Oxford University Mathematician REACTS to 'Animation vs. Geometry'

*The copyright of the original video is the property of Alan Becker. The footage is shown here under a fair usage policy.

Watch Tom react to the first 2 videos in the series at the links below.

You can also follow Tom on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @tomrocksmaths.

Get your Tom Rocks Maths merchandise here:

[ND]

Alan Becker really has made something special with his time on YouTube. Amazing educational content, gripping and emotionally compelling narratives, awesome fight scenes, and all that with just stickmen and no dialogue whatsoever! It’s no wonder his videos get millions of views!

[AttilaAsztalos]

"It can't be reasoned with, it can't be bargained with…it doesn't feel pity or remorse or fear… and it absolutely will not stop. Ever. Until you are dead. It's called... a 24-cell."

[johncollinowensy]

Little addendum for the stuff you missed:
- The thing attacking them is a 4D shape. Apparently it’s called a 24-cell.
- The Pythagoreas Theorem proof is also a proof for Φ + 1 = Φ². Specifically it said Φ raised to 0 plus Φ raised to 1 equals Φ squared.
- That bit makes the golden rectangle, and it pops up later during the pentagram battle.
- The dart shape is also part of the rhombic structure associated with the golden ratio, and Phi they did in fact make that shape to protect our stickman.
- You probably noticed, but I’ll still mention how the badass Phi army was creating all sorts of Φ shapes and lines to pelt the 24-cell. Absolute masterpiece.
- Phi army dropped some golden rectangles earlier, our stickman used them to create vertices that if you connect lines through, traces an icosahedron (it did this without Phi’s help, so proud)
- Phi then uses this to connect a dual one with area Φ², to create a bigger set of vertices to create the dodecahedron.
- Apparently if you put three dodecahedrons to the same edge you get that mirror effect or something, I honestly don’t understand that higher dimension explanation from the over-analysis either lol. The other shapes there are also the bigger and smaller 4D shapes, including the 600-cell forming a shadow in the mirror plane. Try and look for it, I’m sure you missed it. I did. Several times.
- The current crackpot theory is that:
Stickman arrives in math dimension > gets Euler’d to geometry dimension > falls off dimensional mirror into physics dimension > creates the entire universe with black hole time travel > Stickman is data and therefore immune to death by spaghettification > ??? </ teleport to type IIB universe < String theory < Quantum mechanics < ??? \> New Animation vs. Education video yay

[lilbill]

The 4D shape is called an Octaplex, which is the simplest of its names, and sounds oddly badass

[blusterlumino]

can't believe that dnd dices are just the platonic shapes but magicified

[Emcy]

petition to have Alan Becker collab with Tom Crawford for the next animation in this series

[lamemelord]

17:03 For anyone wondering, it's called the Inscribed Angle Theorem

[dibenp]

I think the "graph theory blob" is a 24-cell. This four-dimensional shape is difficult to understand because it has no analogue in higher or lesser dimensions. Or as HSM Coxeter states in the epilogue of his book "Regular Polytopes", the 24-cell is a shape that "stands quite alone". So as a story, perhaps the 24-cell was lonely, misunderstood, wanting friends. By the end of the video, TSC and phi have worked together to reunite the 24-cell with the other 5 convex regular polytopes, as a family. Very on brand for Alan's stick-o-verse.

[maddreax]

I think someone else mentioned it elsewhere, but the big evil thing is a 4D shape, specifically a 24-cell.

It's amazing how they used a 3D shape to trap a 4D being on a 2D plane.

[nanamacapagal]

If you're wondering about the dodecahedron-universe ending, this actually ties in to Plato's contribution to the platonic solids (plus the color scheme for the other 4 solids)

Plato assigned the solids different classical elements:
Tetrahedron = Fire (Red)
Octahedron = Air (White)
Cube = Earth (Green)
Icosahedron = Water (Blue)
Dodecahedron = Aether (Gold)
The inside of the dodecahedron is a 4-dimensiomal 120-cell comprised of 120 dodecahedra (go figure), so it might be the higher-dimensional equivalent of aether...

All the other 4d graphs are the remaining 4d platonic solids. In fact, the gold one orange stickman holds in their hand is the exact boss they were fighting against earlier: the hyperdiamond made of 24 octahedra (hence the octahedral artillery)

EDIT: got air and water backwards oops

[kendrakirai]

My own personal theory is that the method Euler’s used to send TSC away actually split him - one went to Physics, one went to Geometry. The two are, for lack of a better term, happening “concurrently”. (Let’s ignore the ludicrous amounts of time it would have taken Physics to happen - Time doesn’t seem to hold sway in these, merely causality. Perhaps, since between Physics, math, and geometry, we’ve handled what I’d consider three of the four most fundamental concepts of reality, the next one will be the fourth - Time.)

[Frxmxtic]

Honestly this man is amazing, always inspiring and carrying a happy smile. Currently in the process of doing my application for maths at Oxford, and I would not be in this position if not for Tom. Been an inspiration since day one and hope that you carry on what you do <3

[liamfarrar]

the villain of the video isn't a graph its a representation of a 4d shape

[christianchan]

Mathematicians call them polyhedra,



Tabletop geeks call them dice.

[VrIgHtEr]

We saw 1d, 2d, 3d and 4d shapes. What I found interesting is that when attacked, stuff showed the menger sponge underneath, which has a fractal dimension of between 2 and 3

[dropbarracuda]

In the most genuine and non-weird way possible: I love the way you love maths. I have been actively looking for your take since it first came out. Thanks for sharing your insights 😀

[JellowGelo]

I took this idea from "Animation vs. Geometry - An Over-Analysis", apparently the oddly looking shape is called a "24-cell", a regular 4d shape that is considered to be a "4-D Platonic Polytope". The reason why it is attacking TSC and Phi is because it is the only shape, in their plane, that is not symmetrical.

The 4 colored platonic solids at the very end are referencing Plato's elements (fire, earth, air, water, Universe).

Correct me if I'm wrong, because I truly find Alan Becker's animation vs math/science to be really interesting. And I'm getting hooked by it.

[ChongBoy]

My jaw is aching as well!! Loved the original art and love the way you jump in with pointers and keep us on track because I'm lost without you. Thanks and keep up the great work.

[cubefromblender]

whats next? animation vs chemistry? animation vs history? animation vs biology? animation vs geography?

[TheGreenSheep.]

The shape that was destroying everything was a four dimensional hyper diamond