj niaj studentoj,
00:54
every high school graduate should know --
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ĉiu mezlerneja diplomito devus scii -
00:56
should be statistics:
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devus esti statistiko:
00:59
probability and statistics.
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probablo kaj statistiko.
01:01
(Applause)
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(Aplaŭdoj)
01:03
I mean, don't get me wrong. Calculus is an important subject.
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Ne miskomprenu min. Kalkulo estas grava temo.
01:07
It's one of the great products of the human mind.
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Ĝi estas unu el la grandaj produktoj de la homa menso.
01:09
The laws of nature are written in the language of calculus.
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La naturleĝoj skribiĝas per la lingvo de kalkulo.
01:13
And every student who studies math, science, engineering, economics,
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Kaj ĉiu studento de matematiko, sciencoj, inĝenierarto, ekonomiko
01:17
they should definitely learn calculus
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devus nepre lerni kalkulon
01:19
by the end of their freshman year of college.
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antaŭ la fino de sia unua fakultata jaro.
01:21
But I'm here to say, as a professor of mathematics,
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Sed mi venis diri, kiel profesoro de matematiko,
01:24
that very few people actually use calculus
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ke tre malmultaj efektive uzas kalkulon
01:28
in a conscious, meaningful way, in their day-to-day lives.
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laŭ konscia, signifoplena maniero, en sia ĉiutaga vivo.
01:31
On the other hand,
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Aliflanke,
01:33
statistics -- that's a subject that you could,
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statistiko - jen lernobjekto, kiun vi povus
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and should, use on daily basis. Right?
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kaj devus uzi ĉiutage. Ĉu ne?
01:39
It's risk. It's reward. It's randomness.
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Estas risko. Estas premio. Estas hazardo.
01:42
It's understanding data.
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Estas kompreno de datumoj.
01:44
I think if our students, if our high school students --
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Mi kredas, ke se niaj studentoj, se niaj mezlernejanoj -
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if all of the American citizens --
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se ĉiuj usonaj civitanoj -
01:48
knew about probability and statistics,
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scius pri probablo kaj statistiko,
01:51
we wouldn't be in the economic mess that we're in today. (Laughter) (Applause)
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ni ne estus en la ekonomia konfuzo, en kiu ni estas nun.
01:54
Not only -- thank you -- not only that ...
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Ne nur - dankon - ne nur tio...
01:57
but if it's taught properly, it can be a lot of fun.
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sed se ĝi estas taŭge instruata, ĝi povas esti tre amuza.
02:00
I mean, probability and statistics,
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Mi celas, probablo kaj statistiko
02:02
it's the mathematics of games and gambling.
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estas la matematiko de ludoj kaj vetoj.
02:06
It's analyzing trends. It's predicting the future.
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Ĝi estas la analizo de tendencoj. Ĝi estas antaŭdiri la estonton.
02:10
Look, the world has changed
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Atentu, la mondo transiris
02:12
from analog to digital.
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de la analogeco al la cifereco.
02:15
And it's time for our mathematics curriculum to change
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Kaj estas tempo, ke nia matematika instruprogramo ŝanĝiĝu
02:18
from analog to digital,
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de la analogeco al la cifereco.
02:20
from the more classical, continuous mathematics,
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De la pli klasika, kontinua matematiko,
02:24
to the more modern, discrete mathematics --
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al la pli moderna, diskreta matematiko.
02:27
the mathematics of uncertainty,
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La matematiko de necerteco,
02:29
of randomness, of data --
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de hazardo, de datumoj -
02:31
that being probability and statistics.
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kaj tio estas probablo kaj statistiko.
02:34
In summary, instead of our students
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Resume, anstataŭ oferi al niaj studentoj
02:36
learning about the techniques of calculus,
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la lernadon de kalkul-teknikoj,
02:39
I think it would be far more significant
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mi kredas, ke estus multe pli signifoplene
02:42
if all of them knew what two standard deviations
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se ili ĉiuj scius, kion signifas du normaj diferencoj
02:45
from the mean means. And I mean it.
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ĉirkaŭ la averaĝo. Jen ĉio.
02:48
Thank you very much.
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Mi tre dankas vin.
02:50
(Applause)
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(Aplaŭdoj)
Translated by James Piton
Reviewed by Leo De Cooman

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Arthur Benjamin - Mathemagician
Using daring displays of algorithmic trickery, lightning calculator and number wizard Arthur Benjamin mesmerizes audiences with mathematical mystery and beauty.

Why you should listen

Arthur Benjamin makes numbers dance. In his day job, he's a professor of math at Harvey Mudd College; in his other day job, he's a "Mathemagician," taking the stage in his tuxedo to perform high-speed mental calculations, memorizations and other astounding math stunts. It's part of his drive to teach math and mental agility in interesting ways, following in the footsteps of such heroes as Martin Gardner.

Benjamin is the co-author, with Michael Shermer, of Secrets of Mental Math (which shares his secrets for rapid mental calculation), as well as the co-author of the MAA award-winning Proofs That Really Count: The Art of Combinatorial Proof. For a glimpse of his broad approach to math, see the list of research talks on his website, which seesaws between high-level math (such as his "Vandermonde's Determinant and Fibonacci SAWs," presented at MIT in 2004) and engaging math talks for the rest of us ("An Amazing Mathematical Card Trick").

More profile about the speaker
Arthur Benjamin | Speaker | TED.com

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