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Mathematics: Beauty vs Utility - Numberphile

Numberphile - 2017-01-19

Should mathematics be done for its pure beauty or should it have practical uses? And why are many mathematicians so bad at outreach?
Discussion with famous French mathematician, Cédric Villani.

More Villani videos: http://bit.ly/Villani_Videos

Numberphile videos on Magic Squares: http://bit.ly/MagicSquareVideos

Cédric Villani website: http://cedricvillani.org
His book Birth of a Theorem (Amazon): http://bit.ly/BirthOfATheorem

Numberphile is supported by the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI): http://bit.ly/MSRINumberphile

We are also supported by Science Sandbox, a Simons Foundation initiative dedicated to engaging everyone with the process of science.

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Numberphile - 2017-01-19

Some captions are available - you can use the button under the video!

Jeffery Rowan - 2017-01-21

no

marcio - 2017-02-01

Numberphile Traduzi para Português.

Pirate's Piggy - 2019-01-22

I could understand him fine, but thanks anyway.

[sic] - 2017-01-20

Everything French people say in English sounds philosophical.

Kakapo Des Familles - 2017-01-30

@Julien TSP Not you, but him ;)

Ali - 2017-05-17

Philosophique!

zkw - 2019-01-17

@Julien TSP Oh nonnnn

ryansadventuresontheinternet - 2019-10-06

Well in this case, everything this guy says is philosophical

Olivier Merigon - 2019-10-19

Lol, that guy is just super smart dude.

euskalX - 2017-01-21

In Cedric Villani's office, entropy clearly increases

Numberphile - 2017-01-21

ha

Fernando Cunha - 2018-01-31

well, you dont really know what that office looked a year before. Entropy might well be decreasing..

Camembert d'Alembert - 2018-05-25

there is a hidden order our minds can't guess.

NaviSly02 - 2018-06-12

Maybe, the entropy is constant in the system { Villani's office, Villani }.

David Scott - 2017-01-19

I want him to whisper equations in my ear...

Dave Crupel - 2017-04-08

😂

Dave Crupel - 2017-04-11

kguy152000 with that rocky movement of his when he talks

Cptn_n3m0 - 2019-02-10

@FofoLP what a nightmare !

Ayema Eyalit - 2019-05-17

ASMR for Math Anxiety:)

Arpit Das - 2019-11-08

Kinky

Flojito - Le slam à la paille - 2017-01-19

I sent an email recently to Cedric Villani, asking for a meeting and a long interview about mathematics and poetry, for my slam poetry channel... I am a complete nobody, not a mathematician (although interested in the matter, and in science in general), i have a mere 150 followers... But he accepted my request with pleasure ! This is a sign of true goodness, on top of all the mathematical genius :) Gotta love this guy !

World Citizen - 2017-03-02

Ne t'ai-je pas déjà vu slammer dans un bar de Belleville ? :) j'ai regardé ta chaîne et, le visage et la voix me sont familiers, je crois.

Ca ne m'étonne pas que Monsieur Villani apprécie l'idée de te rencontrer, d'une part parce que c'est un chic type comme on en a très peu sur la place publique, de l'autre parce que c'est un poète, à sa façon. Rencontrer cet homme ne peut-être qu'enrichissant et super intéressant, tu as bien de la chance :)

Flojito - Le slam à la paille - 2017-03-02

Ah ben c'est probablement au Downtown Café non ? Mais oui je slam souvent dans des bars parisiens donc on a dû se croiser !
Malheureusement j'ai dû mettre ma chaîne en stand by pour cause de nouveau boulant très prenant, et du coup mon entretien avec Villani, bah j'ai dû le mettre en stand by lui aussi :/
Mais effectivement c'est un vrai poète pour peu qu'on comprenne son univers !

MagicAccent - 2018-09-03

How did it go? :)

chucku00 - 2018-09-25

MagicAccent Unfortunately, Flojito didn't meet With Cédric Villani due to a time-consuming new job. That's whate he wrote in his last comment.

Arpit Das - 2019-11-08

This guy is a true legend

Nando N - 2017-01-20

This guy is renaissance incarnate.

Super Baranowicz - 2019-02-17

‘ reincarnate

skaruts - 2019-07-09

He does look like he time traveled directly from Da Vinci's neighborhood.

Ashish Xiangyi Kumar - 2017-01-20

It's sort of ridiculous that people are voicing unease or any kind of displeasure at this guy's outfit. He's one of the world's finest mathematical minds, and is comfortable enough with himself to wear what he likes, rather than what arbitrary social convention dictates. And what do we do? We say, "Aha, you might have a beautiful mind, but I can conform. How about that, eh?"

Xylok - 2017-12-15

precisely why i wore lingerie to a college gender norms sociology lecture i knew was coming. 'he whosoever would be a man, must be a non-conformist' - emerson, though also should conform to some stuff; since the world gets it right here and there a LOT!

Xylok - 2017-12-15

after all, like the rest of the folks in the class, i was in class that day ;)

Arpit Das - 2019-11-08

Haters gonna hate

HpPmL - 2019-11-20

Through his achievement he earned the privilege of being taken seriously no matter what he's wearing. That's a freedom average people can only dream of.

AzaardStyle - 2017-01-20

"if you don't manage to talk the way they understand, you'll not become their friend"

le-math 924 - 2017-10-22

AzaardStyle earth to all math teacher. Earth to all math teacher~

Ron Medina - 2018-10-10

don vito?

Tuc - 2017-01-19

I think it's dangerous to say that doing mathematics for the purpose of utility isn't beautiful..And dangerous to say doing mathematics for the purpose of beauty isn't useful. It is a specturm, and both ends have offered valuable contributions.

X Baron - 2017-01-28

Whether G. H. Hardy was right or not, his book is a work of art.

TechyBen - 2017-02-10

Yep. Even this video is the result of maths acting on the computers/cameras etc. A lot of art can rely on maths for certain results (mixtures of paint etc). Tis one and both.

Mathias Oleander - 2017-02-16

TechyBen ju

Ayema Eyalit - 2019-05-17

Amen!

Andre Tsang - 2017-01-20

He speaks with more eloquence than most native English speakers.

Your mom - 2017-04-18

he speaks with more eloquence than most native French speakers too

Meredith Lee - 2017-01-20

His handwriting when he wrote the Boltzmann equation was so beautiful

crabe - 2017-01-20

Too bad he didn't wrote with a goose feather ^^

ElloetteLightbringer - 2017-01-19

I love this guy! I could listen to him teach and speak all day!

All Kinds - 2017-01-19

ElloetteLightbringer has a very calm voice

Iago Silva - 2017-01-22

Could work on that accent a bit, though - it would help him get da muny for his museum :)

Thewardra - 2018-01-08

French 's accent is fine ok
I got the same! X)

MrPictor - 2017-01-19

Brady is a top notch interviewer. Great questions and answers about things that aren't discussed anywhere else.

Greg41982 - 2017-01-20

My IQ just went up 10 points by watching this video.

Tetraglot - 2019-03-31

"You sound almost half-politician!" Perhaps foreshadowing Villani's election to the National Assembly? :P

Clad Strife - 2019-09-28

@Le Subtil haha un con de droite ici :D ils sont partout !! (sur YouTube, dans les manif pour tous)

Hepad - 2019-10-03

@Clad Strife arrêtez de vous complaire dans l'axe gauche-droite. Autrefois, il servait à situer se opinions politiques. Maintenant, ça ne sert qu'à se faire traiter de gaucho, ou de facho.
Et qui en profite ? Ceux qui utilisent le ras-le-bol de ce manichéisme, comme LREM.

Clad Strife - 2019-10-03

@Hepad Pourquoi vous adresser à moi et pas à la personne qui a débuté cette moquerie ?

Hepad - 2019-10-03

@Clad Strife parce que je ne sais pas comment on mentionne deux personnes dans un commentaire.

Le Subtil - 2019-10-11

@Clad Strife bonjour. Je prends connaissance de vos réponses à l'instant. Ma participation était uniquement à but humoristique, comme le montre l'emoticone et le référence à la célèbre tirade de Marine le Pen; je n'avais aucunement l'intention de dénigrer l'opinion politique de Clad strife. Si mon commentaire a été mal compris, je me suis sûrement mal exprimé et j'aurais dû expliciter davantage l'aspect ironique de celui-ci, d'autant plus que les cons de droite sont nombreux sur internet (tout comme les cons de gauche), ce qui rend la distinction entre un commentaire sérieux et un commentaire ironique peu évidente.

NoriMori - 2017-01-20

[opens YouTube]
[sees two Cédric Villani videos uploaded today]
[dies]

Not Me - 2017-01-20

NoriMori [rip]

Bengineer8 - 2017-01-19

[correct me if I am wrong]:
When chemists need more funding:
"We are low on [insert highly expensive chemical here]."
When mathematicians need more funding:
"We need more pencils."

Bengineer8 - 2017-03-24

LOL

jamma246 - 2017-03-27

For when mathematicians have constipation.

They need to work it out with a pencil.

Bengineer8 - 2017-04-11

@daniel
no need for that kind of language

Joaquin Sotomayor Escudero - 2020-01-26

[Send help]

Parker Davis - 2017-01-20

Cedric has become one of my scientific heros as of late. His passion for mathematics is contagious. When I'm getting bogged down with my diff eq work I watch a portion of an interview or lecture of his and find the motivation to continue. That's actually what I'm doing right now. Thanks !

Polymath - 2017-01-20

his reaction when he figured out his theorem 3:03

Dan - 2017-01-29

As someone who aspires to the field of education, I have long since found that the most difficult part of teaching is remembering what it is like to not know and understand what you are teaching. Only those who can manage this will be able to sympathize with the perspective of their students.

Too often, when we learn something new, we block out the memories of not knowing, because it conflicts with our new understanding, but this is a mistake. Because too often too, when we try to share that understanding with someone else who doesn't know it, we fail to meet that person halfway.

We must try to remember not only the conclusions we come to in our learning, but also the journeys taken to get there, if we ever hope to guide someone else along that same path.

ukkomies100 - 2017-01-19

This guy looks awesome. There is something mezmerising in the courage to dress like that nowadays.

Michał Płatek - 2017-01-21

"There is no shame in something being useful"

This made me laugh xD

Jim Lunde - 2017-01-19

This guy is impressive. A lot is going on between his ears.

David Espinoza - 2017-01-19

The next time you meet him, make him say: "Finally, we meet at last, Mr. Sherlock Holmes"

Jacquobite - 2017-01-19

If beauty in mathematics inspires the youth to take it up, then there is real utility in its beauty.

rampage14x13 - 2017-01-19

This guy is awesome

Vjeran Crnjak - 2017-01-19

Cédric speaks so fluently, the words are flowing.

dk6024 - 2017-01-20

Museum of mathematics!? That's my next travel destination!

gamarad - 2017-06-19

"You sound almost half politician" Funny because now he is a politician.

Aldael - 2017-01-19

Unbelievably enjoyable to listen to Mr. Villani. maybe more of him?

David David - 2017-01-19

More of this guy!

Wargon - 2017-01-19

The thumbnail shows the Mandelbrot Set, unfortunately it doesn't make an appearance in the video.

Numberphile - 2017-01-19

+Wargon it is representing the "beauty of math" while the cash on the right is representing "the utility".

Wargon - 2017-01-19

I was just hoping that its another video about fractals. Fractal geometry shows the beauty of mathematics but is also useful so I thought the picture would be related to the video more directly.

Cadrid - 2017-01-20

I thought Brady represented the beauty of math.

Kommandant7 - 2017-01-20

Museum of mathematics?! I wanna see that

Frazer Wagg - 2017-01-19

really enjoyed this video! shows how the utility of maths can be part of it beauty

Digital Gamer - 2017-01-19

personally speaking I see that the utility of maths is the only beauty of it.

Velppp - 2017-01-19

j'aime beaucoup Cédric Villani =)

Cedric Lothritz - 2017-01-19

Hey, I saw him holding a presentation at my university 5 years ago. You could say I saw him live:D

Michael Struwig - 2017-01-19

Cedric remains my absolute favourite mathematician. His soul and kindness is incredibly endearing in light of his intelligence and wisdom. A truly rare person.

Heriberto Castro - 2017-01-26

Not only is he a genius but he also has a unique style! It's awesome. Honestly he's like my goals right now.

experience - 2017-01-20

I would absolutely LOVE to see an interview of Alain Connes on this channel.

Adam Kaczmarek - 2017-01-19

this clip was dope!

also: Museum of Mathematics is one I would visit right away.

StevenToast - 2017-01-19

what a character....

Aki San - 2017-01-19

the 9th lag of the spider was somewhat offputting...

Brant Geeves - 2017-01-20

I'm not alone!

Unintended Consequences - 2017-01-20

Yeah, that nearly gave me a stroke.

Sofía Navarro - 2017-01-19

I liked the points he made about how different it is when you're actually in charge of administrating something, and having to portray a certain image or give utilitarian reasons to companies for funding, and at the same time being frustrated as a mathematician that others not always see the beauty of math itself.

Love his outfit by the way.

Hecatonicosachoron - 2017-01-20

6:46 Exactly! You can definitely say that again!

Aditya Kumar - 2018-06-11

Hecatonicosachoron yeah

Taylor - 2017-01-21

I want to party with that guy!

polkad3vtab - 2017-01-19

Such honesty, I really like this.

HitchhikersPie - 2017-01-19

Were these videos all filmed at the same time Brady?

aron craig - 2017-01-19

Villani is such a weird, quirky person.. it's beautiful! Thank you Brady, again, for this and all the other work.

KnownNever - 2017-01-19

3:18 made my day

Marcus Merisier - 2019-09-24

Just casually does a 9*9 magic square like it’s nothing. My favorite of the modern mathematicians by far.