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This 'Math Test' Changed How I See Humanity

2022-10-21 · letter vlog · Hank · 3:54 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Internet & YouTube (also: Science & nature) · mode: Personal essay

Using a viral, ambiguous math problem (12 or 18?), Hank argues that vague questions on which it is easy to form simple, conflicting opinions are the ones the social internet amplifies, driving wedges even among people who mostly agree, while their answers are often invalid because the questions are wrong.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Greeting; the viral math problem and the Team 12 versus Team 18 argument on Twitter

  • ★★ Hank shows a very low-stakes math problem that changed the way he sees the social internet. — 00:00:00 · social media
  • ★★ Hank says a math question (9 times 10 is 90, 8 times 9 is 72 and so on; what is 3?) went viral on Twitter because people argued about the answer. — 00:00:00 · Twitter
  • ★★ Many people said the answer was 12 and many said 18; the two camps argued, each very certain it was right. — 00:00:29
  • ★ Team 18 saw a descending sequence of multipliers (10, 9, 8, 7, then 6 times 3); Team 12 saw each number multiplied by itself plus one. — 00:00:29

00:00:58 — Two correct answers ('12 or 18', or the question is wrong); those who know they don't know; unclear real problems

  • ★★★ Hank says there are two correct answers: either '12 or 18', or that the question itself is wrong. — 00:00:58
  • ★ Hank admits that to him the answer is 12, since n times n plus 1 seems more mathy, then catches himself. (playful) — 00:00:58
  • ★★★ Hank says that here everyone who believes their answer is right is wrong; the only people who are right are those who know they don't know. — 00:01:27
  • ★★★ An unclear math problem is a poorly made one, but for almost any other problem unclarity is a good sign it is real; if the solution is clear, it is probably not big. (hedged) — 00:01:27

00:01:56 — Why vague questions go viral: it is easy to believe different things; algorithms surface them and drive wedges; sign-off

  • ★★ Hank says nothing is interesting about a math problem everyone agrees on; one of the very few reasons math goes viral is that people fight. — 00:01:56
  • ★★ Of a messy equation that circulates constantly, Hank says mathematicians don't find it interesting: they wouldn't answer it but would ask for it to be rewritten. — 00:01:56
  • ★★★ Such questions are easy to argue about not just because people believe different things, but because it is easy to believe different things. — 00:02:26
  • ★★ A question like that is bound to get attention, whether it is about math, guns or immigration, especially from people who don't know much about it. — 00:02:26
  • ★★ Experts know such a problem is poorly phrased and badly done, so they don't really engage with it. — 00:02:55
  • ★★★ Hank says that, due to the nature of humanity and its algorithms, such questions are the ones we are most likely to see. — 00:02:55 · recommender system
  • ★★★ This drives wedges not only between the two big political parties but within parties and communities, among people who broadly agree on almost everything. — 00:02:55
  • ★★★ Vague questions that yield simple, conflicting opinions are much more likely to create conflict and go viral, and their answers are often invalid because the questions are wrong. — 00:03:24

In the description and comments

  • ★★★ The description says nearly every question about 'cancel culture' is poorly phrased, since the term means at least 20 things, from celebrities jailed for sexual assault to viral 'Karen' videos. — video description · Karen (slang)
  • ★★ The description says it is impossible to be right about cancel culture but very easy to have an opinion, because everyone defines it differently. — video description
  • ★★ Hank says the idea that easy opinions form when questions are wrongly stated, making arguments easier, is new to him. — video description
  • ★ In a channel comment Hank admits that despite the video he is himself pretty diehard Team 12. (playful) — video description
  • ★★ In a comment Hank says teaching such a question in a math class would be great: discussing why people reach different answers and how math's grammar was made clearer. — creator comment

Threads in this video

Mentioned

Central: mathematics · social media

Also: expert · political party · recommender system · Twitter

Only in the description or credits: cancel culture · Karen (slang)

Also centred on mathematics: The Education Continuum WARNER CHILCOTTED · Go Play!

Later videos replying to this one

  • 2022-10-25 · Instantly Debateable (John) — continues — “I loved your video last week about how, especially in online discourse, we often create dichotomies that place us into one of two opposing camps” (00:00:00)