SMRTR Science & EngineeringMar 1, 2026Scientific American

Why mathematicians hate Good Will Hunting

SMRTR summary

Good Will Hunting portrays Matt Damon's janitor character quickly solving a supposedly years-difficult MIT math problem, but mathematicians find this unrealistic because the actual problem shown—drawing homeomorphically irreducible trees—can be solved in minutes with basic knowledge or even assigned to children once the technical jargon is understood.

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