Edward Frenkel

Mathematician, @UCBerkeley professor, author of LOVE & MATH (published in 20 languages), host of AfterMath series on YouTube, music expolorer as DJ Moonstein

[Edward Frenkel @edfrenkel]

We live in a volatile world, which sometimes feels hopeless, but I'd like to remind us of certain human qualities that bring us back to hope and allow us to imagine a more harmonious world, in which we can all thrive. This sense of hope comes from an unlikely source: Mathematics. Let me explain...

[Edward Frenkel @edfrenkel]

@jayviciousmx I've been busy with other projects but hope to make a new AfterMath video soon.

[Edward Frenkel @edfrenkel]

@TeamYouTube Just sent you a DM with the info you require.
Many thanks for your help!

[Edward Frenkel @edfrenkel]

This is a clip is from my keynote presentation at the UNESCO Global Webinar "Mathematics and Hope."

Full video:

https://t.co/YBszaRh22O

[Edward Frenkel @edfrenkel]

Every mathematical formula expresses a fundamental truth about the Universe and about ourselves. These truths are persistent and timeless. They belong to all of us, and mean the same to all of us, regardless of language, religion, or skin color. Mathematics thus shows we are all connected to each other at a much deeper level than is ordinarily understood. Mathematics is what we can all hold on to in this volatile world. It brings us closer together and unites us.

[Edward Frenkel @edfrenkel]

This is a clip from my recent lecture at @cwclub in San Francisco on reviving the Pythagorean tradition in the age of AI. Watch full video here:

https://t.co/tcyb3qOLEx

[Edward Frenkel @edfrenkel]

Carl Jung spoke about our connection to the Divine as a natural psychological function. And here "Divine" means that which transcends the discursive mind. Today, we tend to rationalize everything and reject the Divine, but then we end up worshiping dictators or... machines. Alas, the latter has become quite common lately with the advances in AI. But in fact, there's nothing new in these beliefs: they are coming from an attempt to subjugate everything to the rational discursive mind, so the Divine gets projected onto something "inappropriate" as Jung put it in his writings.

[Edward Frenkel @edfrenkel]

Thank you, @ericweinstein! 🙏🤩 Well-said, and what a great question at the end!

My take: it all starts with us, humans. We create new technology, we "program the machines" so to speak. We set the stage. If we can cultivate this sixth sense of our deeper connection to each other (which is what my video is about!) - then new technological advances will likely bring us even closer together. That's my hope. 😃

[Eric Weinstein @ericweinstein]

Color does not exist in physics. Color is a co-creation between the wavelength of a photon and Brain that tags visual images for internal representation inside the mind.

In a certain sense, mathematics is such a co-creation between the external logical order of pure systems and our human tagging of their representations within our minds.

@edfrenkel has been at the forefront of wanting to embrace math as inextricably human. Poetic, elegant, erotic, violent, passionate, overpowering, mystical and transcendent.

Russians. They’re like that. 🤷‍♀️

Well, right now that is actually THE question. What happens when the machines become full partners or even take over mathematics? This is the hardest thing the human mind knows how to do that really means something. And we have had it all to ourselves among species.

One could now be forgiven for asking: will the first great computer theories of mathematics humanize the
Machines the way it humanizes us…and brings us together across language and cultures. Or will the beauty be pearls cast before soulless robots.

Let us not forget as we tetter on the brink of all out war, that we in the U.S. are fighting both against and for representatives of the civilizations that gave us Al-gebra, and Al-gorithms.

Hope. For the best.

[Edward Frenkel @edfrenkel]

Based on the keynote presentation I gave at the 2026 UNESCO Global Webinar "Mathematics and Hope" honoring the International Day of Mathematics (Pi Day):

More details: https://t.co/iO6Vjb1C22

Watch on YouTube: https://t.co/LJ6FJvvKi3

[Edward Frenkel @edfrenkel]

We live in a volatile world, which sometimes feels hopeless, but I'd like to remind us of certain human qualities that bring us back to hope and allow us to imagine a more harmonious world, in which we can all thrive. This sense of hope comes from an unlikely source: Mathematics. Let me explain...

[Didier 'Dirac's ghost' Gaulin @DiracGhost]

Finally found the Japanese series on the Langlands program featuring the magnificent @edfrenkel in four parts!

One of the most fun and interesting presentation I've ever seen, on any subject!

🔗👇👇

[Edward Frenkel @edfrenkel]

“I have no doubt that our thinking goes on for the most part without use of signs (words) and beyond that to a considerable degree unconsciously.”

— Albert Einstein

“Every mathematician worthy of the name has experienced, if only rarely, the state of lucid exaltation in which one thought succeeds another as if miraculously, and in which the unconscious (however one interprets this word) seems to play a role.”

— André Weil

“Unlike most thinking which goes on in the upper consciousness, the really relevant mathematical thinking is not done in words. In fact, it happens somewhere so deep in the subconscious that the thinker is usually not even aware of what is going on inside.”

— Eugene Wigner

[Edward Frenkel @edfrenkel]

What I've learned over decades of my mathematical research is that at the moment of discovery, ordinary thinking stops. We enter the FLOW STATE and just like artists & musicians feel guided by something greater than ourselves. Many great scientists are on record saying this ⤵️⤵️

[Edward Frenkel @edfrenkel]

@MaximeGabella Those were 2 separate arguments. Listen carefyully. :) I agree with what you wrote, of course.

[Edward Frenkel @edfrenkel]

The key is not to limit ourselves to any particular theory or framework, but to be open to new ideas, new possibilities. "What can I do that ChatGPT cannot do?" (yet) That's what leads us to growth and evolution. Otherwise, our self-limitations become self-fulfilling prophecies.

[Ananyo Bhattacharya @Ananyo]

Inspirational thoughts for a Friday: this is @edfrenkel on rediscovering our human edge in the age of AI.
"Ask yourself what can I do that ChatGPT cannot do. Maybe it can do 99% of what you can do. Then focus on that 1% and make it grow."

[Ananyo Bhattacharya @Ananyo]

Our interview with @edfrenkel is up! Fascinating insights. My highlights:
29:52 Why self-knowledge is key to avoiding malevolent AI.
35:06 Will AI make mathematicians redundant?
56:41 The remarkable effectiveness of physics in maths.
https://t.co/KmttLC7hTM

[Roy @roydherbert]

@edfrenkel provides the best debate I have seen for quite sometime, Ed I concur in so many regards.

Reviving Pythagorean Tradition in the Age of AI — AfterMath Presents #1 https://t.co/tzQSoL1UbK via @YouTube

[Edward Frenkel @edfrenkel]

I'm delighted to have posted this on the birthday of the genius Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan, who exemplified the union between logic and intuition, which I talk about in my lecture here (see more info below).

[Edward Frenkel @edfrenkel]

We need to RESTORE BALANCE between logic and intuition, math and music, Apollo and Dionysus. We need to REVIVE the Pythagorean tradition, which combined a mathematical understanding of nature with a vision of human destiny pointing far beyond the visible world — a perfect union of logic (Apollo) and intuition (Dionysus).

Alas, since the time of Pythagoras we've been mostly embracing the logic side while largely ignoring the intuition side, creating an imbalance that has affected our society in profound ways. And this imbalance has intensified in the age of Artificial Intelligence, which is based on numbers and mathematics.

On a special evening at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco last October, we made an attempt to reunite these two threads: a lecture + a ceremony, a rooftop dance party led by DJs: @AnnaFedorovaSF (as DJ Wilder), followed by me (as DJ Moonstein) playing back-to-back with Cihat Fitzgerald (as DJ Chi).

The video linked below⤵️⤵️ features my full lecture along with highlights from our musical performance.

[Edward Frenkel @edfrenkel]

Link to the video of my lecture + highlights of the dance party:

https://t.co/yiapLVXBqy

Link to the audio recording of the music set by DJ Chi & DJ Moonstein:

https://t.co/vb8sQPbP1m

[Edward Frenkel @edfrenkel]

We need to RESTORE BALANCE between logic and intuition, math and music, Apollo and Dionysus. We need to REVIVE the Pythagorean tradition, which combined a mathematical understanding of nature with a vision of human destiny pointing far beyond the visible world — a perfect union of logic (Apollo) and intuition (Dionysus).

Alas, since the time of Pythagoras we've been mostly embracing the logic side while largely ignoring the intuition side, creating an imbalance that has affected our society in profound ways. And this imbalance has intensified in the age of Artificial Intelligence, which is based on numbers and mathematics.

On a special evening at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco last October, we made an attempt to reunite these two threads: a lecture + a ceremony, a rooftop dance party led by DJs: @AnnaFedorovaSF (as DJ Wilder), followed by me (as DJ Moonstein) playing back-to-back with Cihat Fitzgerald (as DJ Chi).

The video linked below⤵️⤵️ features my full lecture along with highlights from our musical performance.

[Edward Frenkel @edfrenkel]

Photo credits: @hellheff & @kmashayekh

[Edward Frenkel @edfrenkel]

I had a great time yesterday at @London_Inst being interviewed by @Ananyo & Yang-Hui He (see photos and link below). The video is coming up soon! There were about 60 people in attendence, including Jan Harlan, the legendary @StanleyKubrik producer and my old friend (see photo).

[Edward Frenkel @edfrenkel]

The description:

https://t.co/05QMySLGwi