How Did X Become the Unknown (and so much else)?

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 พ.ค. 2024
  • A truly X-cellent and X-ceptional video…
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    Despite being one of the rarest letters in English, the letter X is everywhere. We sign letters with it, we rate movies with it, we name all sorts of things after it. We’re kind of obsessed with it. And that’s probably all thanks to math, where X stands for the unknown. Let's explore the bizarre history of how X took on this role…
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ความคิดเห็น • 1.4K

  • @besmart
    @besmart  8 หลายเดือนก่อน +512

    So now you know how X took over math, but let's give it some love in regular language: Post your favorite word containing X below! Mine is *equinox*

    • @nicksamek12
      @nicksamek12 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +16

      Crux

    • @RishabhBohra13
      @RishabhBohra13 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +16

      xes

    • @telisiabrown2858
      @telisiabrown2858 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +18

      Xerox

    • @michaelmayhem350
      @michaelmayhem350 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +10

      I can't believe this video didn't include X by Xzibit

    • @Vvopat96
      @Vvopat96 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +8

      ex

  • @DeclanMBrennan
    @DeclanMBrennan 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1501

    X also implies precision. In carpentry and on maps, it allows one to define an exact point with two crossing lines.

    • @DeclanMBrennan
      @DeclanMBrennan 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +112

      And I suppose, it's oft partner O implies approximation - "around about here".

    • @DudeWhoSaysDeez
      @DudeWhoSaysDeez 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +72

      you might even say "in carpentry and cartography"

    • @christopherellis2663
      @christopherellis2663 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      Exactly 😊

    • @xenontesla122
      @xenontesla122 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +13

      It’s interesting how t doesn’t have a similar implication

    • @ginnyjollykidd
      @ginnyjollykidd 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +2


      Or at least on treasure maps!

  • @dcarbs2979
    @dcarbs2979 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +405

    8:10 X is important in printing because it reaches all 4 corners equally. It is the standard by which all letters are measured in setting a typeface. From it you can calculate descenders (e.g. length of the tail on letter 'g'), ascenders (e.g. height of a letter 'h') and differing widths of letters (e.g. 'i' is thinner than 'd'), to set the spacing of words and lines when letters were physical blocks plated with ink. The principles still apply in the digital equivalent. Different typefaces take up different amounts of space on a printed page (or screen) depending on their dimensions relative to the standard 'X'.

    • @Moneymagi
      @Moneymagi 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      How is it your here 😂

    • @luzellemoller6621
      @luzellemoller6621 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Wait x is but X is rechtangler not squared

    • @dcarbs2979
      @dcarbs2979 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +13

      @@luzellemoller6621 Completely depends on the typeface. Both x and X are square in some typefaces.

    • @juanausensi499
      @juanausensi499 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Older x's had descenders

    • @tomlxyz
      @tomlxyz 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Aren't many (at least modern typefaces) intentionally not the same size for different letters because we don't perceive different shapes of the same height as being the same height

  • @THETRIVIALTHINGS
    @THETRIVIALTHINGS 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +569

    Saying X three times, reveals the mystery of creation of life too. Very mysterious.

  • @Harry351ify
    @Harry351ify 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +169

    I always thought we used x because it's rare in natural language use so that you can easily distinguish math from any letters used for the description.

    • @sion8
      @sion8 7 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

      Depends on the language and whether they use ⟨X⟩ on their set of the Latin alphabet and how frequently they use it. Thus, I don't think it was necessary about that.

    • @RahulSarode
      @RahulSarode 7 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      But we use abc and pqr just as commonly in maths.

    • @Harry351ify
      @Harry351ify 7 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      @@RahulSarode I don't think the other letters are used as just as commonly. The most common are x and y. I feel like letters other than x are used when you have multiple variables and are forced to use more letters.

    • @docteurdzeta5284
      @docteurdzeta5284 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +7

      @@Harry351ify For me it's more because a letter can give you information on what type of number it is. For exemple, n and m are integer, p is a prime, a,b,c are parameters, u,v,w is a vector, z is a complex , d is a line, e is the euler constant, f,g,h are fonction, i,j,k,l are somation index, q is the denominator of a rational... All letters have a sens in mathematics (and for some more that one (z for exemple is a complex or the thrid unknow real number)).

    • @micahbirdlover8152
      @micahbirdlover8152 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

      ​@@sion8e..explain heh 🙃😜

  • @bo2led._.r2ce
    @bo2led._.r2ce 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +2044

    Elon Musk has a weird obsession with X

    • @Iudicatio
      @Iudicatio 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +78

      It's because x is so unique, important, and special, just like him

    • @rutgerb
      @rutgerb 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +238

      ​@@Iudicatiohi Elon

    • @Goudlock
      @Goudlock 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +245

      @@Iudicatio"unique" being a CEO of a company, son of an other rich dude, starting with everything to become rich, not really special

    • @butameremortal9424
      @butameremortal9424 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +26

      @@Goudlock😂 exactly!

    • @poeticsilence047
      @poeticsilence047 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +124

      ​@@Goudlockshhh. Fans ignore the fact he was already born rich and paid his way into a company to say he was a co-founder of.

  • @LangThoughts
    @LangThoughts 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +261

    6:30 Actually, in older Spanish (as in Modern Portuguese), a Sh sound did exist, which was spelt with an X. It fused with Spanish J in sound, and was thus replaced with J (except in some words). This is why in many indigenous languages of Latin America, the Sh sound is spelled with X, and why the name "Mexico", which comes from Nahuatl, is pronounced in Spanish as if it is Mejico.

    • @cltr8011
      @cltr8011 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +7

      THIS!! Thank you so much for pointing that out❤

    • @martinjoster3282
      @martinjoster3282 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +13

      And in Latin American spanish, the sh sound is still used

    • @cltr8011
      @cltr8011 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +7

      @@martinjoster3282 like in argentina if i'm not mistaken, right?

    • @kaitlyn__L
      @kaitlyn__L 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

      I’ve known Spanish-speaking folks spell it Tejas and Mejico as well

    • @martinjoster3282
      @martinjoster3282 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      @@kaitlyn__L indeed

  • @gregsquires6201
    @gregsquires6201 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +162

    Given Descartes's decision to use letter at the beginning of the alphabet for known constants and end of the alphabet for variables, it makes sense to me that x is used more than z. I bet "a" shows up more than "c" too.

    • @P_Chalou
      @P_Chalou 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

      Indeed... Also I think x is the fastest when you are writing it down, compared to y or z

    • @KrXYT
      @KrXYT 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

      @@P_Chalou x and y (for my handwriting at least) are pretty damn close

    • @MrBong420swed
      @MrBong420swed 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +8

      wouldn't the alphabet work in reverse in this sense ? if A shows up more because it is first, wouldn't Z show up more than X because it is last ?

    • @gregsquires6201
      @gregsquires6201 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +15

      @@MrBong420swed I just figured ABC for constants, XYZ for variables, and you continue to read and use them left to right like normal western language rules. So A before B and C, X before Y and Z.

    • @MrBong420swed
      @MrBong420swed 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      that makes sense @@gregsquires6201

  • @SupercriticalSnake
    @SupercriticalSnake 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +131

    "X" is like an edgier version of "Q". Oh, your letter is a circle with a little diagonal line through it and it's used for sounds that other letters already make? Here's a bigger diagonal line with another diagonal line through it and it's sometimes pronounced as a freakin' "Z". Also, it hangs out with the weird letters in the back of the alphabet, not those respectable letters like "R", "S", and "T".

    • @Imthatguykayden
      @Imthatguykayden 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

      Why does this make sense 😭😭😭fr though x does belong with the other weirdo letters like z and y

    • @ArawnOfAnnwn
      @ArawnOfAnnwn 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      That doesn't explain why 'J' isn't used even more. 'Q' and 'Z' also get thrown around a lot in both math and more general use for 'cool stuff that we want to assign a cool letter to', but 'J' doesn't despite even scarcer than all except Q. So what makes 'J' boring?

    • @MrBrineplays_
      @MrBrineplays_ 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      ​@@ArawnOfAnnwnMaybe it's because J looks too smooth compared to X, Q, Y, Z, T, and the other edgy letters. And that J is pronounced smoother and softer compared to the other letters like X, pronounced as EKS, or Q, pronounced as KYU

    • @adarshmohapatra5058
      @adarshmohapatra5058 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      @@ArawnOfAnnwn Well I would say that maybe it's because Y and Z follow X in the alphabet, so it is convenient to use y and z after x is used up, for continuity. Ik that whenever I read/do math or coding, I use groups of letters like x,y,z or p,q,r or a,b,c. In fact when I make variables for loops I often use i,j,k. Maths also uses m,n a lot.

    • @Rattus-Norvegicus
      @Rattus-Norvegicus 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      You forgot a few: SoS, pdq's, EKG, your Eliminopee's, XXX, and f....just the letter F!

  • @junovzla
    @junovzla 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +47

    6:42 actually Old Spanish did have a letter to represent the SH sound, it was the letter X! this is because the sequence KS from Latin turned into a sh sound in Old Spanish (like in "laxius" > "lexos"), which still existed in the 1500s and 1600s, but which shifted to a H sound in modern Spanish ("lexos" > "lejos"). It is now spelled as J because the Old Spanish letter J represented a ZH sound (similar to the SI in vision), but this sound also became H in modern Spanish so there was no point in keeping the distinction in writing, and since J was more common all of the X got replaced with J, except in a few words like México, which is pronounced as tho it was written Méjico.
    In Portuguese and Catalan, which are both closely related to Spanish, the letter X is still pronounced as the SH sound, tho now Portuguese prefers spelling it as CH for similar reasons to the ones that led Spanish to prefer J for the H sound
    Now this is all really simplified and dumbed down to the best of my abilities but there's still a whole lot of stuff that could be explained in more detail. My point is just that Spanish already had the X letter for the Arabic SH sound, so there's no need to say they borrowed Greek Chi, which adds more force to the hypothesis by making it simpler

    • @Someone-sy1gv
      @Someone-sy1gv 7 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      Portuguese uses X for many different sounds. Yes, CH would be the most common - but it can also represent KS, Z, or SS, depending on the word.

  • @complexcreations5309
    @complexcreations5309 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +182

    At 2:35 The first '=' at the bottom should instead be '+' and at 5:12 it should be x² - 3x = 2.

    • @arifbagusprakoso2308
      @arifbagusprakoso2308 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +10

      Sharp eye you have there!

    • @fragkiskos2373
      @fragkiskos2373 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Saw that too 😂

    • @_helium_
      @_helium_ 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Thank you haha

    • @DemPilafian
      @DemPilafian 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +12

      People love to whine and moan about _"New Math",_ but clearly the real problem is _"Ancient Math"._

    • @KalinPopov
      @KalinPopov 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

      Not to mention the solution to the first ancient problem is either 0 or a negative number and considering X is supposed to be the side of a plot of land both are impossible. Pretty stupid problem.

  • @ripwolfe
    @ripwolfe 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +48

    In algebra, my thought was just as `a` is the first letter of the `abc` trifecta that starts the alphabet, and `x` is the first letter of the `xyz` trifecta that ends the alphabet, then `a` and `x` are the first choices for constants and variables, respectively.

    • @carultch
      @carultch 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

      My thought was simply that x is the least likely letter to stand for anything specific, since it is the least common letter to start a word. Turns out, there was a very practical reason for seeking a letter like that, when economizing jobs for early printing technology.

    • @RuthvenMurgatroyd
      @RuthvenMurgatroyd 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      Pretty sure that's all that it was. I recall hearing that Descartes prefered letters from the beginning of the alphabet to represent known values (or constants or parameters) and letters from the end of the alphabet to represent unkowns (or variable quantities).

    • @reficulgr
      @reficulgr 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Mathematics dept. University of Crete teaches the same idea.

    • @fisabilimaghfirona
      @fisabilimaghfirona 7 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Bro is cooking damn

  • @QuarterCoyote
    @QuarterCoyote 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +27

    X it's also one of the only letters that you can use as something other than a letter. Like when you cross out something on paper.

    • @Figgy5119
      @Figgy5119 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

      I would argue that v can be used to show "insert here"

    • @sophiaum2315
      @sophiaum2315 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

      O

  • @shada0
    @shada0 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +31

    I think it's important to include the shape of X, it's a very satisfying & easy thing to draw. Like X is more fun to draw than +, that's a little weird.

  • @PuzzledMonkey
    @PuzzledMonkey 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +69

    The Greek letter for x is Ξ (capital) or ξ, lower case, not Χ. It is pronounced ksee. Chi is a fricative, like the ch in German Bach.
    The x in old Spanish was in fact pronounced like English sh, so such a translation from Arabic would have made perfect sense.

    • @besmart
      @besmart  8 หลายเดือนก่อน +32

      It's true that Old Spanish has the /sh/ sound (or close to it) for x. We can see this in the French translation of Don Quixote (Don Quichotte). The problem is, there's no example that I know of where an Arabic "sheen" was transliterated to Spanish x. It's a good correlation but I can't find any actual links.
      And chi and xi both derive from the same Phonecian root "letter", with xi being more ancient than chi

    • @jaca2899
      @jaca2899 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      @@besmartTHE LETTER Ξ HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH Χ

    • @indigofenrir7236
      @indigofenrir7236 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Xi = Ξ ξ
      Chi = Χ χ
      We're looking at the Greek letter itself, not the Roman spelling of how we say it.

  • @donbrunodelamancha1927
    @donbrunodelamancha1927 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +87

    You spoke the logic and philosophy of X in the first few minutes of this very episode. It is, it’s very scarcity in language, called it into used in mathematics. What better integer placeholder to use than something that is so uncommonly used, it cannot be confused with any other use? Philosophy led the way X. It’s scarcity made it the perfect place holder for unknown because you cannot be confused for anything else.

    • @ArawnOfAnnwn
      @ArawnOfAnnwn 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      That doesn't explain why 'J' isn't used even more. 'Q' and 'Z' also get thrown around a lot in both math and more general use for 'cool stuff that we want to assign a cool letter to', but 'J' doesn't despite even scarcer than all except Q. So what makes 'J' boring?

    • @donbrunodelamancha1927
      @donbrunodelamancha1927 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      @@ArawnOfAnnwn sure does Q existence of the primary words in the language for example, queen. What is more primary in our language than queen? Especially in the 15th century there is no more primary title. Question begins with a Q there in lies the issue. The very notion that Q is uncommon belies the issue. That is the question.

    • @SergeyVBD
      @SergeyVBD 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      @@ArawnOfAnnwn a,b,c is used for constants. x,y,z is used for variables. i,j,k is often used for summation/product iterators. So j does get used a lot, it's just that it's only used a lot in very specific types of maths such as discrete maths and probability / statistics. I don't think lowercase q is used a lot, but upper case Q means rational numbers and so it wouldn't be used in algebra, it would be used in like set theory.

    • @ArawnOfAnnwn
      @ArawnOfAnnwn 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      @@SergeyVBD That's in math. I'm talking about how much it's being used generally, in popular parlance. We gave X the name of an entire generation - Gen X - but no one cares to talk about a Gen J, cos J just isn't considered cool.

    • @charliecarrot
      @charliecarrot 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

      It's definitely not just a placeholder for integers. I would say n or k are used more for integers compared to x. But I agree that x is usually the variable you're solving for, compared to n or k which are used more in summations or sequences.

  • @gusamamon
    @gusamamon 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +28

    Additionally, X is used to indicate negation or important things (as in "X marks the spot"). By the way, in Mexican Spanish, calling something or someone X ("equis") means that it is irrelevant or indifferent (like saying "meh" or "whatever").

    • @carultch
      @carultch 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Is that why actual latinos hate the politically correct term, "Latinx"?

    • @anandsharma7430
      @anandsharma7430 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      In Boolean Algebra when used with binary maths symbols, "X" is used for "don't care" which means it doesn't matter if 0 (false) or 1 (true) is used, the answer is the same. Eg. 0 + 1 = 1 as well as 1 + 1 = 1 (+ means OR, . means AND, ~ means NOT), so X + 1 = 1 and X . 0 = 0

  • @ggtt2547
    @ggtt2547 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +15

    Fun fact, today the sound of "X" in the modern Greek alphabet is written like "Ξ", which is almost identical to the ancient Phoenician one at 1:29!

  • @MegaMinerd
    @MegaMinerd 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +27

    Interesting video. I knew pieces of this, but it's nice to see it all put together. Minor critique though. I'm studying Arabic, and I noticed that شيء is incorrectly written left to right at 6:20.

    • @Schokofondue
      @Schokofondue 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      الكتابة شيء صعب
      (Had to use all my knowledge from Duolingo for this)

    • @kaitlyn__L
      @kaitlyn__L 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

      I bet it was copied and pasted from somewhere and missed the RTL Unicode character

    • @MegaMinerd
      @MegaMinerd 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

      There's definitely some sort of bug because they're all in isolated form.

  • @JakubH
    @JakubH 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +12

    I remember, that in first grade, we learned how to write all the letters of the alphabet, but they kinda forgot to teach us how to write x (or I was not there or idk). So for me it was the unknown letter, making it a natural transition to an unknown value in math later in school.

    • @ImageRedacted
      @ImageRedacted 7 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

      Man, that's gotta be the perfect transition.

    • @HansLemurson
      @HansLemurson 7 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      "We trained him wrong on purpose, as a joke."

  • @DaDragonMaker98
    @DaDragonMaker98 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

    I love X so much that my most searched term on my browser is triple X

    • @godspeedrebirth
      @godspeedrebirth 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      The movie starring Vin Diesel, right?

    • @zidane8452
      @zidane8452 7 หลายเดือนก่อน

      X one of the best and coolest looking letter. Sad how english make it seem useless

  • @evlynm
    @evlynm 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +7

    The "we dont even need it" intro fit well with Xtwitter.

  • @mjtrommel
    @mjtrommel 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    You forgot the treasure maps, where the X marks the spot you should dig, to find the hidden treasure.
    My fav word with X is Axolotl!

  • @ganaraminukshuk0
    @ganaraminukshuk0 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +18

    And now it's not uncommon to use symbols from, like, three different writing systems, which I think is cool because those symbols have their own meaning based on context.

  • @constancialazarra3172
    @constancialazarra3172 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    Most people: *watches video out of curiosity*
    Me: THE CONTINUOUS SEARCH OF A PERSON THAT ADDED LETTERS TO MATH SHALL BEGIN

  • @TheNotoriousCommenter
    @TheNotoriousCommenter 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +56

    I feel that Elon Musk if secretly behind the creation of the video, lurking in the shadows....🤣

    • @artyomxiii
      @artyomxiii 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

      This video is sponsored by X Elon Musk

    • @Nazuiko
      @Nazuiko 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

      Or hes just making fun of the Elongated Muskrat

  • @norbis3939
    @norbis3939 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +9

    I think it has more to do with the fact that it's not useful, so it's easier to use without confusing it with existing abbreviations and acronyms and such. And more importantly, it's simple and visually striking, probably more so than any other letter, and easy to write.

  • @Sam_of_Thunder
    @Sam_of_Thunder 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

    This is so well timed with back school 😂 I’ve been solving for X a lot this week helping my 8th grader with homework.

  • @Clock_Man_2763
    @Clock_Man_2763 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +159

    Well, it’s because it’s just such an X-cellent letter, that’s just why we simply love the letter X. 🙂

    • @nitzanshu4695
      @nitzanshu4695 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +8

      Its Xiting

    • @GD-mg6pk
      @GD-mg6pk 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

      X-emplary X-planation!

    • @theperfectbotsteve4916
      @theperfectbotsteve4916 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

      but it could just be egzcellent

    • @LuisSierra42
      @LuisSierra42 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

      xciting comment

    • @goatsinjay7945
      @goatsinjay7945 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      Maybe it’s just old individuals that’s love X

  • @sohopedeco
    @sohopedeco 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +13

    The story of sound preservation from Arabic might make more sense if the translators were Portuguese rather than Spanish. The most common sound for X in Portuguese is indeed "sh", but it may also sound like "s", "z", or "ks".

    • @ryuko4478
      @ryuko4478 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

      Old Spanish used X for Sh just like Modern Portuguese, Leonese, Galacian, Aragonese, Catalan, Ladino/Judeo-Spanish, Basque, and Maltese. Spanish's Sh-sound merged with its J-sound and later became the guttural H we knew and love like in mejor and jalapeno (named after Xalapa, Mexico)

    • @jaca2899
      @jaca2899 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      I'd bet $20 on a Spaniard being the one who translated it, given that the famous School of Toledo was pumping out new translations at turbo speed

  • @davidebalsano6741
    @davidebalsano6741 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    'X is everywhere'
    Almost every other writing system: Whats that?

  • @TheDavidAlexander
    @TheDavidAlexander หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    X is also completely balanced in all 4 directions and is the mirror image of itself in all ways. This makes it incredibly esthetically pleasing in my opinion.

  • @mroutcast8515
    @mroutcast8515 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +38

    By "WE" you mean Elon Musk? 🤣🤣🤣🤣

  • @ttt5020
    @ttt5020 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

    2:35 oh no! The bottom equation shohld have a + as the second symbol, not =.

  • @thomast4315
    @thomast4315 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +18

    "You're blackmailing me!?!"
    "Blackmail is such an ugly word. I prefer 'extortion'. The X makes it sound cool."

  • @1sdani
    @1sdani 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    "X"... A most ancient letter. Some say "kye," but the meaning is the same. Death... A letter that spells endings.

    • @fluxbird
      @fluxbird 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      figured id find this quote somewhere in the comments lol 😂

  • @orisphera
    @orisphera 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    2:15 I think this problem doesn't have a positive solution. The second one has size of more than 5. Therefore, its area is more than 25. Therefore, the total area is more than 25. However, there is a solution if you allow the plots to be points

  • @chrisrichardson111
    @chrisrichardson111 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    8:13 A French printer wouldn't have a load of x's because it is rare, they would have a load of the most popular letters because they are popular. If, say, only 1% of letters in French were x then the printer would only have 1% of x's in stock. Given a letter with 4% frequency they would have 4 times as many.

    • @kaitlyn__L
      @kaitlyn__L 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      Right it’s not like the casting block was often a single alphabet, it had tons of vowels and a few of each consonant. Statistical analysis wasn’t as hot back then but it still would’ve been distributed with Ds and Bs and Ns getting more made than Xs and Qs and Zs.

    • @allangibson8494
      @allangibson8494 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Making extra letters was actually rather easy once the matrix letter punch was carved.
      They were just cast of arsenic doped lead.

  • @itsbonkerjojo9028
    @itsbonkerjojo9028 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    This sort of video is such a treat to watch at early morning being all comfy as it also pacifies my heart as I am learning something 😅

  • @user-ww5vj6pn4h
    @user-ww5vj6pn4h 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    TBH,the best channel in english!keep up the good work smart Joe❤

  • @iphil91
    @iphil91 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    10:03 well it's rather a CROSS instead of the letter X ...

    • @TheDeadOfNight37
      @TheDeadOfNight37 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Cross marks the spot 🤓

  • @EonityLuna
    @EonityLuna 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    The Pokémon franchise seems quite obsessed with X too. In the TCG you have Pokémon EX and GX, and then you have side/mobile games like Pokémon XD, Pokémon Masters EX, and Pokkén Tournament DX. Oh, and for those old enough to remember, the Japanese advertising for the second Pokémon movie - the one featuring Lugia - used an “X” motif to refer to that particular Pokémon as well.
    Apple seems to be another huge fan of the letter X: not only did you have MacOS X, you also had the iPhone X, the iPhone XS, and the iPhone XR. There’s also Final Cut Pro X, and there used to be a QuickTime X as well.
    I’m sure other people can find a ton of other non-elongated muskrat examples of our obsession with the letter X as well. 👀

    • @catapultato1733
      @catapultato1733 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      doesnt X in a lot of product names just mean 10, because 10 is 2 characters whereas 1-9 and X are 1?

  • @AnimilesYT
    @AnimilesYT 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    X has a plosive sound which makes it pretty satisfying. That's also why the f word is used so much. It also looks pretty cool. So it's a case where the stars aligned

  • @carolinarosinelli
    @carolinarosinelli 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    OMG! What a nice video! I've learned a lot. The history of the X is very interesting and quirky!

  • @0dWHOHWb0
    @0dWHOHWb0 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +73

    Is this a prelude to us staging an intervention for Elon Musk?

    • @lemonsuckerYT
      @lemonsuckerYT 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      right???

    • @mblake0420
      @mblake0420 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Intervention for what?

    • @SebaBuenoHaceMusiquitaJijiji
      @SebaBuenoHaceMusiquitaJijiji 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      ​@@mblake0420Treatmean... you know what we mean 🤜💥
      To send the matones to that guata de foca
      (jk)

  • @teruphoto
    @teruphoto 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    0:28 I feel that Q is just as unnecessary.
    The Q sound is already represented by K just as Qu is with Kw. There's no need for the letter Q.
    Getting with of Q and X brings the alphabet to 24 letters, a multiple of the venerated 12.

    • @zidane8452
      @zidane8452 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      X shall not leave english

  • @amiraboodi2075
    @amiraboodi2075 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Be Smart is remarkable. Thank you very much. I love you and I appreciate your hard work and effort you put into your videos in order to describe things as clearly and precisely as possible. ❤😊

  • @akhilyadav4694
    @akhilyadav4694 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    3:01 I don't know about Brahmagupta, but as a child, my father told me how ancient mathematicians used seeds of plants to refer to unknowns in equations.
    Upto this day, the term for algebra in Hindi is "बीजगणित" [beejganit], where "beej" means "seed" and "ganit" means "mathematics".

  • @Cythil
    @Cythil 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    I think it has a bit to do with how simple and elegant the letter is. X is very simple and district. Unlike p for example that is curved and also is similar to q d and b. And that matters when you're trying to grab someone attention, such as with a logo. That is not to say other letters can not have the same effect. The Q in game Quake is very iconic. But it does not look like your regular Q. While most uses of X do very much look like a X.

    • @autonomouscollective2599
      @autonomouscollective2599 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      When writing quickly, like on a chalkboard, X is the easiest letter to write after the letter I. But in algebraic problems, I looks too much like 1, so X is more useful and doesn’t look like anything else. Also you don’t have to be very careful when writing X. With most other letters or numbers, there can be confusion, but X looks like X no matter how sloppily it’s written.

  • @edwardsimpson119
    @edwardsimpson119 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

    I think it's strange that the English alphabet has two letters that make the same sound as a combination of two other consonants, but not even commonly occurring consonant pairs. So not only do these letters not make their own sound, they don't even represent commonly used sound combinations, so it's not like they justify their place in the alphabet as useful shorthand.
    Meanwhile, English has some commonly used sounds that don't have their own letters to represent them.

    • @maythesciencebewithyou
      @maythesciencebewithyou 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      And one of the most common sounds which is "sh" doesn't even get a letter on its own. It's worse in German as the "sh" sound is written with 3 letters "sch"

    • @akeem2983
      @akeem2983 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      ​@@maythesciencebewithyou Maybe it's possible to replace those combinations with some other letter. Such as "ʃ" which is used for this sound in IPA. ʃip, Deutʃland, ʃarp. But adding this may make English spelling harder and more confusing. And a better solution may be an already existing letter with diacritics, such as ś, š or ç. And such changes are kind of useless

  • @jonharvey6277
    @jonharvey6277 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    "Apps too i guess" is almost as good as "the social media site formally known as Twitter"

  • @SogehtMathe
    @SogehtMathe 7 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Very good video! It has a lot of information.

  • @furnaceheadgames9001
    @furnaceheadgames9001 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    0:18 the ABCs should follow this

  • @Sr.Estroncio38
    @Sr.Estroncio38 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

    Incredible, I am still an engineer student but have never learn a more clear way on the origin of algebra and how that leads to calculus with the importance of functions. Great work

  • @mattsmith4027
    @mattsmith4027 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

    "Every mathematician uses different symbols and no one could read anyone else's work"
    - Excellent summary of applied mathematics.

  • @MadDragon75
    @MadDragon75 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    X finds me. I chose the name Gen X to help people determine my age on social media.
    Then I ended up getting a Lincoln MKX
    The MKX is actually a Lincoln Mark 10 but they replaced the 10 with the Roman numeral X.
    It's part of my life now.

  • @whenlifegivesyouLSD
    @whenlifegivesyouLSD 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    4:30 alkhuawrizmi used letters in math. Most famously س

  • @leonardodavinci6089
    @leonardodavinci6089 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    I won't look or search trough hundreds of comments.. but 0:43 ... x = 2a , not 3a.. 3rd row should be x + x - x = 8a - 2a - 3a - a ... buuuut I have not watched any further yet, so maybe that is on purpose :D

  • @paulweiler8967
    @paulweiler8967 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    I never ever heard that anyone normal is obsessed with a letter

  • @denbebb-jones5876
    @denbebb-jones5876 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    As possibly histories least subtle international man of mystery I'm flattered to be granted such a prestigious title

  • @Somtric
    @Somtric 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +7

    "we" are not.

    • @g76agi
      @g76agi 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Didnt know the person representing humanity would be here, sorry

  • @lightspeed2014
    @lightspeed2014 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    5:37 Literally coding today

  • @elianadrew1964
    @elianadrew1964 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Really fun video! Thanks 🙂

  • @berkesinanyetkin5722
    @berkesinanyetkin5722 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

    tbh the thing i'm most amazed from this video is the fact that when you look at it relatively the graph thingy is suprisingly new

  • @carubnut
    @carubnut 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    As a French I totally validate to the scene with the French printers.

  • @nathanides7584
    @nathanides7584 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    5:52 there's a pi in the wrinkles on your forehead

    • @U20E0
      @U20E0 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      lol

  • @vibin1408
    @vibin1408 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    "Solve x" must be final boss in math game if there exists

  • @tofiqpasayev
    @tofiqpasayev 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

    So adorable information...Even i can't speak english but i could understand you easly.Thanks for this clear english and information and you gained a new subscriber )

  • @Jason-..-
    @Jason-..- 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    By "we" you mean Weirdon musk?

  • @roguedogx
    @roguedogx 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    3:58 agreed.

    • @roguedogx
      @roguedogx 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      7:27 also a picture is worth a 1000 words and I'd argue a good graph is worth 10,000.
      So it's a much better way to display a lot of information imo.

  • @sandrios
    @sandrios 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    X marks the spot?
    Nah, X spots the marks

  • @klloydplata4098
    @klloydplata4098 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Even Mutants are mysterious characters in the Marvel comicbooks universe so that's why comicbook creator Stan "The Man" Lee used letter X symbol or emblem on how Mysterious all the Mutants are.

  • @Dewaxel
    @Dewaxel 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    0:54 theories as to y?

  • @safebox36
    @safebox36 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

    I always find it fascinating how Pi became 3.1415..., because it was originally meant to be a generic variable in the equation and it just caught on.
    It wasn't even used for the radius initially, it was used for the circumference.

    • @catapultato1733
      @catapultato1733 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      why would it not be for circumference? if the diameter of a circle is 1 then the circumference is π

  • @gracerodgers8952
    @gracerodgers8952 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Excellent presentation,expert Joe Hanson ❤

  • @cnervip
    @cnervip 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    as a programmer you become used to the letters (mostly in those groups) (a, b), (c, k), (m, n), (q, m), (i, j, k), (x, y, z), to write more than half of your code.

    • @prammar1951
      @prammar1951 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      i supremacy

    • @cnervip
      @cnervip 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@prammar1951 i mostly use i or idx for indexes j, and k if needed, but for other thing I use e for element or x, y, z if 2 or more are needed, when 2 arguments are needed I tend to use a,b an n, m, well programmers use the alphabet for another use than intended lol

  • @DragoNate
    @DragoNate 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    the background music at 4:20 has a terrible 'semi-backing-up' sound in it that's very subtle and I didn't like it lol

  • @z1u512
    @z1u512 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +48

    I wouldn't say "we" as in humanity, and more so elon musk and his fanboys

    • @christopherwellman2364
      @christopherwellman2364 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      And you're obsessed with BBC

    • @davidblunt5149
      @davidblunt5149 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      eXactly 💀

    • @g76agi
      @g76agi 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

      So if elon likes coke now we cant like it because he does?

    • @g76agi
      @g76agi 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@Dimitris_Balf exactly my reaction seeing these comments

    • @sudonim7552
      @sudonim7552 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@christopherwellman2364 BBC? I don't even watch British television.

  • @GOREilla.
    @GOREilla. 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    One characteristic of the letter X that was not considered is the plasticity of it. X is easy to spot and to write on paper, which is the main point imho.

  • @KamilleN16
    @KamilleN16 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

    thank you, I appreciate this!

  • @Xelaria
    @Xelaria 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

    I think names that start with X is pretty cool

  • @vancewade6251
    @vancewade6251 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +7

    I don't know if there's anything to this but X is perhaps *the* most kiki (as opposed to bouba) letter in the alphabet which helps to give it a certain edge and even somewhat of an aesthetic in and of itself?

    • @dcarbs2979
      @dcarbs2979 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Oddly, when I wrote 'x' in my algebra class, I wrote with curves, in a similar fashion to the Coco Chanel logo. Except meeting in the middle rather than overlapping.

    • @tntblast500
      @tntblast500 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      @@dcarbs2979 I mean, it's easy to confuse with the multiplication symbol otherwise.

    • @dcarbs2979
      @dcarbs2979 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@tntblast500 Often, when using 'x' in equations, the multiplication symbol is removed altogether. Don't know whether it's because of the potential confusion. For the same reason, I crossed the 'z' to differentiate from '2'.

    • @tntblast500
      @tntblast500 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@dcarbs2979 Yeah, but often when students first start to learn algebra they'll still be using the regular all x lookalike multiplication symbol.

  • @DemPilafian
    @DemPilafian 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    I suspect (without any evidence) that the popularity of *X* is very much driven by the _simplicity, symmetry,_ and _universality_ of the shape of the symbol. Everyone can draw an *X.*

  • @Someone_516
    @Someone_516 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Great video 😊

  • @user-qw1rx1dq6n
    @user-qw1rx1dq6n 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +12

    In my eyes it seems likely that the same sort of thing happened as what you feel when naming variables in programming. You want to make absolutely sure that you don’t repeat yourself on accident so you pick something you feel is „secluded“, „rare“ or „far away“ from the other variables you named.

    • @timharig
      @timharig 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      You must program in a language without lexical scoping.

  • @zhena823
    @zhena823 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    Not us, just Elon Musk

  • @ShirleyTimple
    @ShirleyTimple 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    WE are not obsessed with the letter X, Elon is

  • @SonOfSofaman
    @SonOfSofaman 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

    lol @ "Only if it'll shut you up, Xavier" 😁

  • @Ziorac
    @Ziorac 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

    Watching this video made me realise that I assumed writing math like we do with all of the symbols was a universal-always-have-been-that-way kind of thing... But of course it is such a recent thing and of course people used to just write them out in words and it all makes such sense if I just thought about for one second, but I never did because I assume the world is never-changing and permanent...

    • @honkhonk8009
      @honkhonk8009 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Yea its a pretty recent thing.
      In 100 years, I wouldnt be surprised if more modern day math concepts end up being standardized into just one "programmign language" like regular old math s yntax is

  • @nicolasp6198
    @nicolasp6198 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

    Thanks for that video.
    By the way, at 11:26 you pronounced _Descartes_ right by mistake lmao ^^

  • @serg_sel7526
    @serg_sel7526 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Some mathematician: "I will use one of the least used letters to replace world "Unknown" so I don't have to write it every time
    The world after him:

  • @larss6851
    @larss6851 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Love this video. X

  • @ericvilas
    @ericvilas 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

    I wonder if the fact that "extreme" begins with the sound "ex" might've added to it

    • @GytisValatka
      @GytisValatka 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Yes, I'm surprised this wasn't mentioned. The Greek-Latin prefix EX- means "out", "outside", so these edgelords probably want to look not only mysterious, but also extraordinary.

  • @zvimur
    @zvimur 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    Hmm, also, since sometimes there are sometimes multiple unknowns in an equation, "X" leaves "Y" & "Z" for use for other unknowns.

  • @cycleTheHike
    @cycleTheHike 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

    It makes me want to cry that after half a year of meds I'm barely able to keep up with your voiceover. ×

  • @The777brown
    @The777brown 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Great video

  • @fadiabubaker1163
    @fadiabubaker1163 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    Can we just appreciate that at a time when some of the best science TH-camrs like Vsauce and Veritasuim have fallen off PBS is still making high-quality content

    • @mirmashrafiahasan6459
      @mirmashrafiahasan6459 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      Who said veritasium has fallen off 😕

    • @VoidHugger
      @VoidHugger 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@mirmashrafiahasan6459 he dropped a metal pole from a helicopter and called it a day in one video

  • @h7opolo
    @h7opolo 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    x was chosen due to its relative disuse in regular diction. x stands out like a sore thumb amongst common words, such as a lengthy explanation of a mathematical theory. this allows the variable to avoid conflation or confusion with other symbols on the page.

  • @Boraxo
    @Boraxo 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

    I'm not obsessed with X. But giving the amount that YOU spoke about X, the obsession lies with you.

  • @BrokebutCreative
    @BrokebutCreative 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

    "Finding X" is the greatest X centric video on TH-cam. Period. Give Tibees a shout out.