I went to 4 talks over three days from the same speaker.
Why?
I first stumbled upon Po-Shen Loh on a 3-minute YouTube video, "The Most Beautiful equation in Maths".
Using his extensive expertise as a maths professor and coach of the USA IMO team, he broke down a complex formula with a huge smile and decisive stride.
Now, with over 13M+ views, the video speaks for itself.
The most liked comment noted, "If you're planning on doing something big in life, start by making sure you're happy as this guy”.
For a few days, he brought his passion and story to Sydney.
When Covid hit, it made a dent in public health and education. Remote online lessons were unbearable, and the pandemic meant these lessons weren’t a one-time thing
...but creative problems call for creative solutions.
Here is what he did.
- Partnered with the drama faculty as a maths professor.
- Developed a gamified "LIVE" platform that combined acting & improv with teaching.
- Co-developed a "degree of connection" app (like LinkedIn) to combat the spread of Covid. (Image below)
While the pandemic isn't rampant, Gen AI is a hotter topic.
Po reminds us to consider what makes us human.
As the costs of LLMs approach <1000x that of human labour, it's more difficult to create value; we don’t need a workforce where we strive to be the most efficient tool, but one where we can discover these tools, use these tools, sharpen these tools, and do something creative with these tools. These solutions have no bounds — Po even combined cheerleading and maths.
All in all, it comes to 2 principles:
- The way to be happy is to delight as many people as you can.
- Hard work is fun if it is something meaningful.
"People who make value will always have opportunities". What would you add?