#183 – Po-Shen Loh: Mathematics, Math Olympiad, Combinatorics & Contact Tracing

Po-Shen Loh is a mathematician at CMU and coach of the USA International Math Olympiad team. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: - The Jordan Harbinger Show: jordanharbinger.com/lex/ - Onnit: lexfridman.com/onnit - BetterHelp: betterhelp.com/lex to get 10% off - Eight Sleep: eightsleep.com/lex and use code LEX to get special savings - LMNT: drinkLMNT.com/lex to get free sample pack EPISODE LINKS: Po's Twitter: twitter.com/poshenloh Po's Website: poshenloh.com/ Daily Challenges: daily.poshenloh.com/ NOVID: novid.org/ PODCAST INFO: Podcast website: lexfridman.com/podcast Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2lwqZIr Spotify: spoti.fi/2nEwCF8 RSS: lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/ YouTube Full Episodes: youtube.com/lexfridman YouTube Clips: youtube.com/lexclips SUPPORT & CONNECT: - Check out the sponsors above, it's the best way to support this podcast - Support on Patreon: patreon.com/lexfridman - Twitter: twitter.com/lexfridman - Instagram: instagram.com/lexfridman - LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lexfridman - Facebook: facebook.com/lexfridman - Medium: medium.com/@lexfridman OUTLINE: Here's the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time. (00:00) - Introduction (08:51) - Planes and bridges (12:28) - Writing a computer game from scratch (14:54) - Programming competitions (18:28) - Math is hard (23:59) - Contact tracing that preserves privacy (1:01:16) - Math Olympiad (1:16:57) - Hard math problem (1:24:14) - Is math discovered or invented? (1:29:09) - Intelligence (1:35:59) - Math education (1:40:10) - How to learn math (1:49:06) - Combinatorics (1:52:13) - Voting trees (2:02:36) - Stochastic coalescence (2:12:23) - P=NP (2:16:39) - Tolkien and WWII (2:19:00) - Advice for young people (2:21:05) - Meaning of life