this post was submitted on 19 Jun 2025
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Math Memes
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Memes related to mathematics.
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Imma be weird and argue that the answer actually should be 4.
Dear Aunt Sally is great or whatever, but syntax also fuckin matters. We can all probably agree that the faster, more intuitive answer is obviously 4. Most of those in the western world (meme's largest audience) read left-to-right and there is nothing the delineate that division must actually come before inverse addition until one has carefully examined the entire the problem (which you should definitely be doing, dumb-dumb) and slapped on another layer of thinking (inefficient waste of time when doing quick mafs). Use the damn parenthesis, ffs!
Using parentheses where a few simple rules will do seems awfully inefficient. Both to write and to read.
Simple rules are only simple if they are intuitive and consistently applicable. Otherwise, they are nothing more than yet another thing to remember and think about, yet another source of error, and yet another possible point of confusion. With enough time/ effort, one can brute force the intuitiveness, but that doesn't automatically make the rule good or universally useful.
As a math teacher, I can assure you that not everyone has the same level of understanding or knowledge when it comes to order of operations. Some people struggle to remember the specific order, and mnemonics are worthless. Others struggle to read or visually process problems written with unclear or inconsistent symbology. Hell, most people don't even learn exactly the same fucking rules. Tell me, where is the simplicity in all of that?
When I teach order of operations, the glass eyes and exasperated sighs of frustration come out. But when I teach just the parenthesis and exponent stuff, lightbulbs and understanding. Suddenly, people "too dumb" to do 2+2 are doing algebra and getting excited about math for the first time ever. Some of this is certainly a failing of our collective education system, but we can't just forget that everyone has their own flavor of learning disability, neuro-diversity, and life experience. Simple rules quickly fail to be simple in the face of complex people.