Big If True (And Highly Improbable)

Collatz conjecture Academic integrity Unsolved problems Mathematics Fields medal Purdue Plagiarism

Math Science Academia Research

2 days ago 7,196 views 0 shares

Big If True (And Highly Improbable)

math-memes, collatz-conjecture-memes, academia-memes, academic-integrity-memes, unsolved-problems-memes | ScienceHumor.io

Sure, you "accidentally" solved one of mathematics' most notorious unsolved problems while rifling through your professor's desk drawers. That's like saying you tripped and discovered cold fusion while reaching for your coffee.

The Collatz Conjecture has stumped brilliant mathematicians since 1937. It's deceptively simple: take any positive integer, if it's even, divide by 2; if odd, multiply by 3 and add 1. Repeat. The conjecture states all numbers eventually reach 1. Sounds easy, right? Well, Paul Erdős said "mathematics is not yet ready for such problems," and offered $500 for a solution.

So your dilemma isn't academic integrity—it's whether to collect your Fields Medal before or after your expulsion hearing. Maybe negotiate for naming rights? The "Sticky-Fingered Theorem" has a certain ring to it.

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