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!

Arthur Benjamins formel for å forandre matematikkutdanningen

Filmed:
2,625,810 views

Det er alltid noen som spør mattelæreren, "Vil jeg få bruk for matematikk i hverdagen?" Og for de fleste av oss mener Arthur Benjamin at svaret er nei. Han fremmer et litt annerledes forslag til hvordan matematikkutdannelsen kan gjøres mer relevant i den digitale tidsalderen.
- 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 PresidentPresident ObamaObama
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Så, om President Obama
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invitedinvitert me to be the nextneste CzarCzar of MathematicsMatematikk,
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ba meg bli den neste Tsaren av Matematikk,
00:19
then I would have a suggestionforslag for him
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ville jeg hatt et forslag til ham
00:22
that I think would vastlyvesentlig improveforbedre
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som jeg mener drastisk ville forbedret
00:24
the mathematicsmatematikk educationutdanning in this countryland.
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matematikkutdannelsen her.
00:27
And it would be easylett to implementimplementere
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Og det ville være lett å ta i bruk
00:29
and inexpensiverimelig.
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og rimelig.
00:31
The mathematicsmatematikk curriculumpensum that we have
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Matematikkpensumet som vi har
00:33
is basedbasert on a foundationfundament of arithmeticaritmetikk and algebraalgebra.
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er basert på et grunnlag av aritmetikk og algebra.
00:37
And everything we learnlære after that
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Og alt vi lærer etter det
00:39
is buildingbygning up towardsmot one subjectEmne.
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spisser seg mot ett emne.
00:42
And at toptopp of that pyramidpyramide, it's calculusKalkulus.
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Og på toppen av den pyramiden, er matematisk analyse.
00:46
And I'm here to say
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Og jeg er her for å si
00:48
that I think that that is the wrongfeil summittoppmøte of the pyramidpyramide ...
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at jeg mener at det er feil topp på pyramiden ...
00:52
that the correctriktig summittoppmøte -- that all of our studentsstudenter,
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at den riktige toppen -- det alle studenter,
00:54
everyhver highhøy schoolskole graduateuteksamineres should know --
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og videregående elever burde kjenne til --
00:56
should be statisticsstatistikk:
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burde være statistikk:
00:59
probabilitysannsynlighet and statisticsstatistikk.
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sannsynlighet og statistikk.
01:01
(ApplauseApplaus)
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(Applaus)
01:03
I mean, don't get me wrongfeil. CalculusKalkulus is an importantviktig subjectEmne.
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Jeg mener, ikke misforstå meg her. Matematisk analyse er et viktig emne.
01:07
It's one of the great productsProdukter of the humanmenneskelig mindsinn.
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Det er et av de store produktene fra den menneskelige hjernen.
01:09
The lawslover of naturenatur are writtenskrevet in the languageSpråk of calculusKalkulus.
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Naturlovene er skrevet i lover; diktert i matematisk analyse.
01:13
And everyhver studentstudent who studiesstudier mathmatte, sciencevitenskap, engineeringprosjektering, economicsøkonomi,
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Og alle studenter som studerer matematikk, vitenskap, ingeniørfag eller økonomi,
01:17
they should definitelyhelt sikkert learnlære calculusKalkulus
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burde absolutt lære matematisk analyse
01:19
by the endslutt of theirderes freshmanFreshman yearår of collegehøyskole.
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i løpet av første klasse på universitetet.
01:21
But I'm here to say, as a professorprofessor of mathematicsmatematikk,
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Men jeg er her for å påstå, som en matematikk-professor,
01:24
that very few people actuallyfaktisk use calculusKalkulus
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at veldig få folk faktisk vil bruke matematisk analyse
01:28
in a consciousbevisst, meaningfulgir mening way, in theirderes day-to-daydag til dag livesbor.
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på en bevisst og meningsfylt måte i sitt daglige virke.
01:31
On the other handhånd,
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På den andre siden,
01:33
statisticsstatistikk -- that's a subjectEmne that you could,
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statistikk -- det er et emne du kunne,
01:36
and should, use on dailydaglig basisbasis. Right?
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og burde, bruke på daglig basis. Ikke sant?
01:39
It's riskFare. It's rewardbelønning. It's randomnesstilfeldig.
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Det er risiko. Det er gevinst. Det er tilfeldigheter.
01:42
It's understandingforståelse datadata.
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Det er forståelsen av data.
01:44
I think if our studentsstudenter, if our highhøy schoolskole studentsstudenter --
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Jeg tror at om våre studenter, om våre elever på videregående --
01:46
if all of the AmericanAmerikanske citizensinnbyggere --
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om alle amerikanske borgere --
01:48
knewvisste about probabilitysannsynlighet and statisticsstatistikk,
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visste om sannsynlighet og statistikk,
01:51
we wouldn'tville ikke be in the economicøkonomisk messrot that we're in todayi dag. (LaughterLatter) (ApplauseApplaus)
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så ville vi ikke være i det økonomiske uføret som vi er i idag.
01:54
Not only -- thank you -- not only that ...
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Ikke bare -- takk -- ikke bare det ...
01:57
but if it's taughtundervist properlyriktig, it can be a lot of funmoro.
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men om det er undervist godt nok, kan det være ganske gøy.
02:00
I mean, probabilitysannsynlighet and statisticsstatistikk,
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Jeg mener, sannsynlighet og statistikk,
02:02
it's the mathematicsmatematikk of gamesspill and gamblinggambling.
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er matematikken bak spill og gambling.
02:06
It's analyzinganalysere trendstrender. It's predictingforutsi the futureframtid.
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Det er analyse av trender. Det er å spå fremtiden.
02:10
Look, the worldverden has changedendret
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Se, verden har forandret seg
02:12
from analoganalog to digitaldigitalt.
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fra analog til digital.
02:15
And it's time for our mathematicsmatematikk curriculumpensum to changeendring
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Og det er på høy tid at vårt matematikk-pensum endrer seg
02:18
from analoganalog to digitaldigitalt,
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fra analogt til digitalt.
02:20
from the more classicalklassisk, continuouskontinuerlige mathematicsmatematikk,
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Fra den mer klassiske, kontinuerlige matematikken,
02:24
to the more modernmoderne, discretediskrete mathematicsmatematikk --
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til den mer moderne, diskrete matematikken.
02:27
the mathematicsmatematikk of uncertaintyusikkerhet,
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Matematikken om usikkerhet,
02:29
of randomnesstilfeldig, of datadata --
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om tilfeldigheter, om data --
02:31
that beingå være probabilitysannsynlighet and statisticsstatistikk.
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som er sannsynlighet og statistikk.
02:34
In summarySammendrag, insteadi stedet of our studentsstudenter
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For å repetere, istedenfor å lære våre studenter
02:36
learninglæring about the techniquesteknikker of calculusKalkulus,
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om matematisk analyses teknikker,
02:39
I think it would be farlangt more significantbetydelige
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mener jeg det ville vært betydelig mer relevant
02:42
if all of them knewvisste what two standardstandard deviationsavvik
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om alle visste hva to standardavvik
02:45
from the mean meansmidler. And I mean it.
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fra middelverdien betydde. Og det mener jeg.
02:48
Thank you very much.
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Tusen takk.
02:50
(ApplauseApplaus)
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(Applaus)
Translated by Martin Hassel
Reviewed by Joachim Grønhaug

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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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