Edward Frenkel: Let's Stop Hating Math
Mathematician Edward Frenkel (http://edwardfrenkel.com) argues that we need to embrace math to survive our brave new world. Edward Frenkel is professor of ...
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What is it that distinguishes us from, you know, cavemen? I would say it's the level of abstraction that we can reach. And, you know, to give a simple example, it used to be that there was barter trading so you would exchange, you know, wheat for meat or something like this. But then eventually there was an abstract idea, the idea of money. You know, it's like a piece of paper but this piece of paper actually signifies a certain value and you can exchange it for goods and services. So that's the next level of abstraction. But now we are dealing with an even higher level of abstraction because I don't actually see money that much. I see a piece of plastic, credit cards. I swipe my credit card. So suddenly that's the next level of abstraction. So this credit card somehow has...
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What is it that distinguishes us from, you know, cavemen? I would say it's the level of abstraction that we can reach. And, you know, to give a simple example, it used to be that there was barter trading so you would exchange, you know, wheat for meat or something like this. But then eventually there was an abstract idea, the idea of money. You know, it's like a piece of paper but this piece of paper actually signifies a certain value and you can exchange it for goods and services. So that's the next level of abstraction. But now we are dealing with an even higher level of abstraction because I don't actually see money that much. I see a piece of plastic, credit cards. I swipe my credit card. So suddenly that's the next level of abstraction. So this credit card somehow has...
