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Jan 1, 2026 5 min

Street Fighting Mathematics: Courageous Problem Solving with Rough Answers

from Intellectually Curious Hosted by Mike Breault

Join us as we unpack Sanjoy Mahajan's Street Fighting Mathematics: The Art of Educated Guessing and Opportunistic Problem Solving. We spotlight the first tools—dimensions, easy cases, and lumping—and explain how rough, low-entropy answers can unlock real-world progress far faster than perfect rigor. Through concrete examples like GDP versus market value and the ellipse area test, we show how to think with units, test assumptions on extreme cases, and build robust intuition that fuels action and innovation. Note: This podcast was AI-generated, and sometimes AI can make mistakes. Please double-check any critical information. Sponsored by Embersilk LLC

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Street Fighting Mathematics: Courageous Problem Solving with Rough Answers

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