1
00:00:12,429 --> 00:00:17,329
Yes, I am the mathematician
who's going to get you so laid.

2
00:00:17,329 --> 00:00:19,314
(Laughter)

3
00:00:19,314 --> 00:00:23,931
And to begin I need you
to stare at this equation.

4
00:00:23,931 --> 00:00:27,204
I mean, there's your first orgasm
right there, I know it.

5
00:00:27,204 --> 00:00:30,763
But these are very sophisticated equations

6
00:00:30,763 --> 00:00:33,502
that model a successful marriage.

7
00:00:33,502 --> 00:00:35,532
And they're ground breaking equations

8
00:00:35,532 --> 00:00:39,108
because it was the first time 
that truly sophisticated mathematics

9
00:00:39,108 --> 00:00:41,420
was used in the field of romance.

10
00:00:41,420 --> 00:00:44,940
And they predict with 95% accuracy rate

11
00:00:44,940 --> 00:00:47,983
whether newlyweds will be together
in six years time.

12
00:00:47,983 --> 00:00:50,138
And you can see there's the "W" for wife

13
00:00:50,138 --> 00:00:51,950
and the "H" for husband.

14
00:00:51,950 --> 00:00:56,171
So, they modeled newlyweds
talking about areas of contention

15
00:00:56,171 --> 00:00:58,038
like the in-laws or money.

16
00:00:58,038 --> 00:01:00,039
And then they modeled the responses

17
00:01:00,039 --> 00:01:03,429
according to how each partner
was responding to the other.

18
00:01:03,429 --> 00:01:05,113
Body language as well.

19
00:01:05,113 --> 00:01:08,265
And what came out
was this interesting influence factor 


20
00:01:08,265 --> 00:01:09,477
at the end there,

21
00:01:09,477 --> 00:01:11,867
which actually revealed that couples


22
00:01:11,867 --> 00:01:14,387
that responded the least to each other

23
00:01:14,387 --> 00:01:16,819
had a better chance
of a successful marriage.

24
00:01:16,819 --> 00:01:18,389
So that means --
(Laughter)

25
00:01:18,389 --> 00:01:21,579
I see some people are like,
"We knew that."

26
00:01:21,579 --> 00:01:24,489
So, couples that compromised the least


27
00:01:24,489 --> 00:01:26,879
ended up being together the most.

28
00:01:26,879 --> 00:01:28,255
This was very interesting

29
00:01:28,255 --> 00:01:30,841
because a lot of therapy
has been based on empathy.

30
00:01:30,841 --> 00:01:32,203
And you laughed before,

31
00:01:32,203 --> 00:01:34,925
so maybe you don't say 
when you partner comes home,

32
00:01:34,925 --> 00:01:38,239
"Yes darling, I know. Let me rub your feet
and fix you a martini."

33
00:01:38,239 --> 00:01:42,305
Because what they've actually found
is that might not be the best way forward.

34
00:01:42,311 --> 00:01:44,539
Maybe the best way,
or the mathematics revealed,

35
00:01:44,539 --> 00:01:47,360
that having high standards
and finding ways to reach

36
00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:50,318
for those standards
is in fact the way to go.

37
00:01:50,318 --> 00:01:52,918
So mathematics is the study of patterns.

38
00:01:52,918 --> 00:01:56,167
All the symbols that you see
are in fact patterns.

39
00:01:56,167 --> 00:01:58,248
You know, encapsulating patterns.

40
00:01:58,248 --> 00:02:00,935
And we're very used to seeing

41
00:02:00,935 --> 00:02:04,112
mathematics being used 
in physics and engineering.

42
00:02:04,112 --> 00:02:06,600
That's just because
it's been there the most.

43
00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:09,642
You know, E equals mc squared.
That's so early 1900's.

44
00:02:09,642 --> 00:02:12,198
There's actually been an evolution.

45
00:02:12,198 --> 00:02:15,334
Since the 80's 
we've seen mathematics venture

46
00:02:15,334 --> 00:02:18,886
into stock market analysis,
risk analysis that was new.

47
00:02:18,886 --> 00:02:22,259
And then since the 1990's or 2000's even

48
00:02:22,259 --> 00:02:26,160
we're seeing mathematics enter
into the sometimes called Softer Sciences

49
00:02:26,160 --> 00:02:29,530
like psychology, sociology,
anthropology, biology.

50
00:02:29,530 --> 00:02:32,181
New mathematics appears every day.

51
00:02:32,181 --> 00:02:36,022
I brought in a few
just to remind you of how that works.

52
00:02:36,022 --> 00:02:37,699
Here's some latest research.

53
00:02:37,699 --> 00:02:40,239
This is looking at antibiotic use

54
00:02:40,239 --> 00:02:44,349
and how to implement antibiotics
for tuberculosis

55
00:02:44,349 --> 00:02:46,183
while getting the patient healthy,

56
00:02:46,183 --> 00:02:48,717
but making sure
that we avoid antibiotic resistance.

57
00:02:48,717 --> 00:02:50,633
That came out a couple of weeks ago.

58
00:02:50,633 --> 00:02:55,368
And this is looking at how an opinion
spreads through a population.

59
00:02:55,368 --> 00:03:00,911
And when will you have the coexistence
of several opinions, or one big consensus.

60
00:03:00,911 --> 00:03:03,457
One of my favorites,
it's older but I couldn't resist.

61
00:03:03,457 --> 00:03:07,723
This one's from 2009 and this is
how to create the perfect chocolate.

62
00:03:07,723 --> 00:03:10,728
One that melts in your mouth
but not in your hand.

63
00:03:10,728 --> 00:03:15,178
And yes, these are very sexy equations,
I'm sure you'll agree.

64
00:03:15,178 --> 00:03:19,698
Mathematics is absolutely everywhere
these days; it's being used everywhere.

65
00:03:19,698 --> 00:03:21,269
It really is no surprise

66
00:03:21,269 --> 00:03:23,870
that now we're seeing
the equations for love.

67
00:03:23,870 --> 00:03:26,813
Now, love sucks.
I know you all know that.

68
00:03:26,813 --> 00:03:29,912
Because, yes, you're excited at first.

69
00:03:29,912 --> 00:03:32,780
But then you're scared.
Oh, my god. I haven't eaten.

70
00:03:32,780 --> 00:03:35,157
You're sitting looking at your phone,
"Please ring!"

71
00:03:35,157 --> 00:03:37,170
Then they send you a two-word text.

72
00:03:37,170 --> 00:03:40,191
And you're like, "Whoo-hoo!
It's on like Donkey Kong."

73
00:03:40,191 --> 00:03:42,363
(Laughter)

74
00:03:44,223 --> 00:03:47,654
And so these equations
look at which personality traits

75
00:03:47,654 --> 00:03:50,422
are more likely to come together

76
00:03:50,422 --> 00:03:52,830
to have a more stable 
companionship type love

77
00:03:52,830 --> 00:03:54,137
because some people

78
00:03:54,137 --> 00:03:56,124
they just end up being
up and down continuously.

79
00:03:56,124 --> 00:03:58,612
Imagine being in a relationship
with Charlie Sheen.

80
00:03:58,612 --> 00:04:00,673
That would be like
well, unlike Donkey Kong

81
00:04:00,673 --> 00:04:02,735
and also like this.
(Laughter)

82
00:04:02,735 --> 00:04:05,976
It gets a bit out of control --
mathematically quite fast.

83
00:04:05,976 --> 00:04:08,727
So just to tell you, it's about

84
00:04:08,727 --> 00:04:11,310
one thing to look out for
is if your partner --

85
00:04:11,310 --> 00:04:13,484
if you overestimate
your partner's qualities.

86
00:04:13,484 --> 00:04:16,547
So with partners we can behave
a bit like proud parents.

87
00:04:16,547 --> 00:04:19,667
"He's so smart. He's so sexy."
Everyone's just staring at this guy like

88
00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:21,025
(mumbling)

89
00:04:21,025 --> 00:04:23,768
Anyway, (Laughter)

90
00:04:23,768 --> 00:04:25,918
here's some more mathematics.

91
00:04:25,918 --> 00:04:31,288
Now, men report, on average,
having had sex with two to four times

92
00:04:31,288 --> 00:04:34,606
as many women than women do men.

93
00:04:34,606 --> 00:04:36,571
And this does not make sense.

94
00:04:36,571 --> 00:04:37,661
(Laughter)

95
00:04:37,661 --> 00:04:39,901
It doesn't. (Laughter)

96
00:04:39,901 --> 00:04:43,522
I know you're all thinking,
"But what about prostitutes?"

97
00:04:43,522 --> 00:04:46,221
"But what about my ex?
He's slept with everybody."

98
00:04:46,221 --> 00:04:50,124
No, every time a man
has sex with a woman --

99
00:04:50,124 --> 00:04:51,847
there are averages for other things --

100
00:04:51,847 --> 00:04:53,977
But in a large enough sample space

101
00:04:53,977 --> 00:04:56,430
it's going to be about the same,
not off like this.

102
00:04:56,430 --> 00:04:57,755
So here's an example.

103
00:04:57,755 --> 00:05:00,406
Here's Charlie Sheen.
He's had sex with everyone.

104
00:05:00,406 --> 00:05:01,550
(Laughter)

105
00:05:01,550 --> 00:05:04,338
Then the next guy, only one.
One, one, one.

106
00:05:04,338 --> 00:05:07,458
And that forces, you see,
the outcome for the women.

107
00:05:07,458 --> 00:05:10,621
The first one's had one.
The others have had 2 partners each.

108
00:05:10,621 --> 00:05:14,577
And 2, 4, 6, 8, 9.
9 divided by 5

109
00:05:14,577 --> 00:05:17,817
and on the right 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.
9 divided by 5.

110
00:05:17,824 --> 00:05:20,077
Every time a man has sex with a woman

111
00:05:20,077 --> 00:05:22,810
it's adding to the general tally
of both sides.

112
00:05:22,810 --> 00:05:25,305
Now, why is this discrepancy?

113
00:05:25,305 --> 00:05:28,948
Because the surveys 
are confidential and non-identifying,

114
00:05:28,948 --> 00:05:32,586
it turns out, if you ask about kinky things,
people are very honest.

115
00:05:32,586 --> 00:05:33,886
(Laughter)

116
00:05:33,886 --> 00:05:37,141
What we've turned to
is we think it's counting strategy.

117
00:05:37,141 --> 00:05:43,069
Because if you enumerate
you'll be prone to an underestimation.

118
00:05:43,069 --> 00:05:47,015
If you approximate
you'll be prone to an overestimation.

119
00:05:47,015 --> 00:05:50,091
So it seems women are going,
"Justin, Brad,

120
00:05:50,091 --> 00:05:53,102
the guy with the sexy biceps. The end."

121
00:05:53,102 --> 00:05:57,162
And men are going,
"20 a year for the last 5 years."

122
00:05:57,162 --> 00:06:00,176
(Laughter) You know.

123
00:06:00,669 --> 00:06:03,735
My favorite clue in all the data

124
00:06:03,735 --> 00:06:07,381
was that 80% of men's results
were divisible by 5.

125
00:06:07,381 --> 00:06:10,739
(Laughter)

126
00:06:10,739 --> 00:06:15,196
So, of course the mathematicians are like,
"Yeah, no, you're lying."

127
00:06:15,196 --> 00:06:17,806
(Laughter)

128
00:06:19,986 --> 00:06:22,795
Back to some more waves.

129
00:06:22,795 --> 00:06:26,505
Of course, there are waves
in women's hormones.

130
00:06:26,505 --> 00:06:32,206
And these equations look at what kind
of mechanism is in a woman's body --

131
00:06:32,206 --> 00:06:35,566
how does your body know
28 days have gone by?

132
00:06:35,566 --> 00:06:39,920
And it's based on understanding
why women have all their immature eggs

133
00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:42,504
at birth ready to go.

134
00:06:42,504 --> 00:06:45,649
We hear so much about women's hormones,


135
00:06:45,649 --> 00:06:48,444
so I've brought in men's as well.

136
00:06:48,444 --> 00:06:52,099
These are ---
(Laughter)

137
00:06:52,099 --> 00:06:54,996
These are real.
I'm not making them up.

138
00:06:54,996 --> 00:07:00,192
These model the relationship between
the brain and the testes

139
00:07:00,192 --> 00:07:04,236
as the fluctuation happens during the day.

140
00:07:04,236 --> 00:07:06,596
(Laughter)

141
00:07:07,976 --> 00:07:09,507
I promise these are real.

142
00:07:09,507 --> 00:07:12,668
Testosterone, for example,
has a peak in the morning.

143
00:07:12,668 --> 00:07:15,076
And a slump in the evening.

144
00:07:15,076 --> 00:07:18,010
But there's actually
a mini testosterone peak


145
00:07:18,010 --> 00:07:21,184
every 2 to 2.5 hours in between.

146
00:07:21,184 --> 00:07:24,239
So, you know what that means.
Especially women.

147
00:07:24,239 --> 00:07:26,649
If you ask a guy a favor
and he's not responding

148
00:07:26,649 --> 00:07:29,239
just wait half an hour
and ask again, just try and --

149
00:07:29,239 --> 00:07:30,439
(Laughter)

150
00:07:30,439 --> 00:07:33,924
just try and get that slump moment.

151
00:07:33,924 --> 00:07:35,867
It's got its purposes.

152
00:07:35,867 --> 00:07:38,200
Though the peak
has another purpose as well.

153
00:07:38,200 --> 00:07:41,555
Yes, this is all great fun
and I could carry on with fun maths

154
00:07:41,555 --> 00:07:43,047
and sex problems for hours.

155
00:07:43,047 --> 00:07:47,239
But ultimately, what I'm about
is our amazing brain

156
00:07:47,239 --> 00:07:52,143
and the impact of abstract thinking
and the power of abstract thinking.

157
00:07:52,143 --> 00:07:55,406
And so let me turn things
a little bit around on you and say,

158
00:07:55,406 --> 00:07:58,202
What do you think happens
if you think about sex

159
00:07:58,202 --> 00:07:59,774
before doing mathematics?

160
00:07:59,774 --> 00:08:02,498
Because it's actually
not super distracting.

161
00:08:02,498 --> 00:08:04,529
You'll actually become better

162
00:08:04,529 --> 00:08:07,412
at doing certain types of brain processes.

163
00:08:07,412 --> 00:08:10,869
It turns out there's two fundamental types
of brain processes.

164
00:08:10,869 --> 00:08:12,952
You either think globally or locally.


165
00:08:12,952 --> 00:08:14,395
Forest or trees.

166
00:08:14,395 --> 00:08:16,550
And when you're solving a problem,

167
00:08:16,550 --> 00:08:20,899
you often start with the global
kind of analysis

168
00:08:20,899 --> 00:08:24,419
and then you have to dig in deep
and follow leads to solutions.

169
00:08:24,419 --> 00:08:27,596
It turns out that we're now seeing
with the latest research

170
00:08:27,596 --> 00:08:31,646
that this is linked to creative
versus analytical thinking.

171
00:08:31,646 --> 00:08:33,787
And more than that we're finding

172
00:08:33,787 --> 00:08:36,278
that it's actually
very easily manipulated.

173
00:08:36,278 --> 00:08:39,960
So, if you get people to think about love
and then solve problems

174
00:08:39,960 --> 00:08:42,369
they'll be better at the globalization,

175
00:08:42,369 --> 00:08:44,485
the beginning, the creative part.

176
00:08:44,485 --> 00:08:47,278
And if you get people to think about sex

177
00:08:47,278 --> 00:08:51,575
they get better at the process
part of the problem solving.

178
00:08:51,575 --> 00:08:53,117
Easy as that.

179
00:08:53,117 --> 00:08:56,464
And here's the bigger question
that interests me.

180
00:08:56,464 --> 00:08:58,533
What is this thing called mathematics

181
00:08:58,533 --> 00:09:01,082
that's only been going
for about 2,000 years

182
00:09:01,082 --> 00:09:03,641
that popped up independently
across the world

183
00:09:03,641 --> 00:09:06,029
that so many people swear they can't do?

184
00:09:06,029 --> 00:09:09,057
See, there's something
that's not quite reconciling there.

185
00:09:09,057 --> 00:09:11,979
You can't have something
that's developed so recently

186
00:09:11,979 --> 00:09:14,517
with some people
just having an extra brain bit.

187
00:09:14,522 --> 00:09:18,799
No, that doesn't make sense.
It's about finding those right triggers.

188
00:09:18,979 --> 00:09:21,824
Here's a school report card of mine

189
00:09:21,824 --> 00:09:24,029
in French.

190
00:09:24,029 --> 00:09:27,846
My parents are these wild, wild travelers
always looking for wild parties.

191
00:09:27,846 --> 00:09:32,837
I'm actually the conservative offspring
of some crazy wild people.

192
00:09:32,837 --> 00:09:36,169
As you see, we lived in Cannes, whatever.
Great parties there.

193
00:09:36,169 --> 00:09:39,941
But more importantly, you can see
two out of 20 for mathematics.

194
00:09:39,941 --> 00:09:44,389
And my best result was 15
for Travaux Manuels et Technique.

195
00:09:44,389 --> 00:09:45,796
which is woodwork.

196
00:09:45,796 --> 00:09:47,780
(Laughter)

197
00:09:47,780 --> 00:09:52,697
So it's very clear to me
what life is like without mathematics.

198
00:09:52,697 --> 00:09:56,777
Once I found mathematics at 18
when I came to Australia,

199
00:09:56,777 --> 00:09:59,943
it was the first time
that I was connecting to something pure,

200
00:09:59,943 --> 00:10:02,507
to something that was so amazing.

201
00:10:02,507 --> 00:10:05,650
You see, pattern recognition

202
00:10:05,650 --> 00:10:09,393
is right at the core of the animal kingdom.

203
00:10:09,393 --> 00:10:11,394
You see, even reptiles recognize

204
00:10:11,394 --> 00:10:14,655
whether it's something
to eat, fight or have sex with.

205
00:10:15,535 --> 00:10:18,928
Even a jellyfish knows which way is up
and which way is down.

206
00:10:18,928 --> 00:10:21,459
Now the seeds of the number concept


207
00:10:21,459 --> 00:10:24,170
are also very much part
of the animal kingdom.

208
00:10:24,170 --> 00:10:26,452
A pack of animals will recognize

209
00:10:26,452 --> 00:10:29,134
whether another pack
is greater than theirs.

210
00:10:29,134 --> 00:10:31,947
And you can actually teach a rat
to press a lever

211
00:10:31,947 --> 00:10:34,829
an approximate number of times
to get food.

212
00:10:34,829 --> 00:10:37,226
Now, you see how I the word approximate.

213
00:10:37,226 --> 00:10:42,987
That's because the rat doesn't have
self-awareness or a linguistic ability

214
00:10:42,987 --> 00:10:46,877
to capture, tame those innate sensations.

215
00:10:46,877 --> 00:10:51,558
So if the rat is just tapping three times
1, 2, 3 -- it will kind of get it right.

216
00:10:51,558 --> 00:10:55,124
But once it gets to 16, 
the poor little rat is tapping away

217
00:10:55,124 --> 00:10:58,148
it doesn't know where it's reaching.
And it's the same with us.

218
00:10:58,148 --> 00:11:00,710
If you do an experiment
where we can't count out

219
00:11:00,710 --> 00:11:04,167
we'll make exactly the same
mistakes as the rat.

220
00:11:05,127 --> 00:11:06,950
We went further.

221
00:11:06,950 --> 00:11:10,387
We went to things like 2 + 5 = 5 + 2.

222
00:11:10,387 --> 00:11:13,929
I can swap the order of things
and still reach the same result.

223
00:11:13,929 --> 00:11:15,597
We went further still.

224
00:11:15,597 --> 00:11:17,947
A + B = B + A

225
00:11:17,947 --> 00:11:21,045
I can substitute
any of the infinite number of numbers

226
00:11:21,045 --> 00:11:24,968
that I'm now aware of in that formula
and it means the same thing.

227
00:11:24,968 --> 00:11:29,133
You see, language is more
than just naming things.

228
00:11:29,133 --> 00:11:33,600
With it, we also got cause and effect
and temporal reasoning.

229
00:11:33,600 --> 00:11:39,784
Mathematics is our most precise use
of this syntactical understanding.

230
00:11:39,784 --> 00:11:43,758
Because with mathematics 
at each step that you're creating

231
00:11:43,758 --> 00:11:46,796
the pattern linking discovery,
there's no ambiguity.

232
00:11:46,796 --> 00:11:49,427
It is very precise
what you're doing at each step,

233
00:11:49,427 --> 00:11:53,027
what is in each classification.
True or false. That's it.

234
00:11:53,027 --> 00:11:58,144
In the box or outside the box.
It's very clear, ultimate precision.

235
00:11:58,144 --> 00:12:01,287
And that is why mathematics is so powerful

236
00:12:01,287 --> 00:12:03,590
and being used more
often right through to sex.

237
00:12:03,590 --> 00:12:06,396
And that's why it's so hard
because you're using

238
00:12:06,396 --> 00:12:11,612
the limits of our evolution
right to their extreme.

239
00:12:11,612 --> 00:12:14,469
We're using,
we're taming those innate sensations

240
00:12:14,469 --> 00:12:17,427
with the most ultimate precision we can.

241
00:12:17,427 --> 00:12:20,677
Mathematics as you can see, it's just ---

242
00:12:20,677 --> 00:12:25,499
what's so breath taking is that it emerged
independently across the globe.

243
00:12:25,499 --> 00:12:28,259
And when people came together
in peace or war

244
00:12:28,259 --> 00:12:33,846
they may have clashed when it came 
to religion, cultures, languages,

245
00:12:33,846 --> 00:12:38,359
but their mathematics,
or pure pattern recognition just meshed.

246
00:12:38,359 --> 00:12:42,417
You see, mathematics
lies right at the roots of humanity.

247
00:12:42,417 --> 00:12:45,521
Like sex, it transcends human culture.

248
00:12:45,521 --> 00:12:47,425
And now that I've shared that with you,

249
00:12:47,425 --> 00:12:49,825
you are the sexiest ladies in town.

250
00:12:49,825 --> 00:12:50,901
(Laughter)

251
00:12:50,901 --> 00:12:52,177
Thank you very much.

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00:12:52,177 --> 00:12:54,667
(Applause)