University of San Diego professor on applied mathematics and faith | Satyan Devadoss
Summary
TLDRSafi and Devdas, a professor of mathematics and computer science at the University of San Diego, explores the beauty of shapes and patterns in mathematics. He delves into how 'applied mathematics' has evolved, impacting various fields like encryption and data analysis. He also discusses the significance of topology in understanding complex data sets, such as identifying diabetes types. Devdas emphasizes the importance of not letting mathematics overshadow reality and the complexity of human experiences, advocating for a balanced appreciation of all disciplines and the physical world over mere data and quantification.
Takeaways
- đ Safi and Devdas is a professor of mathematics and computer science at the University of San Diego, focusing on the study of shapes and their applications.
- đ Mathematics, to him, is about understanding patterns and structures in numbers, functions, and images.
- đ The term 'applied mathematics' has evolved from its 20th-century meaning of aiding engineering and science to encompass all areas of mathematics in the 21st century.
- đ Number theory, for example, has become crucial for data encryption and is widely used by organizations like the NSA.
- đ° The concepts of probability and chance are fundamental to prediction analysis in business, dealing with large volumes of data.
- đ§ Topological data analysis, a field pioneered by Gunnar Carlsson, allows for understanding the shape of data in a fuzzy setting, which is beneficial for noisy real-world data.
- đș An example of applied mathematics is discerning patterns in beer characteristics, which can be analyzed to create a 'family tree' of different beers.
- đšâđŹ Mathematics is not meant to overshadow reality but to partner with it, offering alternative perspectives and methods for understanding complex issues.
- đ The speaker believes that all disciplines, from mathematics to the arts, are valuable and should be viewed as a collective tapestry of human knowledge.
- đ The speaker is intrigued by the idea of what mathematics will be like in a perfect world, such as the new heaven and earth, and how it will continue to apply to a physical world.
- â Art and mathematics can intersect to create physical representations of mathematical concepts, like the dodecahedron sculpture that was taken to Burning Man, symbolizing deeper questions about humanity and the universe.
Q & A
What is the primary focus of Safi and Devdas' work as a professor?
-Safi and Devdas' work focuses on studying shape, including how it can be framed, measured, looked at, and understood.
How does Safi and Devdas define mathematics?
-Safi and Devdas defines mathematics as being about making sense of patterns and structures of things, such as numbers, functions, and pictures.
What is the significance of the term 'applied mathematics' in the 21st century according to the professor?
-In the 21st century, 'applied mathematics' is not limited to traditional subjects like differential equations or calculus. Instead, every mathematical idea can be considered applied because it can be used to solve real-world problems across various disciplines.
How does the professor relate mathematics to everyday activities like using a credit card?
-The professor relates mathematics to everyday activities by explaining that mathematical concepts, such as number theory, are used in data encryption, which is involved when swiping a credit card.
What is the role of topological data analysis in understanding complex data?
-Topological data analysis allows for understanding the overall shape of complex data in a fuzzy setting, which is helpful because most real-world data contains noise and imperfections.
How did Safi and Devdas apply mathematical concepts to the study of beer?
-Safi and Devdas applied mathematical concepts to the study of beer by analyzing 15 to 25 characteristics of different beers to create a 'family tree' that shows how they are related to one another.
What is the professor's view on the relationship between mathematics and reality?
-The professor believes that mathematics should partner with the world to provide a different perspective, rather than trying to trump or replace the reality of a situation.
Why does the professor caution against the over-reliance on quantification and data?
-The professor cautions against over-reliance on quantification and data because it can trivialize complex human experiences and issues that cannot be easily distilled into numbers.
What does the professor believe attracts him to the Christian faith?
-The professor is attracted to the Christian faith because it provides answers to questions about human existence, emotions, and relationships that science does not address.
How does the professor envision the role of mathematics in the new heaven and the new earth?
-The professor envisions that mathematics will continue to be relevant in the new heaven and the new earth, as it will be part of a physical world that is an improved version of the current one.
What was the unique aspect of the sculpture created by Safi and Devdas and his team for Burning Man?
-The sculpture was unique because it was shaped like a dodecahedron, had a mirrored interior, and could be unfolded and laid flat, reflecting both mathematical and cosmological concepts.
Outlines
đ Mathematics and Its Practical Applications
Safi and Devdas, a professor of mathematics and computer science at the University of San Diego, discusses his passion for studying shapes and their applications in various fields. He explains that mathematics is about recognizing patterns and structures, which can be applied to numbers, functions, and images. He highlights the evolution of 'applied mathematics' from traditional engineering applications to a broader scope in the 21st century, where almost every mathematical concept finds practical use. He also mentions his work in topological data analysis, a field pioneered by Gunnar Carlson, which focuses on understanding the overall shape of data in a fuzzy setting, useful for handling noisy real-world data. An example of this is quickly identifying types of diabetes from patient data.
đș Beer Genetics and the Limitations of Mathematical Modeling
The speaker recounts a project with students where they collaborated with a brew master to understand the characteristics that define different types of beer. They analyzed data from 21 beers and created a 'family tree' to show how these beers are related. This exercise in applying mathematics to real-world problems is contrasted with the brew master's deep knowledge and experience. The speaker emphasizes that while mathematical models can provide new perspectives, they should not be seen as superior to practical knowledge. They also discuss societal perceptions of mathematicians as being highly intelligent and the dangers of overemphasizing the role of mathematics in understanding complex human experiences.
đ The Complexity of Human Experience and the Role of Art
The narrative shifts to the complexity of human experience, which the speaker argues cannot be fully captured by mathematical formulas or scientific data. They compare the simplicity of mathematical problems to the intricacies of human relationships and societal issues like race relations. The speaker also touches on the role of art in expressing the inexpressible and criticizes the obsession with quantification and data in modern society. They argue for a more holistic understanding of truth that includes non-quantifiable aspects of human existence.
đ Faith and the Intersection of Science and Theology
The speaker explores the intersection of faith and science, reflecting on how the Christian faith provides answers to questions about human existence and morality that science does not address. They discuss their personal journey of faith and how it is rooted in historical events rather than abstract philosophical concepts. The speaker also ponders the implications of their faith for their work in mathematics, questioning which mathematical concepts will persist in a future 'new heaven and new earth' and how their mathematical work can have a lasting impact.
đš Making Mathematics Physical Through Art
The speaker shares their desire to make mathematics physical and their collaboration with artists to achieve this. They describe a project that resulted in a two-ton sculpture shaped like a dodecahedron, which was displayed at Burning Man. The sculpture, with its mirrored interior, prompts visitors to contemplate their humanity and the relationship between technology and human identity. The speaker also discusses the mathematical and cosmological significance of the dodecahedron, linking it to unsolved problems in geometry and the potential shape of the universe. They conclude by advocating for a balanced appreciation of both the digital and physical worlds and the importance of human experiences over data and technology.
Mindmap
Keywords
đĄMathematics
đĄApplied Mathematics
đĄTopology
đĄTopological Data Analysis
đĄPatterns
đĄBeer Genetics
đĄHumanities
đĄChristian Faith
đĄNew Heaven and Earth
đĄSculpture
Highlights
Mathematics is about making sense of patterns and structures.
Applied mathematics in the 21st century involves every aspect of math.
Mathematics is useful in encryption, engineering, and predicting business outcomes.
Topology, a branch of mathematics, helps understand the shape of complex data.
Professor Safi studies pictures and their mathematical properties.
Data analysis can quickly identify medical conditions like diabetes.
Mathematics can reveal patterns in beer characteristics, similar to genetic sequencing.
Mathematics is a tool to partner with the world, not to overshadow reality.
The complexity of human experience is more intricate than mathematical formulas.
Mathematics is not superior to other disciplines; all are valuable in understanding the world.
The spectrum of disciplines reflects the complexity of the questions they address.
Science and quantification are not the ultimate measures of truth in all aspects of life.
The Christian faith provides answers to questions about human existence and purpose.
Mathematics will persist in the new heaven and new earth as described by the Christian faith.
The physical world is essential to human experience and should be valued in academic pursuits.
Collaborating with artists helps make mathematics physical and tangible.
A dodecahedron sculpture represents both mathematical concepts and philosophical questions.
The shape of the universe may be related to the dodecahedron, an unsolved problem in geometry.
Mathematics can be a personal expression of faith without being a proof of God's existence.
The value of human experiences, like enjoying a cup of coffee, surpasses data and quantification.
Transcripts
my name is Safi and devdas I'm a
professor of mathematics and computer
science at the University of San Diego
[Music]
so I'm a math professor and my work
focuses around shape so I love to study
how how shape can be framed how shape
can be measured how shape can be looked
at or shape can be understood and you
know when you think of mathematics to me
mathematics is all about how do you make
sense of patterns and structures of
things so you can make patterns and
structures of numbers you get prime
numbers and the numbers used for
encryption and data you can make
patterns and structures the functions
like sine function and cosine function
useful for engineering and a thousand
other things or or for money useful for
transactions and or you can make
patterns and structures of pictures and
that's what I do I study pictures so
angles and triangles could be very
simpler things you might have learned
earlier but but even those really simple
things turned out to have really deep
complicated beautiful things as as we
get older so that's what I love now one
of the things I'm in love with is not
just mathematics my title actually is
professor of applied mathematics and
that word applied has has two meanings
there's the 20th century meaning and
20th century meaning is applications has
always been what Boeing would want you
know let's let's use mathematics for an
engineer to to build airplane design or
submarine structures or or build
buildings so mathematics has been
applied using the tools of sines and
cosines and functions for engineers and
scientists and physicists so Einstein
uses the mathematics and it's applied
math but you know this amazing shift has
happened in the 21st century in 21st
century applied mathematics is no longer
about subject it's not about
differential equations or calculus it
turns out every math you could ever
imagine is applied math so if you care
about numbers turns out that almost
everywhere that numbers are multiplied
together and factored into pieces is how
data is encrypted when you swipe your
Visa card so the National Security
Agency NSA they hire mostly math PhDs or
number theorists number theory turns out
to be useful for for people anywhere in
the world today if you care about issues
of chance and probability like how often
do I get heads or tail
and a simple coin toss or rolling dice
turns out that's the foundation of how
you do prediction analysis for business
you want to model these things because
you have so much data coming in that you
can't get anything 100% right
so now data is almost going to be
approximated you'd be happy to be 95%
sure 90% sure something's gonna work
because you have terabytes of data
coming to you per second so now all of a
sudden things that were known for
probability turns out to be applied if
you care about patterns of how molecules
are organized and the structures and
shapes of a rubik's cube for example
turns out that's the foundation for
quantum mechanic issues and foundations
for chemistry so terms that almost every
mathematical idea that you can think of
turns out to be applied even from number
theoretical stuff and and what I care
about is shape and a revolution happened
related recently to the kind of shape I
care about which is not geometric shape
which talks about spheres and angles but
topological shape and topology just
means take off your glasses if you take
your glasses off how does the world look
it looks fuzzy and then you roughly get
the idea their shape but you don't get
it perfectly and and it turns out
there's and at Stanford there's a
faculty named professor named Gunnar
Carlson who I worked with and he was one
of the founders of this field called
topological data analysis so what he
does is he looks at data and he takes up
his glasses and he sees the data
approximately in a fuzzy way and he's
able to tell you what the overall shape
of the data is in a fuzzy setting not on
a perfect angular measurement setting
but in a fuzzy setting and that helps a
lot because most of the data that we get
have noise in it all right no data
that's coming to us is perfect a lot of
people when they fill out their forms
and you're watching Netflix and you're
giving Netflix data if you're giving
data from Amazon or Apple you don't fill
out all the all the fields so they don't
know everything about you there's all
these holes missing and that that data
has noise because you might maybe fill
one or two things incorrectly so the
fact you could take off your glasses and
get a rough approximation of what's
really going on is beautiful so using
topological data analysis you could
immediately tell whether you're normal
or have type 1 or type 2 diabetes'
really quickly you can quickly see that
there are these three branches going on
you're gonna fit in one of those things
you don't need to know the exact
geometry but that rough topology is
really good so everything is applied
that's why I love it
you know so one thing that I did with my
students recently is I wanted to find
patterns and structures in beer so San
Diego where I'm at in my theory of San
Diego is really known for their for
their beer it's one of the number one
craft brewery markets in the world I
think they're about 160 different
Brewers here and so we went to one of
the oldest Brewers here it's the San
Diego Brewing Company and we talked to
the brew master and we said can you tell
us what makes a beer a beer instead of
the labels of Pilsner or IPA or or ales
what is it that makes beer special and
the brew master said actually you know
if you take any beer in the world if you
rip the label off you basically have
about 15 to 25 characteristics of what
makes a beer a beer including things
like things like original gravity final
gravity pounds of hops temperature that
goes in temperature coming out and he
gave me a list about 20 and he said any
beer in the world can be broken up into
these 20 pieces and they have different
weights
sometimes the alcohol content actually
matters a lot sometimes it doesn't
and so what we did was we took the data
of 21 different beers that they had they
gave me the data for each of their
pieces this is called basically the beer
genetics of what appears and we put it
in in some sense - like a gene
sequencing machine and it spit out a
family tree of how these 21 beers are
related to one another
and so to me that's how I think of
applying mathematics you take real world
problems real world interesting
questions that are out there and how
things can be related to one another may
be through the lens of biology and
genetics and then you use the
mathematical tools to extract that and
say here's something else you can do
with it now a word of warning for me is
that this genetic tree of how the beer
is are related to one another it is not
more powerful or more amazing than
anything the brew master already knows
so I want to be really clear that math
is not here to trump what the reality is
about it's just here to partner with the
world to talk with them about it it
might be a different way of framing
something that people haven't seen
before but to say that somehow math now
with this beer genetic tree is the
ultimate
with a capital T is something that's
very worrisome and II have to be careful
I think if you think about almost any
other discipline they struggle with
their own notions of truth and notions
of what it means to be right and math
just comes along and shares its
perspective you know one of the things
that found over the years when every
time I travel is people are are honored
to be with me because I'm a
mathematician somehow they think I'm
smarter than them because of the fact
that I have a math credential this is
really interesting to me if I'm in a
plane and somebody's sitting in the
middle and I'm sitting on one side of
them as a mathematician and you know the
world's greatest Nobel Laura poets who's
on the other side or or one of the most
amazing artists who exists in the world
today sitting on the other side people
usually it feels like turns to them and
say oh you're an artist it's great but
this is a mathematician you know he
really understands what it means to be
smart no matter how smart you are he
really gets it and they use smart like
with a capital S right you know somehow
I have the full truth with a capital T
in my hand and and I find that really
dangerous I think you know having grown
up in India there's a spectrum of how
smart somebody is and I thought it was
an Indian thing until I came to the
States and I realized it's the same
thing everywhere you know on one side as
a mathematician and then the next of
them are the physicists and the
biologists and the chemists and and then
over here the sort of a social scientist
right there science
you know economists psychology and and
then you get into historians and and
eventually you get into linguistic
scholars and languages and the way over
on the other side of the artists and
most students think oh I'm not a
scientist I don't think this way I'm not
the smart so I'm actually going to be on
the art side I think that spectrum is
universal but at the same time the
spectrum hides something it hides the
level of complexity I think to me the
mathematician is really productive and
it's really good and it has great output
is because she is dealing with something
that's not complicated
you know the fact that you have
something called the quadratic formula
means that a formula can answer whatever
you're thinking about I mean it's
right if I'm talking to my wife and I
realized that she's not happy with how I
acted the day before there's no wife
formula to plug in because to hang out
with another human to deal with them as
a person to love them to forgive them to
take care of them as a human is far more
complicated than an formula or an
equation so what do we do is math right
we just you take an idea beer
complicated as it could be about the
smell of a beer about the taste it would
be about the social construct of what it
means to be human and drink a beer and
we boil it down into about 20 variables
and then we say oh here's the family
tree of beer but that's a pathetically
silly slice of the complication of what
beer really is I think what happens is
you move down the spectrum is you're
dealing with things that get more and
more complicated and thus you can't say
that much about it a historian is
dealing with a far harder question than
a mathematician they can't answer it in
the easy way because the question is
harder right they can't they can't nail
it down as simple as we can because
there's no formula for it they have
their own tools of measuring truth and
their own tools of method measuring
smartness but but the thing they're
asking is a complicated thing and an
artist is actually trying to describe
things that can't even be expressed in
words in fact they need images to even
get to the kind of things that we can
speak in English and I'm at the physics
we can speak it in formulas so that's
triviality you know I always say that we
can put somebody on the moon because
putting somebody on the moon is easy we
can't solve race relations not because
the people who study race are not smart
but but studying race relations was
incredibly hard it's really hard to talk
about equality of men and women in the
world today and and me too movement
that's pushing ahead because those are
incredibly hard questions for us to
wrestle with and how do you bring
justice in the world today that people
are struggling with the currency in the
world today is science right is
quantification and data a friend of mine
studies black pastors in the south and
he's not a Christian he's not a believer
but he's been interviewing the the
transformation of the lives of these
black pastors in the south for about 20
years and he's a sociologist and he
wants to know what does it mean to be
wrestling with issues of race and faith
at the same time one of the biggest
narratives as a pastor is this Exodus
that God will one day set you free and
it really resonates with the
african-american community but what
happens if now the pastor of this church
is now driving a Lexus you know does
that mean that they've already achieved
it clearly that's not what the world
says so that's the kind of really deep
sophisticated in-depth question he's
dealing with but most of the journals
that he's submitting his work to keep
saying to him where's the data and he's
saying this is the data I mean what it
means to be a human is to talk to them
and to understand with them you can't
quantify and distill this into a bunch
of numbers that's trivia trivializing
the work so the world is obsessed with
truth based on data and and it's
dangerous because it's wrong that's the
simple stuff the thing is I think that
absolutely makes sense if you're in the
science world I mean you should be
judged right by data and of the sciences
but the problem is when you start
leaving the world and using the same set
of tools what one of my favorite people
is Richard Dawkins I like him because
he's truly passionate of how about what
he believes in and I'd rather have
somebody who's passionate and against
you know against faith or against God
that's great I'm glad he's putting
strips on the table but the reason I
struggle with him is because he's not
trained as a philosopher he's not
trained as a theologian he's trained as
a as a biologist as as an evolutionary
biologist he's brilliant at what he does
but you can't take those same set of
tools and say now I have enough tools to
answer any questions Stephen Hawking did
the same thing when he talked about
philosophy being dead and he said
philosophy is now dead well that
statement is a philosophical statement
so he's using philosophy to talk about
philosophy being dead and I mean he's a
brilliant cosmologists he's a brilliant
physicist one of the greatest who's ever
existed but to say that those weapons
and physics can now be used to shoot
down other arguments in history and in
science and in history and political
science and full of philosophy is as
dangerous and wrong I guess what
attracts me and what pulls me and makes
me think of the Christian faith is not
things from a scientific lens you know
if I think back to what
means to be a mathematician when I was
in undergrad or grad school I don't
remember any lectures from a professor
if I was amazing I had an amazing
professors but I remember oh my gosh
that lecture on triple integrals was
just incredible
I don't read any of that stuff I just
you know I usually remember things like
hey the the pizza party we had that
night or the night we played euchre or
the way the girls smelled next to me or
the dance like how am I getting I never
want to dance but you know you know you
know what I'm saying
but all of those things is what it means
to be humans is what attracts me and
gives me these memories so the reason
I'm attracted to the Christian faith is
not because of some scientific slam dunk
argument of course if there's a tension
if there's a huge tension between what
the Christian faith says and the way the
world is framed according to the
Christian perspective versus the
scientific data we have then yeah then
we're in trouble but I don't see that
tension at all in fact if I'm reading
through scripture or listening to how
it's been interpreted it's usually that
that the scripture is not really
interested in science it's not making
questions of science it's answering
questions of who we are why we're here
why do we feel anger when we watch a
movie like 12 years of slave you know
when we want justice to happen in this
world what does it mean to forgive what
does it mean to retaliate you know those
bigger questions what does it mean to
have a great relationship but it's mean
to enjoy food those are the kind of
questions that science doesn't answer
but the Christian faith does and most
faith to do the reason I'm attracted to
the Christian faith in particular is it
actually is rooted in history so unlike
a theoretical or an abstract
philosophical faith it actually says God
intersected the world in certain places
in certain times and here's how it
actually happened it's not God does this
and the world runs this way they
actually meet and because of that you
could actually measure the meeting you
can actually say well if Jesus lived
then here's what it should look like if
Jesus resurrected then here's what it
should look like and that actually makes
sense to me the fact I can actually
measure through historical lens as to
what's going on that's attractive the
question I started asking maybe five to
ten years ago in a very serious way
which had
echoes of it beforehand was what does it
mean to be human and if you start asking
that question I wanted to ask that
question through the lens of a
mathematician what does it mean to be
human as a mathematician and so the
Christian faith says actually that this
world though amazing and beautiful and
gorgeous and attractive is still broken
they're parts of it they just don't fit
and they're echoes of of glory in the
background that it's pointing to
something more amazing than what we have
right now and so that more amazing world
is the new heaven and the new earth when
things will all be set right so being a
mathematician I'm I got curious what
will math be like in the new heaven and
the new earth right like how much of
this math is gonna last you know because
you always want to make a lasting impact
than whatever you do and how much of the
math is gonna fade and if it's gonna
fade why am i spending time on that
stuff and if it's gonna last I'm gonna
spend a lot more energy there so you
know true with any friendships we have
right we have a thousand friends and out
of that we're gonna pour our energies
into just a few of them who become
really close friends because we want
those friends to last throughout our
lives we can turn to them in the worst
and the best of times and so I wanted to
know in mathematics what will last and I
came to the conclusion that everything
does that's the cool thing about math is
everything is gonna last the new world's
gonna take the mathematics we do and
you're gonna see it in a much better way
but more importantly though this new
world is going to be a physical world
just like this one so in other words
it's not the physical world maybe as
Buddhism or maybe Hinduism says is kind
of this temporary place where you can't
wait to get out of it and to become
disembodied and purely spirit it's
actually the physical world rocks it's
amazing it's in the new earth this new
heaven and the new earth where God and
his people are gonna be together it's a
place where the physical world is going
to be there except you're gonna see it
the way it was meant to be seen the
photograph you hold in your hand will
now become the real place instead of a
photograph of the Grand Canyon we're
gonna be at the Grand Canyon it's gonna
be amazing and so how can we make that
come to the world today how can we make
the future be like that in the world
today and so what I wanted to start
asking this like how do you make math
physical that's the question I really
wanted to ask if the new world's going
to be physical
math physical it turns out if you think
about the academic life academia is the
most ivory tower of every discipline
right you could be a plumber a carpenter
you could be a CEO you can be a data
analyst at least touching the keyboard
you know knock it away but an academic
is like sitting literally thinking
without actually interacting there's
this notion of just literally thinking
in the ivory tower about thoughts and
the most whitest of the white collar is
a mathematician because a chemist is
actually doing chemical things and and a
physicist doing physical things and a
linguist is thinking about literature
over time and the change of words but a
mathematician man we're just inner
thoughts these abstract ideas so what I
want is how do you make math physical
and I started working with artists over
the years because artists actually are
deeply embedded in physical things and I
as a mathematician who cares about shape
thought men who else but an artist whose
thought about physical things and images
to collaborate with so I started working
with artists that you know we've we've
done struggles with unsolved problems on
on spaces of trees and genetics we have
paintings that we did work with artists
in lots of different ways but but the
most recent one that is kind of exciting
is is a collaborator and I Diane Hoffa
she's another mathematician she and I
got together formed a team of faculty
and students and alum and community
members and we raised about $50,000 and
we built a two-ton sculpture that we
took to Burning Man and the sculpture is
remarkable for several things one the
outside of the sculpture is shaped like
a dodecahedron but the hinges of the
pentagonal hinge is open and you can
actually get in and the outside looks
like the matrix icon icon agraphia where
that where the lights kind of look like
these matrix flow which ask the question
of what does it mean to be human in
terms of a computer controlling you and
the inside once you go inside the
dodecahedron it's lined with about
10-foot tall mirrors it's a mirrored
room of a dodecahedron and it's
basically reflecting you all around so
now all of a sudden you're absolutely
human you're not this outside
environment and it asked the question
now that you've kind of gone past
technology what does it mean to be human
in the middle of all this so that's the
that's the artistic framework of how we
thought of it but in terms of the object
itself it turns out that a mere
dodecahedron is a really close example
of what our current shape of our
universe could be you know the shape of
the earth is a sphere but what's the
shape of the universe it turns out that
the plonker a dodecahedral sphere which
is a version of the dodecahedron where
he can kind of pass through walls and do
these cool tricks then the mirror
dodecahedron comes comes to scratch that
itch of what the shape of our universe
could be so that's really cool it's an
unsolved problem of what the universe is
and also the there's an unsolved math
problem which is can you take any
polyhedron and cut along the edges and
unfold and lay it flat so albert durer
500 years old
500 years ago asked this question is it
true that any polyhedron can be laid
laid flat by cutting along the edges and
it's still an unsolved problem today
it's the biggest unsolved problem in
geometry that I know of and so it turns
out the dodecahedron actually unfolds
that you can get in just like the way
dirt imagined and then you could fold
back in and get into the shape of this
universe so deals with these unsolved
questions of mathematics unsolved
questions of physics and cosmology and
yet it's a physical object that people
can interact with and think about what
it means to be human in terms of math as
an evidence for my faith I don't see it
so in other words I could look at a
beautiful theorem and I can say lots of
gorgeous theorem it could be an absolute
atheist not believe in anything beyond
the world that I see in some sense and
say this is pretty right the Gauss Bonet
theorem is one of the prettiest limbs in
the world period or I can believe that
there's a creator out there who designed
the world and has partnered with us to
create with him and I could also look at
the gospel in a theorem and say this is
pretty this is gorgeous and I could just
add the words Wow thank God
that he thought of these beautiful
things and has allowed me to see his
creation so either way Gauss Bonet is
Gauss Bonet and so this is just this
external viewpoint of how I view the
world looking at mathematics but the
math itself isn't I don't see it as a
pointer to God in other words it is a
pointer to God but it's not enough to
convince me it's not enough to push my
chips into the bucket of faith just
because mathematics makes sense
not for me if I can have one dream it
would be two pieces of thread that would
fit together nicely and the first thread
is to say we should be careful with the
Enlightenment which shatters our
disciplines into pieces and so some
might be better than others to say that
math is better than the humanities which
could be better than the arts I think we
should value all of them and put her
back as this tapestry and the second
part is to push back not just against
the Enlightenment but against the
Industrial Revolution to say that this
mass production of things makes us
better humans I think we have to be
really careful of what it means to live
in a world that's physical that as we
think more about the digital world that
we become disembody we forget what is
important to smell and touch and we keep
thinking data and the prolific ation and
the quantification of data is valuable
it is but not compared to being human a
great cup of coffee is better than a
thousand data analysts and their code
that they can write a great conversation
over a good meal made at home is more
remarkable than climbing the highest
tower you could imagine in New York so
as long as we value what it means to
live a blue-collar life with those who
use their hands well and honor them as
much as those who might honor the white
collar world and at the same time honor
these different disciplines I'd love it
you
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