IDKMYDE: 2000 Year Old Math Problem

On todays episode of IDKMYDE you’ll learn about 2 high schoolers from New Orleans, Calcea Johnson and Ne’Kiya Jackson, took a 2,000-year-old math problem, gave it a makeover with trigonometry, and left the math world wondering, “Why didn’t we think of that?” They’re rewriting the rules—and proving Black girls can do more than just stan for Sza.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
On today's episode. If I didn't know, maybe you didn't either.
Let's talk about some real BGM Black Girl magic. Two
high schoolers, yes, high schoolers, just casually strolled into a
math class and solved a math problem that's been chilling,
unsolved for two thousand years. They're just like, yeah, we

(00:21):
got this. I didn't know. Maybe I didn't know. I
didn't know. I didn't know. I didn't know. I didn't know.
Mi Calcilla Johnson and Nikia Jackson from New Orleans. These
two were seniors at Saint Mary's Academy back in twenty

(00:41):
twenty two. Now, while most of us were out here
just trying to survive senior year, avoid senior writists, and
go to a senior skip day without getting in trouble,
these two were out here solving the Pythagoron theorem with trigonometry. Now,
I know you probably can't spell pythagora in theorem let
alone remember what it was. But it's the rule about
triangles A square plus b squared equal c square. You know,

(01:04):
basically saying, if you got a right angle triangle, the
two short sides add up to the longside. Simple right. Well,
we learned that in geometry turns out. Proving it in
trigonometry was considered impossible, like, yes we can land on
the moon, and yes, if I'm talking to my wife
about dish detergent as soon as I open up my
social media, dish detergent ads will be in my algorithm.

(01:27):
But this solving the Pythagorean theorem using trigonometry, Nah, that's
too difficult. But Calcia and the kid were like, hold
our calculators. They use something called the law of signs,
not like stop and yield, but sign and co sign.
You remember that. Now, I'm not gonna boil you with
math because I put myself to sleep. So let me
break it down to you like I'm breaking it down
to a five year old or somebody who got the

(01:48):
brain capacity of cold and Martin. Imagine you got a
lego triangle. The Pythagorean theorem is like saying, if I
count the legos on this side and this side, they'll
match the legos on the lawn on side. Easy. But
to prove it with trigonometry is like building the whole
triangle with no instructions and still having it turn out perfect. Meanwhile,

(02:09):
I'm still trying to put my daughter's desk together for Christmas.
I got folk screws left over, and I think I
put the led lights on backwards. Dig this. These two
teenagers presented their work at a professional math conference. These
are grown adults with PhDs, and Calcia and the kid
just walked in, like, what's up. Here's something y'all couldn't
do in two thousand years and yeah, we're seventeen. Now
fast forward to twenty twenty five, these girls are still

(02:32):
killing it. They're in STEM programs now publishing math papers.
I mean, what were you doing at seventeen eighteen years old? Personally,
I was a felon just trying to graduate high school
on a journey to be the best car hops Sonic
has ever seen. But let's talk about how big this
is for black culture. Historically, people haven't given black folks
their flowers when it comes to science and innovation. These

(02:53):
girls kicked that door open and said we belong here.
In the words of Aliyah, age ain't nothing but a
nothing barn. They showing everyone that black kids don't just
play ball or rap. We can change the freaking world.
So shout out to Calcia and Nikia. They proved that
math is for us too. And they didn't just solve
an equation. They reminded all of us what's possible when

(03:15):
we dream big. So if you got kids, tell them
to pick up a calculator. You never know. Your little
one could be out here solving three thousand year old
problems next. And I didn't know. Maybe you didn't either.
I didn't know