Are there errors? 4:31 Would the car's average speed be 24? First they drive for 1 hour and they cover 20 km. Then they turn around and it takes 40 minutes to travel the 20 km because they did it at 30 km/h. So we have a total travelling time of 1 hour at 20kmh, and 40 minutes at 30kmh. 40km, 1hour + 2/3 hour (5/3 of an hour). So 40 x 3, /5, = 24kmh. Isn't the answer 24? From the writing that we can see The interviewer prompted the child that was his answer wrong and shouldn't the answer be 25. From this I infer that the child said 24. Why did the guy tell the kid it was 25? He even remarked that the child changed his answer to 25 because the interviewer pushed him to say 25. But isn't the correct answer 24 just like the kid, Terrence, had said?
Is this an error too? Question E at 2:21 - is there information missing to solve this? There's no total amount of money, or a ratio of books. So how are we supposed to solve this?
I think his parents and family deserve a lot of praise for helping him reach his full potential. Even if you were as brilliant as Terrance, your environment may not give you access to enough literature or other sources of knowledge to learn at that pace.
So true. I never had these, though I wanted to learn, I never got that chance. That's a very important factor in one's early education. It's something that I'm grateful for now
Yeah, and lots of parents would have seen a kid reading math textbooks happily for hours and responded with reflexively feeling like they should put a stop to it. The idea that pursuing things you enjoy is inherently wrong runs deep.
That response has impressed me since the first time I heard it. I was working for Burroughs Corporation, the computer company. We were releasing a new range of computers, the B17, which was very advanced for the time (it was built around idealized virtual machines for any language). A young guy was giving a presentation on the operating system and was asked a question by the president of the company. The young guy thought for a few seconds and said "I don't know. I'll have to get back to you".
As if Nintendo would have changed anything ^^ TT won the lottery of intellect. Though it doesn't take anything away from his commitment to the study of math and science.
@@joannot6706 If you have enough intellect and do not work hard then you will fail. So yes, Nintendo can make the difference in such situations. TT is an exception but do not believe he can achieve something without work.
I took a class under Terence Tao at UCLA. It’s interesting how many of his explanations were very visual, and he would often describe how he just “sees” the solutions to the problems, so his approach definitely evolved. His exams were impossible also and heavily curved.
Just proof that being a master of math doesn’t make you a great teacher... those who can teach the peasants in a way that even they can understand are the true hero’s in my opinion.
@@hektorm2306 agreed... teaching is a totally different skill... the best teachers I had were academically average or had very little research background...
22 years old, just getting to calculus now, and i'll say that this wasn't discouraging at all for me. If anything it was encouraging to see that math doesn't care about age, just your willingness and ability to learn it. While most of my peers have already finished well past where I am currently, I still find joy and excitement being introduced to this new world of information and possibilities. Maybe that child like curiosity has been sparked once again.
I was just learning the calculus last year having been 28, I don’t plan on being a professional mathematician but I see no reason why other people’s myopic notions of age are at all relevant to my personal interests. Lead a life of ceaseless learning! At 29 my life feels as if it’s only just beginning! I plan to learn German soon, how pitiable it would be to think I should never begin simply because I wasn’t born to a German household. Perhaps I’ll learn a programming language like python sometime, presently I’ve been training to be a neuroscientist. In short, live richly, seize the time that remains yours!
I'm 25 and a social sciences MA. I've been bad at math. It's an insecurity. But, these bits on geniuses motivate me to keep trying. I don't have to be great at it, much less a machine like Tao, but it's great to gain competence for future applications. There's a wide array.
I like how this mentions the time that TT put into studying. While clearly a genius, part of his rapid success comes from enjoying studying and learning new math for 3+ hours a day.
exactly. he didnt just know this stuff. he spent all his free time doing it. he truly found it fun. kinda like how when I first got into programming in 8th grade, I spent ALL my time doing that (but it eventually got too hard for me and i stopped). but then again in 12th grade I got into it again and this time i really fell in love with it. and now at 24, im a software engineer :))
@@pvic6959 I did similar with radio - got interested in it at an early age and have been working as an engineer in radio communications for many years.
Undeniably , children's brains are very strongly affected by their surroundings.. For example , "absolute pitch in music" , learning multiple languages concurrently and responding to a mixed conversation in the appropriate language , etc... I REALLY wonder if we're letting our children down by overlooking them and not having them engage with so many things that could "tickle" their brain , so to speak... I'm curious if geniouses aren't that rare , but what is rare is the circumstances that a genious kid needs to thrive... I wonder if most parents fail their kids that way... Undeniably , genetics may play a role as well as chance.. But maybe we're really failing our kids as a society... A real scary thought.
You are a very smart kid by then. I think you were that child that made an answer like this for this question: Find x Here it is -------------------------------------------------> X + 3
@@rationalsceptic7634 Tbh Nobel Prize is still more respected than Fields medal for the reason that random pure maths may have zero application or consequence in real life.
@@pubgplayer1720 I disagree. Mathematics are especially important in quantum mechanics, which enable us to discover the truth of reality. There's a saying: Your eyes and ears can lie and deceive you; your experience can misled you; your imagination can restrain you; but mathematics will never lie to you.
I saw him speak at UCLA where he was a professor, and that too about astronomy and the geometries of the movement heavenly bodies. One of my friends had actually worked with him, he is into some really arcane pure math and analytics right now. When I asked about Terence, my friend just said "he knows way too much". Always a fan of your content and regards from India.
I got way too excited for being able to answer the question young Mr. Tao missed at 7 years old. I suppose we have to take our victories wherever we can find them!
That's a lot like Kramer in "Seinfeld" getting thrills and excessive ego boost from whipping young kids in a karate class. Come back and gloat when you're omniscient.
it is interesting to note that TT has 2 younger brothers Nigel and Trevor, also very agile with mathematics, one being a 2 time bronze medal winner at the international Mathematic olympiad, and the other being an international chess master. i would have liked to see how their parents inspired them and made Home such a place to flourish
@@Jack-xl5eq A parent and their child show a 0.22 correlation in IQ if the child has not been raised by that parent; that rises to 0.42 if the parent did raise the child. I don't know how far that comparison controls for situations where the child has been raised by another member of the same extended kin or kith group, so even the 0.22 probably doesn't show the 'pure' effects of genetics. So, while I agree that no-one (afaik) denies a genetic effect, it seems petty clear that the effect size of upbringing is much greater.
I’ll tell you how they made their home flourish. IQ, and all it’s related hereditary traits. Not saying that’s the only thing, but definitely 80-90% of it.
@@qqx154 its not incorrect. The vast majority of people would never be close to good enough at maths to compete with TT or his brothers, even in the best possible environment. That’s not saying that a good environment wasn’t necessary for his success, but it did not have a more important effect than his natural abilities.
@@pvic6959 1 sheep.... 2 sheep... 3 sheep... 4 sheep.... (and before any leaps in with assumptions, counting sheep is a traditional remedy for not being able to sleep)
I was in the same gifted children's program as Terence. It was an early model for gifted education that was first established in Adelaide, South Australia in 1979 by Miraca Gross (a wonderful, brilliant woman & one of the pioneers in the field). Needless to say all of us in the program were at a level of giftedness that skewed so many deviation points past the standard that I believe most of us could very well have been understood to be non neurotypical. Terence was no different: absolutely brilliant, intelligent beyond belief, with a mind that just operated on a different level, yet he was also polite, humble, sensitive and kind, with little to no egocentricity that I ever saw. His parents were the same, always so very warm and welcoming, doing their utmost to make everyone feel welcome and included, just genuinely lovely people for whom I've always had a lot of respect for.
@@dennisossianderrmplmtcst2053 Thank you. And yes life is good. It took a while, but I did eventually achieve genuine happiness and stability, which turned out to be completely separate from my label as a gifted child. Of course as a gifted child there are certain expectations that get placed on you, whether consciously or unconsciously, in terms of things like career trajectory. I don't think anyone expected that the careers I would ultimately get the most enjoyment and satisfaction from would be bar tending &, later, volunteer peer support work for those experiencing addiction and mental illness. We don't all end up as professors, or at the top of our expected fields, and that's okay in my book. :)
No question that he is outstanding and his answers at 7 are amazing, though one has to consider: - Mother a math teach with a first class honors degree in math, - 2 brothers of which both represented Australia in the math Olympics. That does not seem like a coincidence, rather good aptitude for math combined with vigorous parent schooling.
@@Randomkloud Thats clearly a skill indeed though having a 7 year old memorize definition texts instead of what kids would usually be doing at that stage ... but whom am I to judge. Its not like we have memorize of our childhood, he at least got set for life with what matters most: knowledge.
For the 1's problem, here's my very simple solution: write 00001 .. 99999 using all digits including 0. You wrote a total of 100,000 * 5 digits, and all digits appear the same amount of times, so there are 500,000/10 = 50,000 of each. Writing the numbers without the leading zeroes is the same as far as 1's are concerned, hence you will get exactly 50,000 times the digit "1".
Dumb question, if you write from 00001 to 99999, you'd have written 99999 numbers in total, wouldn't you? You'd have to start with 00000 right? And how do you prove "all digits appear the same amount of times" then?
As a maths major right now, I am utterly amazed at what he knew and his capacity to learn new concepts at 7 years old. Antiderivatives at 7? I was struggling with those in college. I've met non-maths people who just don't understand the absurdity of this level of intelligence. They equate higher level maths to algebra because it all looks the same to them. Like, no. Algebra is child's play. What Terry was doing at 7 is leagues above what you failed at in freshman year of high school.
I had the same thought. I was most impressed by the answers he gave to questions about groups and fields. These are topics that you start to learn in 2nd year analysis courses, which are so hard that they drive half the math undergrads away from pursuing a math degree (I was one of them).
For someone’s information, Tao’s parents both graduated from HKU in the last century. His dad did his MBBS and his mum graduated with first class honours in math and phy from HKU (Uni of Hong Kong) as well. His mum is definitely the one who sparked his genius
I think the support he had was superb too, maths and similar classes at the level that benefitted him and the regular classes with his age peers. That shows a lot of maturity and sense from everyone involved.
@@rhythmandacoustics didn't watch the video eh? pretty clear from a few parts that Terry was self motivated -- his mum didn't push at all, just supported his curiosity
This story also shows that being a math genius and child prodigy is not only a matter of personal ability and interest but also of an environment where it can grow. Most people, even with an interest and intellect as Terence's, would not have become the same child prodigy simply because they wouldn't have been exposed to the same things. What I mean is the following: In the first interview, he didn't know what a field was, but he knew what a boolean algebra was. This to me indicates that he must have learned these concepts either by reading his parents books or from his parents or their friends. But if those books would not have been around him, how would he know what this math even was? How would he pick up a concept neither his parents nor any of the books would ever mention? For the usual child, independent of intellect and interest, it is usually not the case that they are exposed to complicated math very early on, simply because most people do not know much about beyond high school mathematics or where to find them. I guess that in my hometown, maybe 40 people know what a field is, so how should a child pick it up even with the greatest interest.
@@Qoozord Was also exposed to higher maths in his childhood. In this case, the school gave him access to the books. Of course this doesn't lessen his genius, but he also did not invent math purely by dreaming it up.
Guys, the only way that someone can be a genius/prodigy it's solving math's teorems and formulas? IMO, if someone has a great potential he can contribuite with his own way, being a good person, contributing with their local problems, etc.... I kinda agree with you that someone need some "luck" too. But different situations develop different "geniuses". It's life....
@@Qoozord Ramanujan was a phenomenon, a true anomaly. He was leagues above Terry in ability, and this is not even debatable. He was truly blessed in ability, but had a terrible life. His intuition was eerie.
for the 1's problem, its a simple permutation and combination's question. where we can make use of the "box" technique. make 5 boxes(for 5digits) and write the number '1' in the first box. now the remaining 4 boxes(indicating the place to fill the remaining 4 digits) can be filled in 10 ways each(from '0' to '9'). this is case 1, and this case gives us a total of 10x10x10x10= 10000 ways (by using fundamental principle of counting)c for case 2, now leave the first box empty and write the number '1' in the second box. now again the remaining four boxes can be filled in 10ways each. notice: that we are automatically also counting for those cases when we have a '0' in the first box- making it a 4 digit number. in this case also, we get a total of 10000 ways. keep on repeating the process until you reach the last box. now all the cases give us a total of 10000 ways each. and since there are a total of 5 cases( as the digit '1' shifts among 5 boxes/places) so by fundamental principle of counting we get a total of 5x10000 = 50,000 ways of having the digit '1' from 1 to 99999
Not true. For example, when you write 1 in the second box, leaving the first empty, this first box cannot have an 1 in it, cause then you'd be counting twice many of the numbers of the first case (the ones with /1/1/_/_/_/). We should change to this strategy: what is the probability to find some 1 in the numbers from 1 to 99999? This probabibility is P(X=1)C5,1 + P(X=2)C5,2 + P(X=3)C5,3 + P(X=4)C5,4 + P(X=5)C5,5 (*), being Cm,n the combinatoric number of the ways to chose n objects from a larger m list, and P(X=k) the probability that there are exactly k 1's. We can calculate (*) directly or indirectly using (P(X=k))^c or the probability that there is not even one "1" in the list. That is (*) = 1 - (P(X=k))^c = 1 - (9/10)^5 = 1-0.59049 = 0.41951. So there are 41951 one's from 1 to 99999.
This actually freaked me out. Tao’s answers were so mature, so grown up, so smart, at seven years old, it didn’t seem human. It actually kind of frightened me.
When I was 7 I genuinely believed I was a maths genius, because I was slightly better at memorising times tables than the other students in my relatively small class. Turns out, I wasn't.
When I was 8, I genuinely believed I was lousy at math, because I struggled with long division. Many years later, I know I'm not lousy at math. I'm rather average with it.
@Noob Boy True to some extent, I think. Although honestly, what I needed more than anything else was to stop believing I was a genius... I genuinely believed I was incredibly intelligent and therefore never had to try hard in order to achieve things. Which worked okay in primary school. By the time I got to high school, though... that was a different story :P I was an arrogant little shit when I was a kid.
I got to experience three changes in maths, across which I exhibited varying levels of ability. The first was transitioning from primary school to high school maths. Big shock. The second was transitioning from high school maths to senior high school maths. Not as big a shock. The third was transitioning from senior high school maths to university level maths. Not a big shock at all ... but it seemed to be a big shock to a lot of my fellow students.
@Caiden Lombard same but I was able to right till 100.And was capable of doing fast mental calculations. I was definitely above average in my school, but not a genius
There are people who learn math through hard work, a boatload of practice and sincere interest, like me. And then there are gifted folks like Terence. I am far from gifted, but some years ago I had a gifted student in my Calc class. Not a Terence, but still amazingly smart. It was a real pleasure to work with this individual. And no, he wasn't a typical bookworm either.He got a free ride to MIT. I am sure he knows more about math than I do by now...
It’s a shame that we don’t introduce ‘normal’ school children to higher level math/ physics. People will claim it’s too difficult. Well, I’m not talking about having them become competent in these subjects in grade school. I just mean simply exposing them to all these ideas out there. Some of which people live their whole lives and die without knowing.
I believe most of his success is due predominantly to studying. He just loved math. When I was 6, I learned group theory, set theory, and discrete mathematics but I never found it "fun". Just like in the book "Grit", success is found through purpose, passion, and perseverance.
My local doctor was Terence's dad until he retired a while back in Adelaide as he was a pediatrician. They have an amazing family, as the other brothers weren't as gifted as he was in learning.
wdym his other brothers arent as gifted, those kids competed in mathematical olympiads and won bronze medals, one of them became international chess champion. BUt ye imagine marrying into this family, of doctors, mathematicians and chess prodigies
@@RolandHutchinson Interesting you should say. I actually am in my second year of grad school in applied math. When I was very young, I was under the impression that I was smart. I've since learned that .... not so much.
@@TIO540S1 Small world, eh wot? I promise I won't hold the "applied" part against you; math is math! Good on both of us for keeping the old brain engaged, even if we are never going to be (and never were going to be) the next Terry T.
@@TIO540S1 PS a scholar of your age and experience will, I assume, have already detected that the bit about reading at a 94-year old level was meant as a joke, but the rest is honest-to-gosh true.
When he says "the questions won't know that I laugh at them, because they haven't got ears"- strikes me as an over literal response, an indication that Terence may be on the autistic spectrum. Gifted mathematicians have a very high rates of ASD.
The most discouraging part of this is how many similarly gifted kids are out there in the world suffering through 3rd grade classes (and being told they're lazy and don't pay attention) because they don't have the support that Terence had. I'm no Terence Tao, but I'm bright for a light bulb and the ONLY time in my entire curricular career that a teacher took me aside and offered me something interesting beyond the boring nonsense standard classwork was 8th grade English class.
When the interesting classes aren't challenging enough, you appreciate a challenge even in an otherwise uninteresting class. Idk what it is about challenges that makes anything interesting. School should focus more on challenges than obligations and calling students lazy
There are tons of extremely gifted kids rotting at schools, but only very small fraction of them are of greater or equal potential than this Tao kid. Also, far from being just a kid prodigy, the guy is still absolutely murdering mathematician. Most who get this kind of education will just say, ok, at some point I have had enough of work and I will enjoy the fruits thereof. Infinite respect to Prof. Tao!
This wouldn't be the case for the truly gifted. They complete all the tasks regular curriculum provides, but complete it so quickly that they become bored for the remainder of the class. A teacher will not claim they are lazy if they have 100's on everything even if it takes them 2 minutes to complete and sleep through the rest of the class. However, this is undoubtedly a disservice to those individuals and is definitely a major issue in our current academic structure.
@@robertsink1323 I dont agree, i think if you dont find what you are learning interesting or challenging at all, you may not even have the willl to do the bare minimum
When you hear stories like this, it’s really hard not to get angry at your parents and at the state you live under. There’s so many other people like this but they’ll just end up as a manager of some retail store or dying in a cobalt mine.
@@vogelvogeltje valid, but only if you don’t consider this an observation of my surroundings. I wasn’t comparing myself to him, so much as commenting on the support system he had.
Wow, to be effectively the level of a rather competent 10th grader at 7 years old. His eloquence with mathematical language is incredible too. Truly a genius.
Way beyond a 10th grader at 7. More like a 3rd year university student. No 10th grader would have got all the questions right that 7 year old Terry managed.
@@user-zu1ix3yq2w no, none of those questions were anywhere near master's level, probably more like 2nd year university; of course, still very, very impressive, but I am certain no master's student in mathematics would not know what a field is
@@user-zu1ix3yq2w god you're insufferable. let me simplify it for you: none of those questions were hard enough to differentiate a 2nd year undergrad from a graduate student, as both would be able to answer all of them. Do you comprehend?
Hey Tibees! Your videos really help me to enhance my exposure toward science.The way you get in touch with the life of scientists is really phenomenal.keep it up💕
Here I am at 23 having forgotten most of the math I ever learned. Im currently heading to college for the first time. I've been self studying the basics.
There was another kid just like this one where the parents pushed math, so he was way ahead of his peers, but as time went on he became less and less interested in math due to his parents pushing it so much, as a result his peers slowly caught up as the years went by. Just goes to show that just because you know a lot of math at a young age and are way ahead, doesn't mean you'll keep doing it later in life. You have to have "self-drive" and "self-motivation" as well to be successful.
This was very inspiring, thanks for the video. Future me, if you see this, I hope you continue to have that burning passion in learning and push yourself to become better everyday.
I love the idea of comment history! I find it so fascinating to see what I put out into the domain of the internet years ago and to discover that content once more. I sincerely wish you the best of luck on your journey and perhaps when you find this comment again in the future you will be able to look at it and see how far you've come after having continually sought improvement. :)
Well... I'm 55 and i remember i learn all of that in high school... Not at 7. I know that i can't even remember how to do it anymore because i never needed it in every day life. Truly impressed by this young boy mental abilities.
Has anyone noticed that question A (see 2:20) contains an error? If two sides of a right angled triangle are both 2cm then its perimeter is 6.82cm but the question states it is 5cm, AND question E can't be answered unless more information is provided, like the total expenditure, otherwise there could be any combination of numbers of notebooks. Tell me if I'm wrong! Maybe he noted those things?
Getting the mental questions all correct in only 9 minutes is simply astonishing. Most people take 9 minutes to READ the questions let alone begin solving them...mentally.
This is...Insane- I truly admire this success story of a child- Back when I was seven, I profusely struggled to learn, comprehend and put pieces of knowledge together. It took quite a few years to just surpass my elementary class, and then a few years later when I was 13 I transferred up a year in an English school, and at 14 now, I'm studying college and university material. Hearing about his success story of a boy at SEVEN able to do what I can do at FOURTEEN is....truly absurd- I really admire it. He deserves A LOT of praise-
v^3, I'm not sure there's commitment here so much as interest and enthusiasm. On the other hand, maybe keep an eye out for Terry's adult videos when he's teaching: it shows real commitment, imho, that he thinks through not how to enjoy some idea for his own happiness but how to manipulate the thing so that you and I can enjoy it. *That's* commitment, seems to me.
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Seeing Paul Erdős' name anywhere is one of the few things that makes a hungarian person proud. Just like John von Neumann or John Kemény.
Basic, Fortran, and Pascal were fascinating. The most fascinating part of this, well two actually, he studied Euclid qnd obviously others and absorbed them intuitively... this is beyond gifted and wondrous to see. But the best part, for me, is his parents understanding that he needed age appropriate development and challenges within his gifted mode and to be allowed to wander through that which he found interesting. This is brilliant 1and too few parents understand how incredibly important this is.... ALL the way through to reasonable adulthood. This practice is as important to maintaining his genius and a stable mind as anything. Also quite fascinating is his young understanding of laws and reasons. I was no where near as gifted as this in mathematics but enough so in any case, but did not like nor cared much for laws, too many times the issue of answers without explanation were a constant facet of my life. His ability to understand laws as well as the framery is wildly beyond brilliant at that age.i would also argue the, probably most significant two answers he gave were- numbers do not know if I laugh AND I don't know to an answer.... these two answers say more about his genius than the maths do, in my opinion anyway. There are few balanced geniuses, again in my opinion and I have met many, but those two answers show a balance of understanding that was missed by the tester. The only other balanced genius I ha e known, graduated a good Uni at 13 and was doing wildly amazing things by 19... was/is gifted across spectrums, including human understanding and interaction. I suspect so is this young man but he hides it for his own reasons. Knew a guy at a well respected US Uni that taught himself how to read Ancient Greek in three months because he found such a book and was annoyed he could not read it. Language is laws and reflects maths in so many ways, I suspect this young man could do the same at whim, and tell no one. Truly hope his life is fulfilling for him, that, as I have seen anyway, can be a challenge to such people.
David Hilbert didn't touch higher mathematics until studying it - he said "I'll study math later" (see German Wikipedia, reference no. 4). Took a 5 year time career to his PhD. Later on derived the field equations with variation calculus, by himself. Look into logic, and logic looks back.
@@Wabbelpaddel Hilbert? Never heard of...wait, is the Hilbert Field a thing, or was that just a term from...Xenosaga? I still feel stupid. XD I'm too old for stuff like this. Read something once about physicists do their best work before age 30 then refine it the rest of their lives while mathematicians tend to "peak" before 20. I'm not sure that's entirely true, but there is something to it in a way. Einstein did his great work by the time he was 26 then spent the rest of his life refining it. It's like you need the creativity, energy, and lack of "this is impossible" of youth to come up with these ideas, and then you need a life with a steady hand and patience to refine them. ...or maybe not. What do I know. /shrug
It seems to me that this is a combination of the child being surrounded by this information, the child taking an interest and being passionate about this, and spending all of his time doing this and even go and just as far as he can on his own on top of his parents supporting him. It's like a perfect storm that was able to produce him
When I was 10, my dad had an arduino set and I would force myself to try to learn programming hours ever day so i could make cool stuff like him. Despite all the tutorials and hours of practice I put in, I couldnt comprehend or do alot of basic stuff. At best, I could take a basic prewritten program and maybe just rearrange it a little bit to make it work. Despite all my motiviation and inspiration to do what I wanted that age, I couldnt because my brain was underdeveloped and I litterally couldnt figure out the same stuff I know easily at 17. Its genetics for sure.
It's encouraging to realize he is not a visual thinker, and more analytic and abstract, so it is not surprising we are not like him. We might have different logical strengths which imply more visual effort
No amount of providing resources to your kid will get them remotely close to 7-year-old Terry Tao’s level. This is absolutely about 1-in-many-millions innate ability - not about him being “good”.
Thank you for this video. It inspired my son to realize that he's not constrained by the traditional math grade-level curriculum. He immediately went to do self-study. :)
Just imagine, Terrence Tao was a genius at age 7 however it took him 13 years to get his Phd. And don't get me wrong, it is astonish that he did it, it just made me wonder on how much effort and dedication an average person need to get one.
his parents are doctors so I don't think it's natural intelligence , his family learns him things that he shouldn't know in that age but surly he will became normal student after 18 years old ... you can call a child genius if he is in a domain different than his parents
Another tale of a savant with the right teaching and support at an early age. While this is a great thing, it also irritates me- as who knows how many brillaint people there are out there... that never had his kind of opportunity.
I believe geniuses are not extremely rare. What is even rarer is the passion to start studying when every other kid is playing, at the age of 7 and earlier.
I think all children have the passion to study or pursue what they desire. It is their environment (parents, physical location, television, etc) that direct either toward maths or toward something else
Such a high IQ doesn't make much sense as it's a statistical measure. He's unquestionably a genius in his field, and was generally a child prodigy. But you don't need IQ to realize that.
@J Boss if an IQ test cannot accurately measure an individual with a prodigious mathematical talent like Tao's, then it doesn't really have anything worthwhile to say about mathematical genius. Do you disagree?
He is probably 1 out of millions genius plus the perfect setting (parents, good childhood, no other interests that interfere with maths, no mental illness later etc)
@Cool Cucumber Gave up is to strong a word. Maybe "not choose it" as a career path. Even when I did computer science, I didn't continue it professionally because there were programmers just so much better at it.
I was born for the field of arts, for I have always found maths and physics difficult (I guess I did not have good teachers), but watching your videos do make me want to learn more about science. I am convinced it is an "addictive" field that makes one keep on taking new challenges 🤗
I remember reading an article talking about young genius and some argue, like the man who trained both his daughters to be Masters in chess, that every child has the ability to be a prodigy like this if you start teaching them young they can pick up just about anything with enough time and patience from the teacher. Childrens minds are absolutely incredible for how much infomation they can take in, retain and then make a part of themselves.
Terrance and his parents came to our home and asked my father, who was a Dr of science, physics and mathematics lecturer at Adelaide Uni, to mentor him. My father declined, he believed that children should allowed to be children and there would be plenty of time for maths when he was older. While they had their meeting Terrance and I played Lego building houses. He sent me a thank you card, which I still have and his parents still have my mums casserole dish 😂
@@prav2568 Perhaps I should have said "probably"? Average people would rarely watch a video of this type. They would perhaps watch videos about their favorite football player...
@NewChanel Yup. I just wanted to remind people of what really matters to seven-year-olds. Not a maths prodigy, but I did write poetry at that age in my own weird script xD. It's kind of cute and gives an interesting look into the weird thoughts and priorities of children. This Terence guy seems prettttty ingenious compared to me though ngl xD
@@thisismyalias Irony does not have to be sarcastic. To be clear, I am not especially proud of the decision making that lead 7-seven-old me to be able to drink soda through my nose 😂
@@deviladvocate21 also its not wrong to be proud of yourself. if you are indeed "stupid" you can still be proud or you'll have a depressing existence. However, it is commendable to strive to become better. i am no genius but i am proud by how far I have come and I will continue to go forward. it is incredibly important to remember people have lives and not to belittle them based on your own beliefs . @rck clearly thinks s/hes better than everyone else, and that is not good
The amazing thing to differentiate between a Genius Mathematician and a learned Mathematician is by how one comes up with the solution as soon as they lay eyes on the question. To explain more properly, as a Mathematician myself, I can look at the answers and understand how he got them and see how it works and it all makes sense just by the time I have read the first few workings. But what inteuiged me is how that young boy _comes up_ with the first few lines of the solution by just laying eyes on the question. That ability, is underrated as when one possess that attribute; *he simply has seen the path to the answer already.* Masha Allah, very impressive, and blessed. Hopefully I reach the level of this young boy in the ability to deduce the solution in such a manner.
I was never challenged in terms of my knowledge at school, everything that was presented to me didn't seem difficult at all, but now that I am in my first semester of college doing a math major I feel so stupid, I just feel that I haven't gotten the capacity to study and I'm just used to just absorbing everything, and now that I don't allways get the things at the first time they are explained to me, I just get so frustrated. Anyways, I am really working on that but I kinda wish I grew up in a more challenging environment that helped me to learn how to properly study and not to relly on my raw intelligence. By the way, English is not my first language so I'm sorry if got some things wrong
I encountered the same thing when I started my masters degree in Electrical engineering. I rarely ever had to study in undergrad, and would skip class because I could learn the material faster from the book. Learning to study and put in the time is a true skill, and if you are breezing through classes now, that is only a sign of the potential you have. The challenge is finding a topic where you can push yourself and become great. The faster you learn how to study, the farther you will go. Best of luck!
This is true, children who are lagging behind get special classes, but kids who are far ahead don't. You either learn from external sources, or eventually get reduced to the level of the average student
I just released a new video about another exam taken by Terence Tao, this time it's one that he nearly failed: ua-cam.com/video/NKpta1WFK20/v-deo.html
What is with your bizarre fixation other peoples intelligence?
Your voice is very melodious.
Why is your face always turned slightly to the side?
Are there errors? 4:31 Would the car's average speed be 24? First they drive for 1 hour and they cover 20 km. Then they turn around and it takes 40 minutes to travel the 20 km because they did it at 30 km/h. So we have a total travelling time of 1 hour at 20kmh, and 40 minutes at 30kmh.
40km, 1hour + 2/3 hour (5/3 of an hour).
So 40 x 3, /5, = 24kmh.
Isn't the answer 24?
From the writing that we can see The interviewer prompted the child that was his answer wrong and shouldn't the answer be 25. From this I infer that the child said 24.
Why did the guy tell the kid it was 25? He even remarked that the child changed his answer to 25 because the interviewer pushed him to say 25. But isn't the correct answer 24 just like the kid, Terrence, had said?
Is this an error too? Question E at 2:21 - is there information missing to solve this? There's no total amount of money, or a ratio of books. So how are we supposed to solve this?
I think his parents and family deserve a lot of praise for helping him reach his full potential. Even if you were as brilliant as Terrance, your environment may not give you access to enough literature or other sources of knowledge to learn at that pace.
So true. I never had these, though I wanted to learn, I never got that chance. That's a very important factor in one's early education. It's something that I'm grateful for now
I often wonder how much genius is squandered because some gifted child was born into a bad environment.
Yeah, and lots of parents would have seen a kid reading math textbooks happily for hours and responded with reflexively feeling like they should put a stop to it. The idea that pursuing things you enjoy is inherently wrong runs deep.
@@carlgauss1702 And here we have an example of what happens when your parents do the opposite of what Terrance's did
@@jebhank1620 lol
"By 21, he had his PhD .."
I am gonna sleep to forget
im 20, math undergrad, and I still have to use a calculator to check 2+4
remember he is still one out of billions to achieve this...you still have hope my friend
Bro i think he was reincarnated
U forgor 💀
That's not how it works. Sleep solidifies memories ;(
I love how he simply says, "I don't know." It shows honest he is and pure.
That response has impressed me since the first time I heard it. I was working for Burroughs Corporation, the computer company. We were releasing a new range of computers, the B17, which was very advanced for the time (it was built around idealized virtual machines for any language). A young guy was giving a presentation on the operating system and was asked a question by the president of the company. The young guy thought for a few seconds and said "I don't know. I'll have to get back to you".
He was 7 haha
What else was he supposed to say? “I know but I actually don’t”
he didn't lie like most insecure people do. what is wrong with you?
@marcoscolga24 I was responding to someone else. but I like your comment.
This is the kid that i wanted to be but nintendo got me first
:-D yeah gaming vs learning. you had to be a special kid to let the Snes shut down
Tao is the guy behind Nintendo
At least I have the satisfaction that I am a good simracer now :)
As if Nintendo would have changed anything ^^
TT won the lottery of intellect.
Though it doesn't take anything away from his commitment to the study of math and science.
@@joannot6706 If you have enough intellect and do not work hard then you will fail. So yes, Nintendo can make the difference in such situations. TT is an exception but do not believe he can achieve something without work.
I took a class under Terence Tao at UCLA. It’s interesting how many of his explanations were very visual, and he would often describe how he just “sees” the solutions to the problems, so his approach definitely evolved. His exams were impossible also and heavily curved.
I tried to see if he teaches any upper division courses, but he only teaches graduate courses...
I've always wanted to be able to visualize maths and physics cause i know i can learn it if i can visualize it
So did you pass the exam?
Just proof that being a master of math doesn’t make you a great teacher... those who can teach the peasants in a way that even they can understand are the true hero’s in my opinion.
@@hektorm2306 agreed... teaching is a totally different skill... the best teachers I had were academically average or had very little research background...
It's cool to see that his learning was self-motivated, rather than pressure from parents.
That's the only way.
This comment is okay; sub-par.
young people havent learned all the scam that people make up in their minds to stand better than they are.
He has a iq of 215
Good point. So likewise with Alma Deutscher (prodigal composer).
22 years old, just getting to calculus now, and i'll say that this wasn't discouraging at all for me. If anything it was encouraging to see that math doesn't care about age, just your willingness and ability to learn it. While most of my peers have already finished well past where I am currently, I still find joy and excitement being introduced to this new world of information and possibilities. Maybe that child like curiosity has been sparked once again.
Ahh me too ❤️
I love this comment, don’t let age be ur defining factor, but rather your willingness and passion. :)
I was just learning the calculus last year having been 28, I don’t plan on being a professional mathematician but I see no reason why other people’s myopic notions of age are at all relevant to my personal interests.
Lead a life of ceaseless learning! At 29 my life feels as if it’s only just beginning! I plan to learn German soon, how pitiable it would be to think I should never begin simply because I wasn’t born to a German household.
Perhaps I’ll learn a programming language like python sometime, presently I’ve been training to be a neuroscientist. In short, live richly, seize the time that remains yours!
@@motoristacaduco there is always time to learn
I'm 25 and a social sciences MA. I've been bad at math. It's an insecurity. But, these bits on geniuses motivate me to keep trying. I don't have to be great at it, much less a machine like Tao, but it's great to gain competence for future applications. There's a wide array.
I like how this mentions the time that TT put into studying. While clearly a genius, part of his rapid success comes from enjoying studying and learning new math for 3+ hours a day.
I remember doing math homework for 20 minutes a day.
exactly. he didnt just know this stuff. he spent all his free time doing it. he truly found it fun. kinda like how when I first got into programming in 8th grade, I spent ALL my time doing that (but it eventually got too hard for me and i stopped). but then again in 12th grade I got into it again and this time i really fell in love with it. and now at 24, im a software engineer :))
i wholeheartedly agree
@@pvic6959 I did similar with radio - got interested in it at an early age and have been working as an engineer in radio communications for many years.
Undeniably , children's brains are very strongly affected by their surroundings.. For example , "absolute pitch in music" , learning multiple languages concurrently and responding to a mixed conversation in the appropriate language , etc... I REALLY wonder if we're letting our children down by overlooking them and not having them engage with so many things that could "tickle" their brain , so to speak... I'm curious if geniouses aren't that rare , but what is rare is the circumstances that a genious kid needs to thrive... I wonder if most parents fail their kids that way... Undeniably , genetics may play a role as well as chance.. But maybe we're really failing our kids as a society... A real scary thought.
Imagine all those geniuses that unfortunately didn't have access to good books in history. What a loss!
Exact thought I had
Q: What is a field?
Age 7 me: A field is where grass grows and we play football also...
Age 35 me: A field is where grass grows and we play football also...
You are a very smart kid by then.
I think you were that child that made an answer like this for this question:
Find x
Here it is -------------------------------------------------> X + 3
Teacher: What is a field?
Student: A field.
Me (aged old enough to know better): it's an area of something that someone already within it wants themselves to become outstanding in
@@fsggames2022 huh
-What is a field?
TT: I don't know.
-What is a Field's medal?
TT: I'll get back to you on that.
TT: Something I'm going to win in the future.
The highest award in Maths....probably harder to win than a Nobel Prize
@@rationalsceptic7634
Rational perhaps, but a close second to vk2ig in stupidity.
@@rationalsceptic7634 Tbh Nobel Prize is still more respected than Fields medal for the reason that random pure maths may have zero application or consequence in real life.
@@pubgplayer1720 I disagree. Mathematics are especially important in quantum mechanics, which enable us to discover the truth of reality. There's a saying: Your eyes and ears can lie and deceive you; your experience can misled you; your imagination can restrain you; but mathematics will never lie to you.
I saw him speak at UCLA where he was a professor, and that too about astronomy and the geometries of the movement heavenly bodies. One of my friends had actually worked with him, he is into some really arcane pure math and analytics right now. When I asked about Terence, my friend just said "he knows way too much". Always a fan of your content and regards from India.
I got way too excited for being able to answer the question young Mr. Tao missed at 7 years old. I suppose we have to take our victories wherever we can find them!
Hahaha
yes les fuking go I was able to beat a 7 year old at 1 question. I guess im also a genius now
True lmao
That's a lot like Kramer in "Seinfeld" getting thrills and excessive ego boost from whipping young kids in a karate class. Come back and gloat when you're omniscient.
@Kazuya Mishima ...ok?
it is interesting to note that TT has 2 younger brothers Nigel and Trevor, also very agile with mathematics, one being a 2 time bronze medal winner at the international Mathematic olympiad, and the other being an international chess master.
i would have liked to see how their parents inspired them and made Home such a place to flourish
@@unknownbutknown332 Obviously intelligence is affected by genes at the upper end of the distribution, no one denies this.
@@Jack-xl5eq A parent and their child show a 0.22 correlation in IQ if the child has not been raised by that parent; that rises to 0.42 if the parent did raise the child. I don't know how far that comparison controls for situations where the child has been raised by another member of the same extended kin or kith group, so even the 0.22 probably doesn't show the 'pure' effects of genetics. So, while I agree that no-one (afaik) denies a genetic effect, it seems petty clear that the effect size of upbringing is much greater.
I’ll tell you how they made their home flourish.
IQ, and all it’s related hereditary traits.
Not saying that’s the only thing, but definitely 80-90% of it.
@@DewTime Your answer is incorrect 😜. Politically.
@@qqx154 its not incorrect. The vast majority of people would never be close to good enough at maths to compete with TT or his brothers, even in the best possible environment. That’s not saying that a good environment wasn’t necessary for his success, but it did not have a more important effect than his natural abilities.
I am impressed, he was doing second year A Level Maths at 7 years old, normally for a gifted mathematician at 17 years old.
No matter how stressed out, I'd calmly and easily fall asleep listening to (a recording of) you reading from... anything really.
she should find a math based bedtime story and lul us all to sleep LOL
ASMR MATH
flert
@@pvic6959 1 sheep.... 2 sheep... 3 sheep... 4 sheep....
(and before any leaps in with assumptions, counting sheep is a traditional remedy for not being able to sleep)
Me too, then I have nightmares.
I was in the same gifted children's program as Terence. It was an early model for gifted education that was first established in Adelaide, South Australia in 1979 by Miraca Gross (a wonderful, brilliant woman & one of the pioneers in the field). Needless to say all of us in the program were at a level of giftedness that skewed so many deviation points past the standard that I believe most of us could very well have been understood to be non neurotypical. Terence was no different: absolutely brilliant, intelligent beyond belief, with a mind that just operated on a different level, yet he was also polite, humble, sensitive and kind, with little to no egocentricity that I ever saw. His parents were the same, always so very warm and welcoming, doing their utmost to make everyone feel welcome and included, just genuinely lovely people for whom I've always had a lot of respect for.
What a lovely memory to share.
Thank you for sharing. Hope life is good. ✨🙏✨
You seem rather naive
@@bs-qu1vq In what way? Would you care to expand on your comment?
@@dennisossianderrmplmtcst2053 Thank you. And yes life is good. It took a while, but I did eventually achieve genuine happiness and stability, which turned out to be completely separate from my label as a gifted child. Of course as a gifted child there are certain expectations that get placed on you, whether consciously or unconsciously, in terms of things like career trajectory. I don't think anyone expected that the careers I would ultimately get the most enjoyment and satisfaction from would be bar tending &, later, volunteer peer support work for those experiencing addiction and mental illness. We don't all end up as professors, or at the top of our expected fields, and that's okay in my book. :)
I loved the way you presented this person, with examples, and a very specific path that he took!.. thanks... that actually motivated me!
No question that he is outstanding and his answers at 7 are amazing, though one has to consider:
- Mother a math teach with a first class honors degree in math,
- 2 brothers of which both represented Australia in the math Olympics.
That does not seem like a coincidence, rather good aptitude for math combined with vigorous parent schooling.
What's really amazing is that the parents managed to do it in such a way that their child didn't resent maths
I'd imagine it was a significant contributing factor to his realizing his potential.
@@Randomkloud Thats clearly a skill indeed though having a 7 year old memorize definition texts instead of what kids would usually be doing at that stage ... but whom am I to judge. Its not like we have memorize of our childhood, he at least got set for life with what matters most: knowledge.
We need a video where Terence's mom explains her parenting style.
It’s genetics
Is it just me ... or does anyone else like how this guy's initials are TT which can be written as π ...
OK, you've redeemed yourself. 😅
It also means "breast".
And his last name is Tao (= 2π)!
@@johnchessant3012 factorial?
nice observation
Funny thing about him saying "I don't know" when asked about fields is that it's probably one of the best answers you could give about it.
For the 1's problem, here's my very simple solution: write 00001 .. 99999 using all digits including 0. You wrote a total of 100,000 * 5 digits, and all digits appear the same amount of times, so there are 500,000/10 = 50,000 of each. Writing the numbers without the leading zeroes is the same as far as 1's are concerned, hence you will get exactly 50,000 times the digit "1".
Wow. Elegant.
Math prodigy
Tao is that you?
Dumb question, if you write from 00001 to 99999, you'd have written 99999 numbers in total, wouldn't you? You'd have to start with 00000 right?
And how do you prove "all digits appear the same amount of times" then?
Hi, how old are you? This was brilliant.
As a maths major right now, I am utterly amazed at what he knew and his capacity to learn new concepts at 7 years old. Antiderivatives at 7? I was struggling with those in college.
I've met non-maths people who just don't understand the absurdity of this level of intelligence. They equate higher level maths to algebra because it all looks the same to them. Like, no. Algebra is child's play. What Terry was doing at 7 is leagues above what you failed at in freshman year of high school.
@Dan Nguyen tbf integrals are not hard to me when I learnt them, but again a late bloomer learning that at 7 will be hard.
I'm still struggling at 40.. >.
He’s just too op
It's his genetics and the way his brain works, he has an astronomical estimated IQ of 230.
I had the same thought. I was most impressed by the answers he gave to questions about groups and fields. These are topics that you start to learn in 2nd year analysis courses, which are so hard that they drive half the math undergrads away from pursuing a math degree (I was one of them).
It’s almost hilarious to see how advanced he was at 8 years old, like watching an alien being progressing at 10x the rate of a normal human.
The way they're investigating him too 😂
For someone’s information, Tao’s parents both graduated from HKU in the last century. His dad did his MBBS and his mum graduated with first class honours in math and phy from HKU (Uni of Hong Kong) as well. His mum is definitely the one who sparked his genius
Genetics
I think the support he had was superb too, maths and similar classes at the level that benefitted him and the regular classes with his age peers. That shows a lot of maturity and sense from everyone involved.
Tiger Mum
@@rhythmandacoustics didn't watch the video eh? pretty clear from a few parts that Terry was self motivated -- his mum didn't push at all, just supported his curiosity
Not to be mean or anything, but the correct or more used way to say “for someone’s information” is “for your information”, also abbreviated as FYI
This story also shows that being a math genius and child prodigy is not only a matter of personal ability and interest but also of an environment where it can grow. Most people, even with an interest and intellect as Terence's, would not have become the same child prodigy simply because they wouldn't have been exposed to the same things. What I mean is the following: In the first interview, he didn't know what a field was, but he knew what a boolean algebra was. This to me indicates that he must have learned these concepts either by reading his parents books or from his parents or their friends. But if those books would not have been around him, how would he know what this math even was? How would he pick up a concept neither his parents nor any of the books would ever mention?
For the usual child, independent of intellect and interest, it is usually not the case that they are exposed to complicated math very early on, simply because most people do not know much about beyond high school mathematics or where to find them. I guess that in my hometown, maybe 40 people know what a field is, so how should a child pick it up even with the greatest interest.
Srinivasa Ramanujan
@@Qoozord Was also exposed to higher maths in his childhood. In this case, the school gave him access to the books.
Of course this doesn't lessen his genius, but he also did not invent math purely by dreaming it up.
Guys, the only way that someone can be a genius/prodigy it's solving math's teorems and formulas? IMO, if someone has a great potential he can contribuite with his own way, being a good person, contributing with their local problems, etc.... I kinda agree with you that someone need some "luck" too. But different situations develop different "geniuses". It's life....
@@Qoozord Ramanujan was a phenomenon, a true anomaly. He was leagues above Terry in ability, and this is not even debatable. He was truly blessed in ability, but had a terrible life. His intuition was eerie.
Where can you find those books?
for the 1's problem, its a simple permutation and combination's question. where we can make use of the "box" technique. make 5 boxes(for 5digits) and write the number '1' in the first box. now the remaining 4 boxes(indicating the place to fill the remaining 4 digits) can be filled in 10 ways each(from '0' to '9'). this is case 1, and this case gives us a total of 10x10x10x10= 10000 ways (by using fundamental principle of counting)c
for case 2, now leave the first box empty and write the number '1' in the second box. now again the remaining four boxes can be filled in 10ways each. notice: that we are automatically also counting for those cases when we have a '0' in the first box- making it a 4 digit number. in this case also, we get a total of 10000 ways.
keep on repeating the process until you reach the last box.
now all the cases give us a total of 10000 ways each. and since there are a total of 5 cases( as the digit '1' shifts among 5 boxes/places) so by fundamental principle of counting we get a total of 5x10000 = 50,000 ways of having the digit '1' from 1 to 99999
Not true. For example, when you write 1 in the second box, leaving the first empty, this first box cannot have an 1 in it, cause then you'd be counting twice many of the numbers of the first case (the ones with /1/1/_/_/_/).
We should change to this strategy: what is the probability to find some 1 in the numbers from 1 to 99999? This probabibility is P(X=1)C5,1 + P(X=2)C5,2 + P(X=3)C5,3 + P(X=4)C5,4 + P(X=5)C5,5 (*), being Cm,n the combinatoric number of the ways to chose n objects from a larger m list, and P(X=k) the probability that there are exactly k 1's.
We can calculate (*) directly or indirectly using (P(X=k))^c or the probability that there is not even one "1" in the list. That is (*) = 1 - (P(X=k))^c = 1 - (9/10)^5 = 1-0.59049 = 0.41951. So there are 41951 one's from 1 to 99999.
This actually freaked me out. Tao’s answers were so mature, so grown up, so smart, at seven years old, it didn’t seem human. It actually kind of frightened me.
The birth of Spock 🖖
We always scare people who don't understand the Autistic brain. It's why there is so much stigma.
Its possible his answers borrowed their tone from the manuals/textbooks he was learning from 🤔
@@Alex-ck4in That actually may be possible. Proper usage of such formal mathematical language can only be done by reading a lot of books on maths.
@@star_ms Also the language he used in his BASIC game, by comparison, showed that he still had a childish side to him
When I was 7 I genuinely believed I was a maths genius, because I was slightly better at memorising times tables than the other students in my relatively small class.
Turns out, I wasn't.
When I was 8, I genuinely believed I was lousy at math, because I struggled with long division. Many years later, I know I'm not lousy at math. I'm rather average with it.
@Noob Boy True to some extent, I think. Although honestly, what I needed more than anything else was to stop believing I was a genius... I genuinely believed I was incredibly intelligent and therefore never had to try hard in order to achieve things. Which worked okay in primary school. By the time I got to high school, though... that was a different story :P
I was an arrogant little shit when I was a kid.
I got to experience three changes in maths, across which I exhibited varying levels of ability.
The first was transitioning from primary school to high school maths. Big shock.
The second was transitioning from high school maths to senior high school maths. Not as big a shock.
The third was transitioning from senior high school maths to university level maths. Not a big shock at all ... but it seemed to be a big shock to a lot of my fellow students.
@@vk2ig facts
@Caiden Lombard same but I was able to right till 100.And was capable of doing fast mental calculations. I was definitely above average in my school, but not a genius
It was interesting to listen to this and your voice is very calming and soothing which actually helped me relax.
As expected the 7 year old is smarter than me.
In my defense, he was ALMOST 8, so it's a little better LOL
That put me at ease!
.....aaand we lost some brain cells while aging
Your youtube profile picture is 😲😲😲😂😂😂
There are people who learn math through hard work, a boatload of practice and sincere interest, like me. And then there are gifted folks like Terence. I am far from gifted, but some years ago I had a gifted student in my Calc class. Not a Terence, but still amazingly smart. It was a real pleasure to work with this individual. And no, he wasn't a typical bookworm either.He got a free ride to MIT. I am sure he knows more about math than I do by now...
Very lucky man to be exposed to high-level math from an early age while having brilliant parents.
Yes, it looks to me like his parents are both very brainy people.
Yeah earlier education is important. And understanding of their child capability is important too.
It’s a shame that we don’t introduce ‘normal’ school children to higher level math/ physics. People will claim it’s too difficult. Well, I’m not talking about having them become competent in these subjects in grade school. I just mean simply exposing them to all these ideas out there. Some of which people live their whole lives and die without knowing.
@@pmcate2 internet is free.
@@pmcate2No one taught Terrence Tao either. He read books. If one is interested, books are there.
The Fibonacci program was so adorable!
"What is a field?"
"I don't know :'(" *wins fields medal to redeem honor
I believe most of his success is due predominantly to studying. He just loved math. When I was 6, I learned group theory, set theory, and discrete mathematics but I never found it "fun". Just like in the book "Grit", success is found through purpose, passion, and perseverance.
My local doctor was Terence's dad until he retired a while back in Adelaide as he was a pediatrician. They have an amazing family, as the other brothers weren't as gifted as he was in learning.
I dont think most ppl would be as gifted as terence in learning 😆
Glad his upper class smart asian parents didn’t use negative reinforcement at him to study, nature did it for them.
He died?
wdym his other brothers arent as gifted, those kids competed in mathematical olympiads and won bronze medals, one of them became international chess champion. BUt ye imagine marrying into this family, of doctors, mathematicians and chess prodigies
@@mathguy770 you dont need high IQ to be chess prodigy imo
Hard to imagine a person for whom it would not be humbling. I can do most of those things now. But then, I’m 67.
Hey he was also 6 and 7!
I'm also 67 and I'm only in the 18th grade in mathematics (second year of grad school) -- but I read at a 94 year old level.
@@RolandHutchinson Interesting you should say. I actually am in my second year of grad school in applied math. When I was very young, I was under the impression that I was smart. I've since learned that .... not so much.
@@TIO540S1 Small world, eh wot? I promise I won't hold the "applied" part against you; math is math!
Good on both of us for keeping the old brain engaged, even if we are never going to be (and never were going to be) the next Terry T.
@@TIO540S1 PS a scholar of your age and experience will, I assume, have already detected that the bit about reading at a 94-year old level was meant as a joke, but the rest is honest-to-gosh true.
Mom is a physics and math graduate and dad is a doctor. This is one of the major reason for his success.
So amazing. It's really hard to not compare myself with extreme outliers like this. It's not productive or healthy. Such an incredible mind.
When he says "the questions won't know that I laugh at them, because they haven't got ears"- strikes me as an over literal response, an indication that Terence may be on the autistic spectrum.
Gifted mathematicians have a very high rates of ASD.
The most discouraging part of this is how many similarly gifted kids are out there in the world suffering through 3rd grade classes (and being told they're lazy and don't pay attention) because they don't have the support that Terence had.
I'm no Terence Tao, but I'm bright for a light bulb and the ONLY time in my entire curricular career that a teacher took me aside and offered me something interesting beyond the boring nonsense standard classwork was 8th grade English class.
When the interesting classes aren't challenging enough, you appreciate a challenge even in an otherwise uninteresting class. Idk what it is about challenges that makes anything interesting. School should focus more on challenges than obligations and calling students lazy
There are tons of extremely gifted kids rotting at schools, but only very small fraction of them are of greater or equal potential than this Tao kid. Also, far from being just a kid prodigy, the guy is still absolutely murdering mathematician. Most who get this kind of education will just say, ok, at some point I have had enough of work and I will enjoy the fruits thereof. Infinite respect to Prof. Tao!
This wouldn't be the case for the truly gifted. They complete all the tasks regular curriculum provides, but complete it so quickly that they become bored for the remainder of the class. A teacher will not claim they are lazy if they have 100's on everything even if it takes them 2 minutes to complete and sleep through the rest of the class. However, this is undoubtedly a disservice to those individuals and is definitely a major issue in our current academic structure.
@@robertsink1323 I dont agree, i think if you dont find what you are learning interesting or challenging at all, you may not even have the willl to do the bare minimum
For every genius dismissed you'll find a 100 if not a 1,000 idiots have been dismissed for the same excuse of being lazy and not paying attention.
I’m glad she took it to heart to speak slightly slower than she was before. It’s a more calm and thoughtful approach.
Terrence's reply that questions can't hear him laugh, is like Bruce Lee's 'boards don't hit back'. 👌👌
Boards don't hit back? Pretty sure Newton's Third Law disagrees. At least...I THINK it's the third law... XD
7:06min "Brmmmm -brmmmm -putt-putt- " As a programmer he peaked so early.
When you hear stories like this, it’s really hard not to get angry at your parents and at the state you live under.
There’s so many other people like this but they’ll just end up as a manager of some retail store or dying in a cobalt mine.
Even though everything is not about parents, i definitely agree with you and there is definitely better way to grow your kids.
Comparing yourself to Terence Tao and trying not to get mad at the people that brought you into this world is really sus. He was on another level.
@@vogelvogeltje valid, but only if you don’t consider this an observation of my surroundings. I wasn’t comparing myself to him, so much as commenting on the support system he had.
Wow, to be effectively the level of a rather competent 10th grader at 7 years old. His eloquence with mathematical language is incredible too. Truly a genius.
Way beyond a 10th grader at 7. More like a 3rd year university student. No 10th grader would have got all the questions right that 7 year old Terry managed.
he was at a master's level
@@user-zu1ix3yq2w no, none of those questions were anywhere near master's level, probably more like 2nd year university; of course, still very, very impressive, but I am certain no master's student in mathematics would not know what a field is
@@tmjz7327 You're talking about a master's degree, correct? Your reasoning is fallacious. I leave it as an exercise to the reader to figure out how.
@@user-zu1ix3yq2w god you're insufferable. let me simplify it for you: none of those questions were hard enough to differentiate a 2nd year undergrad from a graduate student, as both would be able to answer all of them. Do you comprehend?
Hey Tibees! Your videos really help me to enhance my exposure toward science.The way you get in touch with the life of scientists is really phenomenal.keep it up💕
you read so gently it gave me nostalgia to english class and you put this in simple terms even i can watch subbedd
Here I am at 23 having forgotten most of the math I ever learned. Im currently heading to college for the first time. I've been self studying the basics.
Doing alright?
Ya alright?
There was another kid just like this one where the parents pushed math, so he was way ahead of his peers, but as time went on he became less and less interested in math due to his parents pushing it so much, as a result his peers slowly caught up as the years went by. Just goes to show that just because you know a lot of math at a young age and are way ahead, doesn't mean you'll keep doing it later in life. You have to have "self-drive" and "self-motivation" as well to be successful.
Because if you don't have capability to enjoy math, you will feel frustrated. it is very likely for you to lose the interest.
Wow this doubles as a great ASMR video.. your voice is very relaxing and the way you move your pencil reminds me of an old tutor I had 25 years ago.
This was very inspiring, thanks for the video.
Future me, if you see this, I hope you continue to have that burning passion in learning and push yourself to become better everyday.
I love the idea of comment history! I find it so fascinating to see what I put out into the domain of the internet years ago and to discover that content once more.
I sincerely wish you the best of luck on your journey and perhaps when you find this comment again in the future you will be able to look at it and see how far you've come after having continually sought improvement. :)
He's the type of kid that will read the whole terms and conditions and click: I disagree.
Most of us would if we actually read it.
I'm starting to be that person recently. So far I have not disagreed, but I might when I find one I don't like.
Well... I'm 55 and i remember i learn all of that in high school... Not at 7.
I know that i can't even remember how to do it anymore because i never needed it in every day life.
Truly impressed by this young boy mental abilities.
Has anyone noticed that question A (see 2:20) contains an error? If two sides of a right angled triangle are both 2cm then its perimeter is 6.82cm but the question states it is 5cm, AND question E can't be answered unless more information is provided, like the total expenditure, otherwise there could be any combination of numbers of notebooks. Tell me if I'm wrong! Maybe he noted those things?
Yes Terence did note in his answers that questions 6 and 8 (A & E) can't be done
Tricksy hobbitses!
@@tibees hi
Thats terrible 😩
It was a trick question and he got it!
I'm glad someone in the world knows how to do math and medicine etc, because if it was up to me, we would be in trouble.
LOL same
Getting the mental questions all correct in only 9 minutes is simply astonishing. Most people take 9 minutes to READ the questions let alone begin solving them...mentally.
His parents were angels. I can't imagine how badly my parents would have handled that.
What amazes me about Tao is not his age, but how quickly he learned and understood mathematics.
This is...Insane- I truly admire this success story of a child- Back when I was seven, I profusely struggled to learn, comprehend and put pieces of knowledge together. It took quite a few years to just surpass my elementary class, and then a few years later when I was 13 I transferred up a year in an English school, and at 14 now, I'm studying college and university material. Hearing about his success story of a boy at SEVEN able to do what I can do at FOURTEEN is....truly absurd- I really admire it. He deserves A LOT of praise-
That's just...wow. If anything, it's way more inspiring than discouraging - having that level of commitment to math at any age is amazing
v^3, I'm not sure there's commitment here so much as interest and enthusiasm.
On the other hand, maybe keep an eye out for Terry's adult videos when he's teaching: it shows real commitment, imho, that he thinks through not how to enjoy some idea for his own happiness but how to manipulate the thing so that you and I can enjoy it. *That's* commitment, seems to me.
Seeing Paul Erdős' name anywhere is one of the few things that makes a hungarian person proud. Just like John von Neumann or John Kemény.
Basic, Fortran, and Pascal were fascinating. The most fascinating part of this, well two actually, he studied Euclid qnd obviously others and absorbed them intuitively... this is beyond gifted and wondrous to see. But the best part, for me, is his parents understanding that he needed age appropriate development and challenges within his gifted mode and to be allowed to wander through that which he found interesting. This is brilliant 1and too few parents understand how incredibly important this is.... ALL the way through to reasonable adulthood. This practice is as important to maintaining his genius and a stable mind as anything. Also quite fascinating is his young understanding of laws and reasons. I was no where near as gifted as this in mathematics but enough so in any case, but did not like nor cared much for laws, too many times the issue of answers without explanation were a constant facet of my life. His ability to understand laws as well as the framery is wildly beyond brilliant at that age.i would also argue the, probably most significant two answers he gave were- numbers do not know if I laugh AND I don't know to an answer.... these two answers say more about his genius than the maths do, in my opinion anyway. There are few balanced geniuses, again in my opinion and I have met many, but those two answers show a balance of understanding that was missed by the tester. The only other balanced genius I ha e known, graduated a good Uni at 13 and was doing wildly amazing things by 19... was/is gifted across spectrums, including human understanding and interaction. I suspect so is this young man but he hides it for his own reasons. Knew a guy at a well respected US Uni that taught himself how to read Ancient Greek in three months because he found such a book and was annoyed he could not read it. Language is laws and reflects maths in so many ways, I suspect this young man could do the same at whim, and tell no one. Truly hope his life is fulfilling for him, that, as I have seen anyway, can be a challenge to such people.
I wish I had Tibees as my math and physics teacher.
@Arsene Lupin III I would, but for a good reason. Also, I would need more classes, then. ;)
You do. Now pay attention.
Biology comes to mind...
Yes, yes, yes... I know.... Basic Psychology...
Very interesting. Once I wrote to Terence Tao to discuss a math problem, a reply came in less than 5 min.
How did you do that and I want to do the same thing
I teach math on UA-cam too
“The questions won’t know if I laugh at them, because they haven’t got ears.”
Such wisdom and sense of humor beyond his years.
Aspiring mathematicians be like: "No I'm not demotivated and I'm not crying."😢
David Hilbert didn't touch higher mathematics until studying it - he said "I'll study math later" (see German Wikipedia, reference no. 4).
Took a 5 year time career to his PhD.
Later on derived the field equations with variation calculus, by himself.
Look into logic, and logic looks back.
Everyone has his own speed , we should regard him as an inspiration , and not feel stupid that he can do things way faster than us
Really Tilak?
@@muhammadputera6593 No. 😆
@@Wabbelpaddel Hilbert? Never heard of...wait, is the Hilbert Field a thing, or was that just a term from...Xenosaga?
I still feel stupid. XD I'm too old for stuff like this. Read something once about physicists do their best work before age 30 then refine it the rest of their lives while mathematicians tend to "peak" before 20. I'm not sure that's entirely true, but there is something to it in a way. Einstein did his great work by the time he was 26 then spent the rest of his life refining it. It's like you need the creativity, energy, and lack of "this is impossible" of youth to come up with these ideas, and then you need a life with a steady hand and patience to refine them.
...or maybe not. What do I know. /shrug
It seems to me that this is a combination of the child being surrounded by this information, the child taking an interest and being passionate about this, and spending all of his time doing this and even go and just as far as he can on his own on top of his parents supporting him. It's like a perfect storm that was able to produce him
When I was 10, my dad had an arduino set and I would force myself to try to learn programming hours ever day so i could make cool stuff like him.
Despite all the tutorials and hours of practice I put in, I couldnt comprehend or do alot of basic stuff. At best, I could take a basic prewritten program and maybe just rearrange it a little bit to make it work.
Despite all my motiviation and inspiration to do what I wanted that age, I couldnt because my brain was underdeveloped and I litterally couldnt figure out the same stuff I know easily at 17.
Its genetics for sure.
It's encouraging to realize he is not a visual thinker, and more analytic and abstract, so it is not surprising we are not like him. We might have different logical strengths which imply more visual effort
It’s an amazing thing how his parents recognised what he was good at and improved it to a stellar level.
No amount of providing resources to your kid will get them remotely close to 7-year-old Terry Tao’s level. This is absolutely about 1-in-many-millions innate ability - not about him being “good”.
His parents worked in the same fields.
Thank you for this video. It inspired my son to realize that he's not constrained by the traditional math grade-level curriculum. He immediately went to do self-study. :)
Terry Tao is also just a super nice and humble guy!
Just imagine, Terrence Tao was a genius at age 7 however it took him 13 years to get his Phd. And don't get me wrong, it is astonish that he did it, it just made me wonder on how much effort and dedication an average person need to get one.
It's mostly because he took his time
@@dorol6375 facts
He's not a robot although he's smarter than one
The fact that he knows what boolean algebra is just mesmerizing😂
Bruhlean algebruh
No, just logical 😉
@Bigfootgerry Interesting! Okay, I was surprised because I saw it in one of the exercises in abstract algebra class from college
If you do it on a computer, is that cyber boolean?
his parents are doctors so I don't think it's natural intelligence , his family learns him things that he shouldn't know in that age but surly he will became normal student after 18 years old ... you can call a child genius if he is in a domain different than his parents
What gets me about these child prodigies is just how motivated they seem to be.
Thank you for taking me into the world of a 7 years old Terence.
This is so inspiring . Thanks, Terence !
Another tale of a savant with the right teaching and support at an early age. While this is a great thing, it also irritates me- as who knows how many brillaint people there are out there... that never had his kind of opportunity.
If he's a savant, then how did he fly through other courses in college also?
I believe geniuses are not extremely rare. What is even rarer is the passion to start studying when every other kid is playing, at the age of 7 and earlier.
I think all children have the passion to study or pursue what they desire. It is their environment (parents, physical location, television, etc) that direct either toward maths or toward something else
@@elena6516 not all
But over 50%
Once you understand a topic or get interested on it , it becomes like a game ...
The most impressive thing about him is that he had such a patience and mental stamina at sucha young age
Your voice is just angelic. Wow, first time on this channel.
"Many would consider him a genius?" ....His IQ is over 200, he's a genius by definition...
200?? Dear God.
Such a high IQ doesn't make much sense as it's a statistical measure. He's unquestionably a genius in his field, and was generally a child prodigy. But you don't need IQ to realize that.
Around 211-230 according to the internet.
Genius cannot in anyway be measured by an IQ test. I don't even think IQ tests were originally designed for that purpose.
@J Boss if an IQ test cannot accurately measure an individual with a prodigious mathematical talent like Tao's, then it doesn't really have anything worthwhile to say about mathematical genius. Do you disagree?
Your voice is so soothing
It feels me like I'm taking ear massage 😃
😅
Totally agree 😂👍 Me too!
He is probably 1 out of millions genius plus the perfect setting (parents, good childhood, no other interests that interfere with maths, no mental illness later etc)
This is why I gave up on maths early, because I realised people like Terrence existed.
@Cool Cucumber Gave up is to strong a word. Maybe "not choose it" as a career path. Even when I did computer science, I didn't continue it professionally because there were programmers just so much better at it.
A field is clearly some ground where grass and stuff grows. :)
usually with a sign "don´t step on the grass or your parents shall punish you" or similar attached...
I was born for the field of arts, for I have always found maths and physics difficult (I guess I did not have good teachers), but watching your videos do make me want to learn more about science. I am convinced it is an "addictive" field that makes one keep on taking new challenges 🤗
It is interesting
Me too, this is not my arena (photoreal portrait artist) but I feel the itch to try and learn what my brain likely wasn't designed to learn.
I remember reading an article talking about young genius and some argue, like the man who trained both his daughters to be Masters in chess, that every child has the ability to be a prodigy like this if you start teaching them young they can pick up just about anything with enough time and patience from the teacher.
Childrens minds are absolutely incredible for how much infomation they can take in, retain and then make a part of themselves.
I love how she does her intro ...
Fr
Terrance and his parents came to our home and asked my father, who was a Dr of science, physics and mathematics lecturer at Adelaide Uni, to mentor him. My father declined, he believed that children should allowed to be children and there would be plenty of time for maths when he was older. While they had their meeting Terrance and I played Lego building houses. He sent me a thank you card, which I still have and his parents still have my mums casserole dish 😂
omg that’s so cool
Hello my fellow Adelaidian .. 🙂
@@WalrusRiderEntertainment Hello 👋🏼
@@WalrusRiderEntertainment hello 👋🏼😊
big flex being able to say that u built lego houses with him lmao
*My Mind:* So... _this_ is what average feels like...
If you are watching this, you are well above average...
@@BuickDoc ironic, me watching because I’m stupid and need to learn something
@@BuickDoc Wait really?
@@prav2568 Perhaps I should have said "probably"? Average people would rarely watch a video of this type. They would perhaps watch videos about their favorite football player...
@@prav2568 You'd probably watch an NFL video if you were average...
"I hope it doesn't seem discouraging"-well I already unenrolled from my pure maths degree during the vid so
He considered answering, "Fields is the name of the medal I will win in 2006," but decided to be unpretentious!
lol my mat hcearear
that's all well and good, but could Terence Tao, age 7, drink soda with his nose?
get on my level, Terence!
xD
Im always amazed to see how proud people are to be average or worse, to be stupid
@NewChanel Yup. I just wanted to remind people of what really matters to seven-year-olds. Not a maths prodigy, but I did write poetry at that age in my own weird script xD. It's kind of cute and gives an interesting look into the weird thoughts and priorities of children. This Terence guy seems prettttty ingenious compared to me though ngl xD
@@thisismyalias Irony does not have to be sarcastic. To be clear, I am not especially proud of the decision making that lead 7-seven-old me to be able to drink soda through my nose 😂
@@thisismyalias I'm amazed to see how 'smart' people who call everyone else stupid fail to recognise the most obvious of jokes.
@@deviladvocate21 also its not wrong to be proud of yourself. if you are indeed "stupid" you can still be proud or you'll have a depressing existence. However, it is commendable to strive to become better. i am no genius but i am proud by how far I have come and I will continue to go forward. it is incredibly important to remember people have lives and not to belittle them based on your own beliefs . @rck clearly thinks s/hes better than everyone else, and that is not good
The amazing thing to differentiate between a Genius Mathematician and a learned Mathematician is by how one comes up with the solution as soon as they lay eyes on the question.
To explain more properly, as a Mathematician myself, I can look at the answers and understand how he got them and see how it works and it all makes sense just by the time I have read the first few workings.
But what inteuiged me is how that young boy _comes up_ with the first few lines of the solution by just laying eyes on the question. That ability, is underrated as when one possess that attribute; *he simply has seen the path to the answer already.*
Masha Allah, very impressive, and blessed. Hopefully I reach the level of this young boy in the ability to deduce the solution in such a manner.
This was so relaxing. Didn't understand a word of it, but it was so relaxing.
😂😂😂
Light novel title would be “that time I, the god of math reincarnated as a math prodigy in a new world”
As a computer programmer, that fibonacci program is so adorable 😂 Reminds me of the programs I was making in high school.
I was never challenged in terms of my knowledge at school, everything that was presented to me didn't seem difficult at all, but now that I am in my first semester of college doing a math major I feel so stupid, I just feel that I haven't gotten the capacity to study and I'm just used to just absorbing everything, and now that I don't allways get the things at the first time they are explained to me, I just get so frustrated. Anyways, I am really working on that but I kinda wish I grew up in a more challenging environment that helped me to learn how to properly study and not to relly on my raw intelligence. By the way, English is not my first language so I'm sorry if got some things wrong
I encountered the same thing when I started my masters degree in Electrical engineering. I rarely ever had to study in undergrad, and would skip class because I could learn the material faster from the book. Learning to study and put in the time is a true skill, and if you are breezing through classes now, that is only a sign of the potential you have. The challenge is finding a topic where you can push yourself and become great. The faster you learn how to study, the farther you will go. Best of luck!
This is true, children who are lagging behind get special classes, but kids who are far ahead don't. You either learn from external sources, or eventually get reduced to the level of the average student