Mathematician Explains Infinity in 5 Levels of Difficulty | WIRED

As a father I can tell you right now that child holds in her hands a jar of infinite glitter

I find the youngest child to be really impressive, she kept her cool when confronted with unexpected and complex thoughts, and had surprisingly accurate intuitions.

It's interesting that when she explains infinity to kids, it's about instincts. When she explains it to teenagers, college students, grad students, it becomes mathematics. And when she reaches the final level, it goes back to instincts.

You can tell how much a person understands a subject by the way they explain it to people. The fact that she can explain such a complex idea in simpler terms shows how much she understands about the subject.

the youngest child's "can infinity get bigger" was a surprisingly deep question the brings you into some significantly more advanced topics, i wouldve been completely stumped trying to answer that in a way that would address the question and also make sense to the child

i love how giddy and enthusiastic the expert is. she is clearly energized by the discussion. love to see people living their dreams.

I love how every time we reach Experts stage, there's no teaching or educating done, just discussion and sharing of thoughts and ideas.

As a person with a bachelors degree in math, she is a much better professor than so many I had!

She communicates complex concepts so clearly with no filler sounds, clearly thinking at top speed the whole time. I'm no fan of mathematics, but somehow I'm feeling an interest through her passion

It was interesting to see, what they talk about in each level. 1. Expert to Child: Talking about mathematics 2. Expert to Teen: Talking about mathematics 3. Expert to College Student: Talking about mathematics 4. Expert to Grad Student: Talking about mathematics 5. Expert to Expert: Talking about philosophy

Fascinating that the expert conversation dives right into the realm of philosophy

I’m just amazed by her ability to teach ! She breaks down the topic so beautifully considering their age and level of studies without a single pause ! I wish I had a professor like you ! What an amazing person!

Emily is infinitely better than any math teacher I had in high school.

The youngest girl was incredibly bright and intuitive when answering and asking the questions. She understood concepts even some adults struggle with.

I think the truest thing to come out of this was when they were having the ‘Expert to Expert’ conversation: “We are humans constructing meaning”. Powerful stuff.

It was very interesting to watch Emily's eyes during each conversation. Eye contact was strong early on because everything that was said was so routine. Later on, they would drift away as they reached more difficult to explain ideas. Really fascinating.

I like how all of these levels can be summarized by a single question each. Level 1: What's the difference between a really large finite number and infinity? Level 2: What happens if you try to do basic maths with infinity? Level 3: How can one kind of infinity be larger than another? Level 4: What kinds of weird logical consequences are there to the fact that infinity exists? Level 5: Why are we asking these questions about something we literally can't imagine? I have never actually had to study maths beyond high school, and videos like this make me feel like I'm missing out. Maybe I'll pick it up for fun once I'm retired. It'll be super interesting to see what mathematicians will come up with until then.

It cannot be omitted that this woman has a tremendously impressive ability to teach. She was able to walk a very wide range of people through the topic of infinity, adjusting the flow and terminology to the interlocutor, regardless of their age or degree. As a teacher myself, I can only offer my admiration and congratulations.

These series are fantastic! Would it be possible to create a set of videos that explain concepts related to social sciences and economics? It would be fascinating to watch.

The approach to explaining infinity to a child is brilliant. I am touched by the narrator's sincere desire to make the other person truly understand.