The eternal question asked by students around the world: what is this math good for?
In his funny TED talk, Spanish mathematician Eduardo Saenz de Cabezon says most mathematicians either defend math by arguing it exists all around us or attack the questioner by pointing out that math is beautiful and doesn't need a reason to exist, like poetry. But Saenz de Cabezon says the real reason math is worth studying is that it's forever. A proved theorem is more permanent than any diamond.
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