What happens when we take numbers seriously—not just at face value, but in terms of their actual impact on our lives?
This week, Reid and Aria are joined by UK-based mathematician and media personality Hannah Fry to explore this deceptively simple question. From cancer diagnoses to dating apps, Hannah makes the case that understanding the math behind our decisions—and the "game" we're really playing—is essential to building a better future.
They discuss why regret minimization is often a better guide than raw percentages in assessing risks; Hannah’s advice on finding love in a sea of swipe-rights; and how a well-framed question can be more powerful than the right answer. Plus, Inflection’s Pi chimes in with a few Jane-Austen-themed math jokes.
For more info on the podcast and transcripts of all the episodes, visit https://www.possible.fm/podcast/
Topics:
3:01 - Hellos and intros
3:15 - Considering hairdressing, instant feedback, and becoming a broadcaster
5:11 - Making math emotionally resonant
7:37 - Math as power and who gets to shape the future
9:10 - Understanding AI through probabilities and spectrums
12:01 - The emotional limits of statistics in medical decision-making
16:22 - Choosing the right “game” to optimize for
19:57 - How to build systems that self-correct
23:19 - Rethinking education and assessments in the AI era
26:42 - Updating dating advice for the AI age
30:03 - Real-life “Black Mirror”
36:11 - Storytelling vs. statistics
41:47 - Probability thinking, AI confidence, and useful heuristics
45:31 - Pi delivers math-themed Jane Austen jokes
47:15 - Rapid-fire questions
Select mentions:
Google DeepMind: The Podcast
The Mathematics of Love TED Talk
When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamín Labatut
“Women also Snowboard: Overcoming Bias in Captioning Models” by Kaylee Burns, Lisa Anne Hendricks, Kate Saenko, Trevor Darrell, and Anna Rohrbach
Possible is an award-winning podcast that sketches out the brightest version of the future—and what it will take to get there. Most of all, it asks: what if, in the future, everything breaks humanity's way? Tune in for grounded and speculative takes on how technology—and, in particular, AI—is inspiring change and transforming the future. Hosted by Reid Hoffman and Aria Finger, each episode features an interview with an ambitious builder or deep thinker on a topic, from art to geopolitics and from healthcare to education. These conversations also showcase another kind of guest: AI. Each episode seeks to enhance and advance our discussion about what humanity could possibly get right if we leverage technology—and our collective effort—effectively.
