TED/Arthur Benjamin: The magic of Fibonacci numbers

Math has occurred to many people to be extremely difficult, but fun to a few. Some even chose to dig deeper into the subject and specialize in Math. Our lecturer today, Mr. Benjamin is one of the few who enthusiasts in Mathematics. He thinks that it is logical, functional and just ... awesome. Arthur loves to explore the hidden properties and equations beyond discovery on his own, after cracking most of the books about the subject. He proposes new theories and share it with the other mathematicians, hoping that his discovery will one day make the world a new and better place. As now Arthur explores about weird serial and wonderful set of numbers: the Fibonacci series, he announces that he's making a big progress of cracking the code! Though many don't even get the idea of what Fibonacci series really are...

Arthur shared his little secrets on the way, using daring displays on tricky questions, and meditation can clear the mind while facing an obstacle. He likes using his brain rather than a calculator while in the face of calculations, saying that this sharpen the mind. Maybe we can see the beauty and mystery of mathematics as we pick up his habits.

Arthur Benjamin is like a magician who makes numbers dance. In his day job, he's a professor of math at Harvey Mudd College; in his other day job, he's a "Mathemagician," taking the stage in his tuxedo to perform high-speed mental calculations, memorizations and other astounding math stunts. It's part of his drive to teach math and mental agility in interesting ways, following in the footsteps of such heroes as Martin the mathematician.

But to be honest, this was totally lost on me. I've heard people talk about math like this in terms of fun, and in terms of beauty. So some numbers add up to other numbers - so what? I get that it's entertaining for a very small group of math nerds. I took math through college-level integral calculus, but never saw anything fun about it. 

We teach kids math as a tool, but it's always disconnected from what it's a tool for. That helps ensure it is dull, and keeps the kids asking "why would I ever need to know this?" I'm not sure I buy the "it teaches you how to think" argument.