The Monty Hall Problem

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The Monty Hall problem got people very worked up, right? Why don't you remind us what it is? Because maybe there's still people out there who've never heard of it. It has to do with a TV show in which there are three doors behind one of which is a car. The host asked the guest to choose the door behind which he hopes is a new car and if he's correct, he gives a new car. So that's a, the guest picks door one. But since the host opens door three, that two thirds probability is now focused on the unopened door. And often people say, no, it doesn't make any difference. There's two doors

People have a complicated relationship to mathematics. We all use it in our everyday lives, from calculating a tip at a restaurant to estimating the probability of some future event. But many people find the subject intimidating, if not off-putting. John Allen Paulos has long been working to make mathematics more approachable and encourage people to become more numerate. We talk about how people think about math, what kinds of math they should know, and the role of stories and narrative to make math come alive.

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John Allen Paulos received his Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He is currently a professor of mathematics at Temple University. He s a bestselling author, and frequent contributor to publications such as ABCNews.com, the Guardian, and Scientific American. Among his awards are the Science Communication award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Mathematics Communication Award from the Joint Policy Board of Mathematics. His new book is Who’s Counting? Uniting Numbers and Narratives with Stories from Pop Culture, Puzzles, Politics, and More.

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