1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,360
We have a few stress balls left.

2
00:00:01,360 --> 00:00:03,690
And we could perhaps do this
a little dramatically maybe

3
00:00:03,690 --> 00:00:06,220
with eight volunteers, if you will.

4
00:00:06,220 --> 00:00:07,240
OK, that's a plan.

5
00:00:07,240 --> 00:00:16,990
OK, so 1, about 2, 3, if we could, OK, 4
in the middle there, 5, 6, 7, and let's

6
00:00:16,990 --> 00:00:17,710
see--

7
00:00:17,710 --> 00:00:21,140
and let's see, [INAUDIBLE]
can come up here.

8
00:00:21,140 --> 00:00:22,060
Can we do it after?

9
00:00:22,060 --> 00:00:22,690
OK, thanks.

10
00:00:22,690 --> 00:00:24,740
And how about-- wait, I
saw a hand in the middle.

11
00:00:24,740 --> 00:00:26,660
How about eight,
volunteered by your friends.

12
00:00:26,660 --> 00:00:27,670
Come on up.

13
00:00:27,670 --> 00:00:28,930
So come on up, if you would.

14
00:00:28,930 --> 00:00:30,640
And Brian, if we could
go ahead and equip

15
00:00:30,640 --> 00:00:34,120
our volunteers each with a number.

16
00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:37,210
We're going to go ahead and
see if we can't solve together

17
00:00:37,210 --> 00:00:44,200
the idea of finding an algorithm
for sorting the numbers at hand.

18
00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:46,660
So in just a moment, each of
you will be handed a number.

19
00:00:46,660 --> 00:00:49,410
In the meantime, let's go ahead
and just say a quick introduction,

20
00:00:49,410 --> 00:00:51,050
who you are, and perhaps your house.

21
00:00:51,050 --> 00:00:54,970
AUDIENCE: [? Crus, ?]
Dudley House, from Germany.

22
00:00:54,970 --> 00:00:57,300
AUDIENCE: Curtis, just here visiting.

23
00:00:57,300 --> 00:00:58,580
SPEAKER 1: Wonderful.

24
00:00:58,580 --> 00:01:02,660
AUDIENCE: Ali, freshman,
[INAUDIBLE],, from Turkey.

25
00:01:02,660 --> 00:01:05,000
AUDIENCE: Farah
[? Foho, ?] from Detroit.

26
00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:06,550
SPEAKER 1: Nice.

27
00:01:06,550 --> 00:01:11,040
AUDIENCE: Allison, Hollis because
I'm first year, from Cleveland.

28
00:01:11,040 --> 00:01:12,040
AUDIENCE: I'm Claude.

29
00:01:12,040 --> 00:01:12,610
I'm in Mauer.

30
00:01:12,610 --> 00:01:14,180
And I'm from Virginia.

31
00:01:14,180 --> 00:01:16,150
AUDIENCE: I'm [? Rohil. ?]
I'm in Wigglesworth.

32
00:01:16,150 --> 00:01:17,830
And I'm from Atlanta.

33
00:01:17,830 --> 00:01:20,140
AUDIENCE: I'm [? Yowell. ?]
I'm also from Wigglesworth.

34
00:01:20,140 --> 00:01:21,390
And I'm from New York.

35
00:01:21,390 --> 00:01:22,280
AUDIENCE: I'm Bonnie.

36
00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:22,550
I'm in Lowell.

37
00:01:22,550 --> 00:01:24,340
I'm from Beijing and
[? Ann ?] [? Arbor. ?]

38
00:01:24,340 --> 00:01:25,420
SPEAKER 1: Wonderful.

39
00:01:25,420 --> 00:01:29,250
And I'm noticing now, as you might be
too, we have nine volunteers on stage.

40
00:01:29,250 --> 00:01:31,000
So we're going to go
ahead and solve this.

41
00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:31,630
That's OK.

42
00:01:31,630 --> 00:01:32,160
What's your name again?

43
00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:32,850
AUDIENCE: Bonnie.

44
00:01:32,850 --> 00:01:33,660
SPEAKER 1: Bonnie, come on over here.

45
00:01:33,660 --> 00:01:35,820
You're going to be maybe
my assistant, if you could,

46
00:01:35,820 --> 00:01:37,480
as we sought these elements.

47
00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:39,190
Let's go ahead and
give you the mic here.

48
00:01:39,190 --> 00:01:42,250
Each of you has been
handed a number that

49
00:01:42,250 --> 00:01:46,220
happens to match with this, which
is just an unsorted list of numbers.

50
00:01:46,220 --> 00:01:49,420
And let me just ask that our eight
volunteers here sort yourselves.

51
00:01:49,420 --> 00:01:51,640
Go.

52
00:01:51,640 --> 00:01:54,240
[INTERPOSING VOICES]

53
00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:56,410
SPEAKER 1: And I'll have
you direct them after this.

54
00:02:00,090 --> 00:02:00,720
Excellent.

55
00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:01,800
Very well done.

56
00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:03,900
[APPLAUSE]

57
00:02:03,900 --> 00:02:04,610
OK.

58
00:02:04,610 --> 00:02:06,450
So let me ask any of
you, and we'll hand you

59
00:02:06,450 --> 00:02:09,090
the mic, if need be, what was the
algorithm you used to sort yourselves?

60
00:02:09,090 --> 00:02:10,430
AUDIENCE: Human intuition.

61
00:02:10,430 --> 00:02:12,260
SPEAKER 1: Human intuition, OK.

62
00:02:12,260 --> 00:02:14,020
[LAUGHTER]

63
00:02:14,020 --> 00:02:14,520
Nice.

64
00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:16,970
[APPLAUSE]

65
00:02:18,210 --> 00:02:18,710
Nice.

66
00:02:18,710 --> 00:02:20,110
Other formulations?

67
00:02:20,110 --> 00:02:20,610
Yeah?

68
00:02:23,530 --> 00:02:28,050
AUDIENCE: I just checked
if the person who's left

69
00:02:28,050 --> 00:02:32,210
me, who is supposed to be larger
than me is larger than me.

70
00:02:32,210 --> 00:02:36,770
And if he was larger than
me, then I stayed there.

71
00:02:36,770 --> 00:02:39,420
And if I was larger than him, I
just switched places with him.

72
00:02:39,420 --> 00:02:40,550
SPEAKER 1: OK, I like that.

73
00:02:40,550 --> 00:02:42,290
It's sort [? of a ?]
locally optimum approach,

74
00:02:42,290 --> 00:02:44,830
where you just kind of look to
the left and right and sort of

75
00:02:44,830 --> 00:02:46,520
fix any transpositions or mismatches.

76
00:02:46,520 --> 00:02:49,060
And in fact, let's go ahead and
try and apply that same idea.

77
00:02:49,060 --> 00:02:51,680
Can all eight of you reorder
yourselves, just like that,

78
00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:53,510
so that you're standing
below your number

79
00:02:53,510 --> 00:02:58,710
so that we're undoing the human
intuition that we just executed.

80
00:02:58,710 --> 00:03:01,340
And now let's go ahead and
say, all right, so, Bonnie,

81
00:03:01,340 --> 00:03:03,450
if you don't mind
helping direct us there--

82
00:03:03,450 --> 00:03:06,500
direct us here, we clearly have
now an unsorted list of numbers.

83
00:03:06,500 --> 00:03:08,810
Let's just bite off this
problem one bit at a time.

84
00:03:08,810 --> 00:03:10,610
So for instance, you
two, your names again?

85
00:03:10,610 --> 00:03:11,240
AUDIENCE: Tris.

86
00:03:11,240 --> 00:03:11,630
SPEAKER 1: Tris.

87
00:03:11,630 --> 00:03:12,170
AUDIENCE: Curtis.

88
00:03:12,170 --> 00:03:12,830
SPEAKER 1: And Curtis.

89
00:03:12,830 --> 00:03:14,540
So you guys are clearly out of order.

90
00:03:14,540 --> 00:03:16,670
So what would be the locally
optimal solution here.

91
00:03:16,670 --> 00:03:17,690
AUDIENCE: They would switch orders.

92
00:03:17,690 --> 00:03:18,940
SPEAKER 1: OK, please do that.

93
00:03:18,940 --> 00:03:20,770
All right, now let's consider 6 and 8.

94
00:03:20,770 --> 00:03:21,800
AUDIENCE: They're fine.

95
00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:22,780
SPEAKER 1: OK, 8 and 5?

96
00:03:22,780 --> 00:03:23,990
AUDIENCE: Let's switch again.

97
00:03:23,990 --> 00:03:25,280
SPEAKER 1: Please switch again.

98
00:03:25,280 --> 00:03:26,030
8 and 2?

99
00:03:26,030 --> 00:03:27,080
AUDIENCE: Switch.

100
00:03:27,080 --> 00:03:27,920
SPEAKER 1: OK.

101
00:03:27,920 --> 00:03:28,730
8 and 7?

102
00:03:28,730 --> 00:03:29,950
AUDIENCE: Switch.

103
00:03:29,950 --> 00:03:30,740
SPEAKER 1: 8 and 4?

104
00:03:30,740 --> 00:03:32,000
AUDIENCE: Switch.

105
00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:32,750
SPEAKER 1: 8 and--

106
00:03:32,750 --> 00:03:33,380
AUDIENCE: 1.

107
00:03:33,570 --> 00:03:33,770
SPEAKER 1: --1?

108
00:03:33,770 --> 00:03:34,370
AUDIENCE: Switch.

109
00:03:34,370 --> 00:03:35,240
SPEAKER 1: All right.

110
00:03:35,240 --> 00:03:36,820
So have we solved the problem?

111
00:03:36,820 --> 00:03:37,490
AUDIENCE: No.

112
00:03:37,490 --> 00:03:39,620
SPEAKER 1: OK, no, obviously
not, but is it better?

113
00:03:39,620 --> 00:03:42,050
Are we closer to the solution?

114
00:03:42,050 --> 00:03:46,380
I'd argue we are closer because,
right, like 8 somehow made its way all

115
00:03:46,380 --> 00:03:49,550
the way to the correct destination,
even though we still have kind of a mess

116
00:03:49,550 --> 00:03:50,810
here to fix.

117
00:03:50,810 --> 00:03:54,470
But notice that the solution got better
in this direction and a little better

118
00:03:54,470 --> 00:03:55,100
this direction.

119
00:03:55,100 --> 00:03:56,160
But we're going to do this again.

120
00:03:56,160 --> 00:03:57,600
So Bonnie, can you direct us once more?

121
00:03:57,600 --> 00:03:58,210
AUDIENCE: Yes.

122
00:03:58,210 --> 00:04:02,990
So if you would proceed from
this order, you two would switch.

123
00:04:02,990 --> 00:04:04,690
SPEAKER 1: 5 and 6?

124
00:04:04,690 --> 00:04:06,130
AUDIENCE: Let's switch again.

125
00:04:06,130 --> 00:04:07,220
SPEAKER 1: 6 and 2?

126
00:04:07,220 --> 00:04:09,520
AUDIENCE: Remain, and
then the next person--

127
00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:10,340
SPEAKER 1: 7 and 4?

128
00:04:10,340 --> 00:04:11,330
AUDIENCE: 7 and 4 switch.

129
00:04:11,330 --> 00:04:11,510
SPEAKER 1: Nice.

130
00:04:11,510 --> 00:04:12,010
7 and 1?

131
00:04:12,010 --> 00:04:13,050
AUDIENCE: 1 and 7 switch.

132
00:04:13,050 --> 00:04:13,670
And then--

133
00:04:13,670 --> 00:04:14,450
SPEAKER 1: So now are we done?

134
00:04:14,450 --> 00:04:15,120
AUDIENCE: No.

135
00:04:15,120 --> 00:04:17,540
SPEAKER 1: So no, but look,
the problem is getting better.

136
00:04:17,540 --> 00:04:20,850
It's closer to solution because now
we have 8 in place and 7 in place.

137
00:04:20,850 --> 00:04:23,150
So we've taken a bite out of
the problem, if you would.

138
00:04:23,150 --> 00:04:24,560
Now, we can do this a little more rapid.

139
00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:27,470
So if you want to tell everyone
what to do pairwise, pretty quickly.

140
00:04:27,470 --> 00:04:27,970
Go.

141
00:04:27,970 --> 00:04:31,070
AUDIENCE: So everyone, just if you're--

142
00:04:31,070 --> 00:04:32,540
[LAUGHTER]

143
00:04:32,540 --> 00:04:34,290
SPEAKER 1: Human
intuition, if you would.

144
00:04:34,290 --> 00:04:35,340
But let's do it pairwise.

145
00:04:35,340 --> 00:04:36,100
AUDIENCE: OK.

146
00:04:36,100 --> 00:04:37,250
Sure.

147
00:04:37,250 --> 00:04:40,130
Could everyone if the person on
your right is smaller than you,

148
00:04:40,130 --> 00:04:44,340
switch with them and then do that again.

149
00:04:44,340 --> 00:04:45,010
SPEAKER 1: Good.

150
00:04:45,010 --> 00:04:46,430
AUDIENCE: Do that again, again.

151
00:04:46,430 --> 00:04:48,120
SPEAKER 1: Good.

152
00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:48,900
AUDIENCE: Again.

153
00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:52,720
And then one last time.

154
00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:53,390
SPEAKER 1: Yeah.

155
00:04:53,390 --> 00:04:55,700
So even though we allowed it to get
a little organic there at the end,

156
00:04:55,700 --> 00:04:56,990
now is the list sorted?

157
00:04:56,990 --> 00:04:58,460
AUDIENCE: Yeah.

158
00:04:58,460 --> 00:04:59,610
SPEAKER 1: [LAUGHS] Yes.

159
00:04:59,610 --> 00:05:01,820
So maybe a round of applause
for our volunteers here.

160
00:05:01,820 --> 00:05:03,150
And thank you to Bonnie, especially.

161
00:05:03,150 --> 00:05:03,650
Thank you.