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The origin of countless conspiracy theories - PatrickJMT

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Why can we find geometric shapes in the night sky? How can we know that at least two people in London have exactly the same number of hairs on their head? And why can patterns be found in just about any text — even Vanilla Ice lyrics? PatrickJMT describes the Ramsey theory, which states that given enough elements in a set or structure, some interesting pattern among them is guaranteed to emerge.

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Additional Resources for you to Explore

Interested in finding out more about the Ramsey theory? Visit this link. The Ramsey Theory can be applied to many different disciplines - for instance, computer science.

The Party Problem involves quite an immense calculation. Wolfram Mathworld might be able to help you out with understanding it here.
Wondering how Frank Ramsey come up with this whole idea mathematical systems he was studying always having some kind of order in them? Read about it here. 



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TED-Ed Animations feature the words and ideas of educators brought to life by professional animators. Are you an educator or animator interested in creating a TED-Ed Animation? Nominate yourself here »

Meet The Creators

  • Educator PatrickJMT
  • Script Editor Alex Gendler
  • Director M.R. Horhager
  • Producer M.R. Horhager
  • Artist Aaron Hong
  • Animator Sean Janisse
  • Editor Sean Janisse
  • Compositor Sean Janisse
  • Composer Manuel Borda
  • Sound Designer Manuel Borda
  • Narrator Addison Anderson

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