About this episode

Ted Dintersmith discusses the importance of understanding mathematical concepts over traditional math skills.

Ted Dintersmith, author of Aftermath: The Life-Changing Math that Schools Won't Teach You, argues that much of what we learn in math can be outsourced to machines. That frees people to understand the mathematical ideas that underlie much of modern life. An example is estimation, such as political polls. Understanding the various metrics that fill the news requires creativity coupled with logic. Learning to ask the right questions is more important than, say, learning to do closed-form integrals.

People in this episode

Host: Carol Jacoby

Guest: Ted Dintersmith

Topics covered

• mathematics education
• outsourcing math
• estimation
• political polls
• creativity in math
• logical thinking

Keywords

• life-changing math
• math education
• estimation
• political polls
• mathematical ideas

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Aftermath: The Life-Changing Math that Schools Won't Teach You

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