How to Solve a Dual Problem

2min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

I find it hard to believe myself too. But I mean, maybe I don't because the way that you stated the problem, everything made the super duper perfect sense. Sometimes when people state problems like this, they kind of want people to get the wrong answer just to explain the trickiness of it. So they kind of hide that Monty Hall will only ever open a door where the car is not there. And that does change the problem. It's one thing I tell my students in a through in probability or math in general, being really clear about what you're saying is very important.

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.

Support Mindscape on Patreon.

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.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.