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IDKMYDE: 2000 Year Old Math Problem · The Breakfast Club

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: On today's episode. If I didn't know, maybe you didn't either.
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Let's talk about some real BGM Black Girl magic. Two
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: high schoolers, yes, high schoolers, just casually strolled into a
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: math class and solved a math problem that's been chilling,
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: unsolved for two thousand years. They're just like, yeah, we
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: got this. I didn't know. Maybe I didn't know. I
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: didn't know. I didn't know. I didn't know. I didn't know.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Mi Calcilla Johnson and Nikia Jackson from New Orleans. These
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: two were seniors at Saint Mary's Academy back in twenty
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: twenty two. Now, while most of us were out here
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: just trying to survive senior year, avoid senior writists, and
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: go to a senior skip day without getting in trouble,
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: these two were out here solving the Pythagoron theorem with trigonometry. Now,
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: I know you probably can't spell pythagora in theorem let
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: alone remember what it was. But it's the rule about
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: triangles A square plus b squared equal c square. You know,
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: basically saying, if you got a right angle triangle, the
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: two short sides add up to the longside. Simple right. Well,
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: we learned that in geometry turns out. Proving it in
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  Speaker 1: trigonometry was considered impossible, like, yes we can land on
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: the moon, and yes, if I'm talking to my wife
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: about dish detergent as soon as I open up my
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: social media, dish detergent ads will be in my algorithm.
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: But this solving the Pythagorean theorem using trigonometry, Nah, that's
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: too difficult. But Calcia and the kid were like, hold
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: our calculators. They use something called the law of signs,
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: not like stop and yield, but sign and co sign.
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: You remember that. Now, I'm not gonna boil you with
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: math because I put myself to sleep. So let me
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: break it down to you like I'm breaking it down
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: to a five year old or somebody who got the
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: brain capacity of cold and Martin. Imagine you got a
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: lego triangle. The Pythagorean theorem is like saying, if I
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: count the legos on this side and this side, they'll
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: match the legos on the lawn on side. Easy. But
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: to prove it with trigonometry is like building the whole
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: triangle with no instructions and still having it turn out perfect. Meanwhile,
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: I'm still trying to put my daughter's desk together for Christmas.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: I got folk screws left over, and I think I
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: put the led lights on backwards. Dig this. These two
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: teenagers presented their work at a professional math conference. These
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: are grown adults with PhDs, and Calcia and the kid
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: just walked in, like, what's up. Here's something y'all couldn't
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: do in two thousand years and yeah, we're seventeen. Now
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: fast forward to twenty twenty five, these girls are still
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: killing it. They're in STEM programs now publishing math papers.
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: I mean, what were you doing at seventeen eighteen years old? Personally,
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: I was a felon just trying to graduate high school
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: on a journey to be the best car hops Sonic
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: has ever seen. But let's talk about how big this
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: is for black culture. Historically, people haven't given black folks
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: their flowers when it comes to science and innovation. These
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: girls kicked that door open and said we belong here.
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: In the words of Aliyah, age ain't nothing but a
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: nothing barn. They showing everyone that black kids don't just
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: play ball or rap. We can change the freaking world.
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: So shout out to Calcia and Nikia. They proved that
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: math is for us too. And they didn't just solve
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: an equation. They reminded all of us what's possible when
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: we dream big. So if you got kids, tell them
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: to pick up a calculator. You never know. Your little
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: one could be out here solving three thousand year old
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: problems next. And I didn't know. Maybe you didn't either.
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: I didn't know