Flashbacks to College Math
Callin’ out to all the Mudders in the audience. Ever take math class from Dr. Benjamin? I did. Sophomore year I think. Real Analysis maybe? It bent my brain sideways. Fun class. Got an A. I felt like I was starting to “get math” after that class.
He does this trick where he multiplies 5 digit numbers together in his head. He was a nationally ranked backgammon player in his spare time. #40 or so in the US at the time IIRC. It turns out that serious backgammon is all about estimating your fractional odds of winning at any given point and raising the bet when you think you’re ahead. So for him it was a “live probability lab.”
I was reminded of this when a friend was watching a video and sure enough it was one of my old math profs. So here’s the video of him showing off at Ted. You go! Thanks for the great math.
This reminds me of a professor I had at Shoreline Community College named Tim Davis. he was probably early 30's at the time and would do long division and multiplication in his head for fun. Apparently it was a game he and his dad (who was a mathematician would play to pass the time). He was crazy funny and liked going on and on about how excited certain equations made him and how depressing statistics books are.