Engineers Vs. Mathematicians: The Existential Divide

It's the scientific food chain in action! Each field thinks it's the top dog while getting threatened by the next level of reductionism. Biology smugly sits there until Chemistry shows up with a gun saying "you're just applied chemistry." Then Physics crashes the party threatening Chemistry as "just applied physics." But wait! The final boss appears from the shadows - Mathematics - ready to reduce Physics to mere equations! The eternal academic turf war continues... and somewhere a philosopher is loading a bazooka labeled "but what even IS mathematics?"

Nothing triggers mathematicians like rounding debates. The eternal "0.999... = 1" argument has broken more friendships than politics. Sure, they're technically equal, but try telling that to the person with the comically oversized bag of "0.999..." while their opponent smugly holds a tiny "1." It's like comparing a mountain of pennies to a dollar bill and screaming "BUT LOOK AT THE SIZE DIFFERENCE!" Next up on Mathematical Cage Fights: people who think dividing by zero is possible versus those who understand basic number theory.

Factorial notation strikes again! When the student answers "5!" to "117 + 3," they're technically correct because 5! (5 factorial) equals 120. It's that beautiful mathematical loophole where 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 = 120. Meanwhile, both student and teacher are congratulating themselves for completely different reasons—one for being accidentally correct through mathematical trickery, the other for thinking they've successfully taught basic addition to someone who clearly needs it. This is why mathematicians shouldn't be allowed to teach elementary school. We make everything unnecessarily complicated and then feel smug about it.

The top panel shows the derivative of e^x equals e^x - that beautiful mathematical unicorn where the function is its own derivative! Pure elegance! 🤩 But then comes the second panel with the derivative of e^x with respect to e instead of x, and suddenly we're dealing with xe^(x-1) - a mathematical horror show that would make any calculus student cry into their textbook. It's like finding out your favorite band's perfect song has a terrible remix. No wonder it doesn't spark joy! The universe had ONE job with that exponential function!

The lone figure walking diagonally across the courtyard is clearly taking the hypotenuse of the triangle while everyone else follows the two perpendicular paths! Classic Pythagoras flexing his own theorem in public. The hypotenuse is always the shortest distance between two points, and this mathematical rebel knows it. Meanwhile, the normies are stuck walking the adjacent and opposite sides like absolute right-angled peasants. That's peak mathematical efficiency right there—saving precious seconds while simultaneously triggering everyone who's too conventional to break the social norm of following established paths. Pythagoras didn't discover the most famous theorem in geometry just to wait in line like a commoner!

This is peak math humor right here! Someone created the most ridiculously overcomplicated formula using nothing but the constant e and somehow managed to make it equal π (3.14159265359). It's like they decided "Hey, let's make the most absurd mathematical flex possible!" The beauty is that π and e are both fundamental mathematical constants that show up everywhere in nature, but they're completely different beasts. Finding relationships between them is like discovering secret passages between parallel universes! This formula is the mathematical equivalent of using a rocket launcher to kill a fly. Pure mathematical overkill that would make even Euler cry tears of joy (or confusion). I'm dying at all those nested e 's and integrals just to get to a number we all memorized in middle school! 🤣