Key Highlights
- Vitalik Buterin suggested reducing the amount of trigonometry taught in high school.
- He proposed greater emphasis on calculus, linearity, nonlinearity and high-dimensional systems.
- Buterin said these concepts can provide foundations for fields including AI, economics and cryptography.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has joined a discussion over what mathematics students should learn in high school, suggesting that schools could reduce the emphasis on trigonometry and give more attention to calculus and systems-based reasoning.
Buterin made the comments on September 21 in response to a proposal from Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen, who suggested replacing high school geometry and trigonometry with economics and statistics.
Rather than replacing mathematics with practical subjects, Buterin suggested changing the focus within mathematics itself.
He pointed to concepts such as linearity, nonlinearity, high-dimensional systems and the way small changes can affect larger systems.
Buterin suggests cutting back on trigonometry
Buterin said he would “heavily cut down trigonometry” and use some of the available classroom time for basic calculus and a limited amount of multivariable calculus.
He argued that students could benefit from learning how systems respond when one variable changes, rather than focusing primarily on memorizing individual formulas. He specifically pointed to linearity, nonlinearity, high-dimensional systems and reasoning about small changes or perturbations.
“It’s a road into AI, economics, cryptography, biomedical science, all kinds of areas, but also not overfit to any single one.”
Buterin also questioned the practical value of some specific trigonometric identities, saying he had rarely used the tangent double-angle identity in his own work.
His approach differs from Ryan Petersen’s original proposal. While Petersen suggested replacing geometry and trigonometry with economics and statistics, Buterin argued for changing the emphasis within mathematics itself, using calculus and systems-based concepts as a broader foundation.
Debate centers on practical math skills
Petersen’s proposal argued that high school students could benefit more from subjects such as economics and statistics, which are directly relevant to financial decisions, data interpretation and everyday life.
The post triggered a wider discussion on X over whether school mathematics should prioritize traditional foundations or skills that transfer more directly into work and other areas of life.
Buterin’s response focused on mathematical intuition rather than specific formulas.
He questioned the practical value of some trigonometric identities, noting that he had not personally used the tangent double-angle identity in practice.
That does not mean trigonometry lacks practical applications. Trigonometric concepts remain important in fields including engineering, physics, computer graphics, signal processing and mechanics.
Buterin’s work on Ethereum
The discussion comes as Buterin continues to work on technical issues involving cryptography, privacy and Ethereum’s architecture.
In 2026, he proposed EIP-8288, a draft improvement proposal that uses recursive STARKs to aggregate cryptographic signatures and proofs at the mempool level.
The proposal is intended to reduce the onchain cost of quantum-resistant signatures and STARK-based applications. It introduces dependency frames, allowing transactions to declare cryptographic dependencies that can be aggregated into recursive proofs.
EIP-8288 remains a draft proposal and would require a network upgrade before it could become part of Ethereum.
The proposal is separate from Buterin’s comments on mathematics education, but it provides context for his continued discussion of mathematical and cryptographic systems.
The Debate is about what students should learn
The broader discussion raises questions about how schools should balance traditional mathematical foundations with concepts that can be applied across different disciplines.
Geometry and trigonometry remain important in several technical fields, while calculus provides tools for studying change and systems. Statistics and economics offer different skills related to data, markets and decision-making.
Buterin’s comments favor broader mathematical reasoning within the mathematics curriculum, rather than replacing mathematics with practical subjects altogether.
For now, his comments remain a personal view expressed in an online discussion rather than a formal proposal for changes to school curricula.
The exchange nevertheless highlights an ongoing question in education: whether students should spend more time learning individual mathematical techniques or developing concepts that can be applied across multiple fields.
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