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2min chapter
Ben Orlin — Math As Universal Language (EP.232)
Infinite Loops
Imagining Empires and Transformative Ideas
This chapter invites a guest to envision themselves as the emperor of the world, tasked with inspiring global change through two transformative ideas. The lighthearted discussion highlights the entertaining aspects of this thought experiment while reflecting on previous guests' responses.
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Speaker 2
Yep, and we will have links to any preference you have to where people might want to buy it. And we'll link to your other books as well because they're all fun. I love your stuff on drawing, for example. A mathematician who loves drawing cannot draw. I can't draw either. But our final question on the show is the following. We're going to wave a magic wand and we're going to make you the emperor of the world. You can't kill anyone. You can't put anyone in a re-education camp. You can't insist that they endlessly do math or flashcards for math. But we're going to give you a magical microphone and you can say two things into it. And if you're familiar with the movie Inception, you're going to be able to insect the entire population of the world and everywhere, whenever their morning is, everyone's going to wake up and say, you know what? Unlike all the other times I got two great ideas and never acted on them, I am going to act on these two ideas starting today. What are you going to accept in the world, Ben?
Speaker 1
Yeah. Well, first, I should have thought about this more deeply. I heard you ask this question a bunch of times. I'm always curious, do people ever try to go for the re-education camp or the mass murder? You were very careful to give that caveat. Has that come up before or something? Well, what do we do?
Speaker 2
Actually, you're the first person to ask me that question. And when I was trying to think of what should I ask people a final question that would be fun and that would get people thinking, I started talking to a bunch of friends. And one particular friend said, he shall remain nameless.
Speaker 1
Okay. Yeah. Quiet, quiet ruthlessness there. It's funny, right? I mean, your guests always seem so genial and friendly. I don't know. None of them seem like the re-education camp types, but I guess, you know, you never know until it happens.
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Discover
highlights
Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode
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highlights
Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode