Set Theorists Around The World In Shambles

Every math student's fantasy right here! The left shows calculus as the massive, soul-crushing tome it truly is. The right shows the beautiful dream world where the integral of a product equals the product of the integrals. If only mathematics worked that way, we'd all have graduated with our sanity intact. For the uninitiated, that property is mathematically incorrect and would make calculus infinitely easier. It's the equivalent of wishing multiplication distributed over division. Mathematicians have spent centuries developing integration techniques precisely because this shortcut doesn't work. The thinner book represents the collective tears of generations of calculus students who've desperately wished for this mathematical miracle.

The existential crisis every physics student experiences when they realize that the universe is just one giant math problem. First year: "I'm studying the fundamental laws of nature!" Fourth year: "I'm solving partial differential equations until my brain leaks out my ears." The gun is just a formality at this point.

The mathematical pun here is criminally clever. A sine wave is a smooth oscillating curve, but this "Stop sine" is literally a stop sign shape reflected across the x-axis to create a waveform that completes one cycle at 2π. It's what happens when a mathematician gets hired to design traffic signals. The "Get out" at the bottom is the perfect response from anyone who had to endure this pun in a calculus class. Even Fourier would roll his eyes at this one.

Engineers approximating π as 3 is the mathematical equivalent of saying "eh, close enough." The calculator literally has a dedicated π button right there! But why press one button when you can be gloriously wrong instead? This is the same species that built the pyramids and landed on the moon, folks. The π button exists for a reason—and that reason is that π ≠ 3. Not even on Fridays. Not even when you're tired. Not even when your professor isn't looking.

When basic subtraction turns into existential crisis! The teacher starts with a simple fraction problem (5/12 - 6/12), which should equal -1/12. But then the class troublemaker busts out an infinite series sign, and suddenly that innocent little negative fraction becomes infinity. This is actually a mathematical inside joke about how certain divergent series in advanced mathematics can yield bizarre results. Some infinite series manipulations can make it look like -1/12 equals infinity (or technically, that the sum of all positive integers equals -1/12). It's the kind of math that makes even calculators throw themselves out windows. The teacher's expression in that last panel is every mathematician who's had their comfortable world of elementary arithmetic shattered by the chaos of higher math. Welcome to the point where numbers stop making sense!

The mathematical burn is strong with this one! The poster hilariously misunderstands both π and thermodynamics in one spectacular swoop. π is an irrational number with infinite non-repeating digits, so there's literally no such thing as the "last ten digits." Meanwhile, there are only three laws of thermodynamics (four if you count the zeroth law). The joke accidentally proves itself by demonstrating exactly what happens when someone confidently speaks about science they don't understand. It's like trying to find the end of a circle—you'll be running forever!