...but WHO is math? And why is mathematics culture so compassionate?

This video is a playdate between you and me. I will treat you to cookies at a cafe, show you a cool puzzle, take you along for a walk, and share stories about matters that are very close to me. This video can also be described as 1. a math exposition disguised as a puzzle, 2. a memoir-reflection on four difficult decisions one young person has made in the past few years, and 3. a young student’s critique of relationships, education, and academia. I have put these three different topics together because I believe that when side by side, they fully respond to a question: why should I care about mathematics, or for that matter, higher education in general? I respond to this question with a question of my own: but WHO is math to you? What it means to ask this question is to try to shift your perspective of math from something that can benefit you in some way or other, to someone who could be your friend. I believe this perspective shift is not just beneficial for your mental health; it is more appropriate for making sense of the actual feeling of learning mathematics in the first place (compared to any other widespread understanding of what math is or what mathematicians are for). And, this perspective shift also makes it painfully obvious why we should care about mathematics (and higher education)! In the same way that a friend can patiently wait for you to mature, change how you see yourself, inspire you to live differently, and make the work you pursue meaningful, mathematics can playfully help you become the person you want to be. And, this is all possible because your journey with mathematics is done together with other people. I hope that this video encourages discussion about personal stories in and out of math–if you would like to share your story, please share it in the comments, or reach out to me via email if you would like to share it privately (you can find it in my channel description). If you would like an opportunity to make your own story more visible, I also encourage you to check out a related project that I am helping to organize, where we are trying to compile anecdotes from people about their relationship with math: https://maa.org/math-values/what-does.... The aim of this video, and this general project of learning mathematics for human flourishing, is to fill you with a strong desire to learn empathy–I seriously believe that our survival depends on our ability to see ourselves and each other in a new light. Contents: 0:00 Prologue: We meet in a cafe. 3:26 Chapter 1: Who is math? Or, why a question about square tiles reminds me of letting go. 3:58 Chapter 1.1: A tale of two square tiles. 5:24 Chapter 1.1, Insights 1-2: first impressions 8:42 Chapter 1.1, Insights 3-5: a perspective shift 18:52 Chapter 1.1, Insights 6-7: a solution? 28:47 Chapter 1.2: Who is math to me? 36:16 Chapter 2: When is it time for me to let go? 58:15 Chapter 3: A Young Student’s Apology 1:00:52 Chapter 3.1: Who is math in literature? 1:01:16 Chapter 3.1.1: G.H. Hardy and the (self-conscious) artist 1:15:37 Chapter 3.1.2: Francis Su and empathy 1:21:55 Chapter 3.1.3: Simone Weil and meaningful work 1:42:25 Chapter 3.2: Who can math be to us? 1:44:00 Chapter 3.2.1: In family upbringing 1:51:08 Chapter 3.2.2: In education 2:03:00 Chapter 3.2.3: In academia 2:20:47 Preceding Irrational Postscript: My Apology. Media References for this video: https://docs.google.com/document/d/11... Acknowledgments: Thank you to friends and family for being my audience. Thank you especially to the community I got to be a part of this year, without whom this video would have far less merit. Thank you to the many people I showed the chapter 1 puzzle to over the years, or with whom I shared Francis Su’s Mathematics for Human Flourishing; you unwittingly served as practice rounds for me as I was developing my ideas. Thank you to my teachers and college professors for instilling in me many of my current math and literary/philosophical sensibilities, and for giving me the high standards I have of finding compassion in intellectual pursuits. Thank you to Five Flies Coffee in New York City for being the model for the cafe in the first chapter of this video, and for sustaining such a cozy environment for many heartfelt conversations I overheard while drawing in there. Thank you to Riverside Park for being the backdrop of the second and third chapters, and for always being so lovely to walk along (side note: I like to imagine that Simone Weil enjoyed walks along this same park during the short period of 1942 that the Weils lived right beside it). Thank you to my family’s dog, whose personality and likeness became the avatar I used to represent the viewer in this video.