WEBVTT 00:00:02.509 --> 00:00:05.809 Hi. One of my favorite quotes comes from mathematician 00:00:05.809 --> 00:00:10.269 Paul Lockhart. He says, In fact, my favorite 00:00:10.269 --> 00:00:12.910 feature of mathematics is that it continually 00:00:12.910 --> 00:00:17.629 blows my mind and teaches me humility. To be 00:00:17.629 --> 00:00:21.370 utterly and absolutely wrong is one of the greatest 00:00:21.370 --> 00:00:25.710 gifts one can receive. Luckily, mathematics is 00:00:25.710 --> 00:00:30.070 extremely generous in this regard. That was from 00:00:30.070 --> 00:00:33.619 Paul. Well, I've been given that gift many times. 00:00:34.259 --> 00:00:37.100 And even when I'm not completely wrong, I'm often 00:00:37.100 --> 00:00:40.899 simply struggling to figure something out. Here's 00:00:40.899 --> 00:00:43.719 what often happens when I do math. I get a new 00:00:43.719 --> 00:00:47.700 problem and have no idea what to do. So I'll 00:00:47.700 --> 00:00:51.759 try something. It probably doesn't work. So I'll 00:00:51.759 --> 00:00:54.500 stare at the problem for a while. Then I'll try 00:00:54.500 --> 00:00:57.679 something else. And sometimes I eventually figure 00:00:57.679 --> 00:01:03.009 it out. And sometimes I don't. Even after years 00:01:03.009 --> 00:01:07.030 of studying math, I failed several actuarial 00:01:07.030 --> 00:01:12.150 exams. So, yes, math is most certainly a struggle. 00:01:12.349 --> 00:01:15.189 But one thing I've noticed about struggle is 00:01:15.189 --> 00:01:18.569 that it feels different when you think you are 00:01:18.569 --> 00:01:23.409 the only one struggling. Francis Hsu in Mathematics 00:01:23.409 --> 00:01:26.230 for Human Flourishing talks about one of the 00:01:26.230 --> 00:01:31.049 gifts of community. He says that it can normalize 00:01:31.049 --> 00:01:35.290 struggle. In other words, community can normalize 00:01:35.290 --> 00:01:39.170 struggle. I find that an interesting insight. 00:01:40.269 --> 00:01:43.810 Imagine sitting in a math class, completely confused, 00:01:44.030 --> 00:01:47.370 while everyone around you seems to understand. 00:01:48.409 --> 00:01:52.189 It is pretty easy to start thinking, well, maybe 00:01:52.189 --> 00:01:55.829 I'm not very good at this, and eventually may 00:01:55.829 --> 00:02:00.239 even get worse. Maybe I don't belong here. And 00:02:00.239 --> 00:02:02.959 then someone sitting next to you says, I don't 00:02:02.959 --> 00:02:06.760 understand this. Well, nothing about the mathematics 00:02:06.760 --> 00:02:10.659 changed. The problem's still difficult. But something 00:02:10.659 --> 00:02:14.680 about the experience changed. You don't feel 00:02:14.680 --> 00:02:18.180 alone. And I've come to believe that struggling 00:02:18.180 --> 00:02:20.560 with mathematics is not evidence that you do 00:02:20.560 --> 00:02:23.960 not belong in math. It is part of doing math. 00:02:24.780 --> 00:02:26.939 And of course, there are times when we need help. 00:02:27.340 --> 00:02:29.500 Sometimes we need someone to explain something 00:02:29.500 --> 00:02:32.580 differently or point us in a new direction. But 00:02:32.580 --> 00:02:34.840 we should not be embarrassed to raise our hand 00:02:34.840 --> 00:02:38.599 and say, I do not understand. Because there's 00:02:38.599 --> 00:02:40.539 a pretty good chance someone else in the room 00:02:40.539 --> 00:02:44.319 doesn't understand either. And one gift that 00:02:44.319 --> 00:02:47.240 we can give each other in the community is not 00:02:47.240 --> 00:02:51.680 to pretend that everything comes easily. not 00:02:51.680 --> 00:02:54.719 trying to look like the smartest person in the 00:02:54.719 --> 00:02:59.280 room. Just be willing to admit, yes, I'm struggling 00:02:59.280 --> 00:03:03.080 as well. And when we do math together, we don't 00:03:03.080 --> 00:03:05.060 always need someone to remove that struggle. 00:03:05.819 --> 00:03:08.280 Sometimes we simply need someone willing to sit 00:03:08.280 --> 00:03:12.280 beside us and say, yes, this is difficult, so 00:03:12.280 --> 00:03:14.199 let's see if we can figure it out together.