16-YO Asks If Math Is Even Real & Who Came Up With It, Experts Respond

At some point in our lives, most of us have questioned the existence and need for schools while complaining that we don’t want to go and study there. 16-year-old Gracie Cunningham too had similar philosophical questions on the subject of mathematics which she shared in a video saying.

“I know it’s real because we all learned it in school or whatever. But who came up with it? … How? … I get addition. Like hey, if you take two apples and add three, you have five, or whatever. But how would you come up with the concept of like, algebra? What would you need it for?”

this is the dumbest video ive ever seen pic.twitter.com/cq3pEisHBR

— ela (@aIeturner) August 25, 2020

Soon, the video went viral on Twitter with many calling her “dumb” and mocking her questions. However, a lot of people also appreciated her curiosity and bent of mind after which she shared a second video framing her questions in a better manner.

can we blow this one up instead of the one where i sound stupid hashtag math isn’t real pic.twitter.com/HuaEDwqXXP

— gracie cunningham | BLM (@graciegcunning) August 27, 2020

Thereafter, many experts like Math professors and scientists responded by saying that all her questions were valid and should be addressed instead of ridiculing her. Take a look.

Alex, that was one of the most wonderful videos I have seen: that young woman expressed a curiosity about the foundations of mathematics, and sought answers.

You have done nothing but belittle her.

— Grady Booch (@Grady_Booch) August 27, 2020

I'm pissed people are mocking this kid. She asks great questions, whose answers aren't obvious, and which math classes should address. https://t.co/vks69P6n5y

— Jordan Ellenberg (@JSEllenberg) August 26, 2020

trying to conceptualize why something exists shows far more intelligence than just accepting its existence at face value…. math has a really interesting history & all she’s doing is expressing her thoughts on it, nothing “dumb” about it

— liv 🐌🍓 (@livbarryyy) August 26, 2020

not people in the comments trying to clown her as if there isn’t a whole branch of philosophy dedicated to the theory of whether math was created or discovered 😐😐 and for complex math they question what basis of its creation was. she’s not stupid, she’s curious https://t.co/UQkcfBXcQ6

— 𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 (@wavyemma) August 26, 2020

Astrophysicist Dr. H.F.Stevance took the time to clear all her doubts in a video.

Here are some answers that might help girl!

These people are trash (I'm a literal astrophysicist and I'm telling you, they're trash) pic.twitter.com/gunhmvgXRU

— Dr. Héloïse Stevance 🖤✨(she) (@Sydonahi) August 27, 2020

Here’s an Algebraic Geometer with the answers:

Second question: Once they did find those formulas how did they know that they were right?

The way math works is like a very strict game: You come up with a bunch of rules, and then you see what happens when you apply them. The rules you kinda just make up.

— Sophie Schmieg (@SchmiegSophie) August 27, 2020

Now back to question 1: How did anyone come up with these formulas:
This has two answers: Answer one is a lie, and is that they came up with rules and applied them over and over again, until they found a formula they liked.

— Sophie Schmieg (@SchmiegSophie) August 27, 2020

The actual answer is that they kinda guessed. They did a lot of calculations, saw a pattern that seems to be true all the time, and then just wrote it down. Only after that they tried to apply the rules to actually prove it.

— Sophie Schmieg (@SchmiegSophie) August 27, 2020

Bottom line? Never stifle your curiosity no matter what people say. That is how we keep learning and growing.

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