The problem in Good Will Hunting – Numberphile

The problem in Good Will Hunting – Numberphile

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Just how hard was the second problem cracked by Will in Good Will Hunting? Matt Damon!

And who doesn’t love Homeomorphically Irreducible Trees?

This video features Dr James Grime – http://singingbanana.com/

Music by Alan Stewart – http://www.youtube.com/user/AlanKey86

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49 Comments

  1. Andrés Legorreta on July 1, 2021 at 7:55 pm

    Well, it doesn’t sound Greek when you pronounce it



  2. George Washington on July 1, 2021 at 7:56 pm

    now, I would like for you to draw seven red lines, all of them must be perpendicular, and some are drawn with green ink and others with red ink…



  3. Evan on July 1, 2021 at 7:57 pm

    Huh so if you apply the laws of reality to a fictional movie you will find some discrepancies?! What a novel concept…



  4. Dialectical Monist on July 1, 2021 at 8:01 pm

    This seems stupidly easy.

    Like kindergarten level easy.



  5. c y on July 1, 2021 at 8:01 pm

    Why oh why do I watch things that’s beyond my comprehension..,



  6. Josh on July 1, 2021 at 8:02 pm

    how exactly is this math?



  7. Steve Starr on July 1, 2021 at 8:05 pm

    As someone who can’t do basic division, this gave me an instant headache. Great movie, though.



  8. Nick Adams on July 1, 2021 at 8:07 pm

    Great vid, mate. Clear and engaging.



  9. Pearl ssbu on July 1, 2021 at 8:07 pm

    Maths



  10. Chuck Weeks on July 1, 2021 at 8:09 pm

    What a nerd. Movie was excellent.



  11. jc4jax on July 1, 2021 at 8:10 pm

    You earned 10 points for House Gryffindor for solving the bonus problem



  12. Wallace Grommet on July 1, 2021 at 8:14 pm

    This is topology?



  13. tigressnsnow on July 1, 2021 at 8:14 pm

    So who was the real Will Hunting?



  14. Next To Nobody on July 1, 2021 at 8:15 pm

    Blaspheme



  15. Maui Tiki Tiki Atarongo on July 1, 2021 at 8:15 pm

    How bout them apple trees



  16. carson chan on July 1, 2021 at 8:15 pm

    indian guy with no formal education



  17. Allosaurus Fragilis on July 1, 2021 at 8:16 pm

    Its not that hard at all. Theres lots of people could do this once they got the idea. Getting the idea might be the tricky bit…



  18. J. A. on July 1, 2021 at 8:17 pm

    There is no real Goodwill Hunting or even anyone close to him. I liked the movie. But Willl’s abilities are essentially magic. Will group up in abusive foster homes and thus didn’t have Tiger-parents drilling him in math, linguistics, etc. from an early age. Presumably his guardians were exactly the opposite. He worked a regular job, hung out frequently with his blue collar friends, and then apparently from time to time leafed through math and other books and developed his mathematical abilities to a level where he was embarrassing a Fields medalist on a regular basis. No one has a similar story. Even Ramunajan sat around thinking and doing math all of the time. He produced amazing results but the most impressive ones, I believe, were when he went Cambridge and worked with a world renowned mathematician. Although everyone has different abilities, there are no short cuts. The people at the top of their fields in math, music, video games, sports, etc. are pretty much doing whatever their great at all of the freaking time or were doing it all of the freaking time from a reasonably early age. They almost universally had supportive guardians and mentors.



  19. Stewart M on July 1, 2021 at 8:19 pm

    You didnt explain the concept of irreducible well at ALL. Im really surprised at that. This isnt even remotely hard for anyone who’s studied organic chemistry



  20. Lee Lee Lee on July 1, 2021 at 8:22 pm

    RRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE



  21. Scott Simon on July 1, 2021 at 8:23 pm

    You do realize it’s a movie, not a documentary, right? And it’s fiction, right?



  22. Dorothy Dorothy on July 1, 2021 at 8:24 pm

    The measly format startlingly suspend because barge cytologically handle beyond a lowly store. vivacious, ill spike



  23. Ally Wilke on July 1, 2021 at 8:25 pm

    There ar happy trees in art class.



  24. Matt on July 1, 2021 at 8:25 pm

    He can’t solve the problem of getting laid.



  25. G Money on July 1, 2021 at 8:26 pm

    Can anyone else smell those markers?



  26. joe dillon on July 1, 2021 at 8:27 pm

    At the end of the video, did anyone else say in their head, “check out the hook while my dj revolves it”?



  27. Frank Castle on July 1, 2021 at 8:30 pm

    It’s the superphilosophy explained.



  28. greatloverofmusic1 on July 1, 2021 at 8:30 pm

    Well at least the problem is somewhat abstract, rather than the usual routine partial derivative/sigma notation. Cheers.



  29. Robert Atwell on July 1, 2021 at 8:31 pm

    Looks fun to do that.



  30. Wow Adamshiffsaturd on July 1, 2021 at 8:31 pm

    Its a fn movie



  31. Satriale's Pork Store on July 1, 2021 at 8:31 pm

    Abacus in the bedroom… Hey Mom! I’m not the only one!



  32. Bill T on July 1, 2021 at 8:32 pm

    Can’t you just mirror each one and do 20



  33. David Tracchia on July 1, 2021 at 8:34 pm

    There is no problem. Its a fictional movie.



  34. Ted Wagner on July 1, 2021 at 8:36 pm

    Bricktop from Snatch has a son



  35. Lukas Kaufmann-LaDuc on July 1, 2021 at 8:36 pm

    this is the most pretentious mf youtube channel



  36. Kane Lono on July 1, 2021 at 8:37 pm

    Actually…
    The problem is how to survive on Mars.



  37. Maxis on July 1, 2021 at 8:37 pm

    this is the most viewed video ive seen with a recording of someones tv screen



  38. EarthKnight on July 1, 2021 at 8:37 pm

    This fellow looks, sounds, and acts like a character from a Guy Ritchie film.



  39. The Builder on July 1, 2021 at 8:38 pm

    I don’t know about you but I always assume math symbols in movies are random squiggles



  40. Rob Ferguson on July 1, 2021 at 8:40 pm

    What’s the practical application of these trees?



  41. Mike S on July 1, 2021 at 8:42 pm

    Hey Carmine, remember me? Will from kindagatin



  42. Denis Lengo on July 1, 2021 at 8:44 pm

    Bollocks, it’s Brick Top’s son !!!!



  43. Schaden Freude on July 1, 2021 at 8:45 pm

    These look like (longer version) feynman diagrams. Does that check✔out?

    ,Mr Not A Mathematician.



  44. Chuck Zhang on July 1, 2021 at 8:46 pm

    Just curious, what applications do the trees have?



  45. VANILLA GORILLA on July 1, 2021 at 8:47 pm

    The movie isn’t about the math and it really has no real outcome of the story itself it has to do with the story of the characters the math is just part of the plot, don’t take the math so seriously just enjoy the idea of a kid from Boston who had a really difficult life who ended being wicked smaht and beating the stigma of of that type of life and became happy.



  46. avraham plotnitzky on July 1, 2021 at 8:48 pm

    In the last story, you probably refer to George Dantzig
    .



  47. Stanley Kruger on July 1, 2021 at 8:48 pm

    P.S. It’s "Math." No need to pluralize.



  48. douguette1 on July 1, 2021 at 8:48 pm

    That’s not a legend, this is the story of Georges Danzig, but the real story is not exactly like this



  49. deci bel on July 1, 2021 at 8:49 pm

    what a waste of time, mathematical egoism if there was such a thing