I’m not very good at math, I’m not even normally interested in math. But I am curious, and although I’ve always been just an above average student and normally disinterested, I have had some flashes where numbers seem really interesting. Like most of us, I had terrible teachers, than made math terrible, made it dry, predictable, uninspired… and well, dead. Unfortunately when one really gets to have half a clue about math, it is amazing … and the greatest secret is, math is really magical. That the breakthroughs into complex and imaginary numbers defy all common thoughts and were invented by mathematicians that were more bad boys and outlaws who didn’t give a fuck about the rules, but knew that math needed to go farther.
Did you know Zero wasn’t conceived until 1,000 years ago? That dividing by Zero is still undefined? That our number system could just as easily, and maybe even better and simpler, if it were based around 12 instead of 10? Numberphile on youtube avoids dry proofs but cuts to the concepts and theories that make math fascinating. Just like exploring the universe, exploring math can lead us to visions and conclusions really beyond imagination. Like everything in human endeavors, the journey has only really just begun.
https://www.youtube.com/user/numberphile
