Nothing like a good mathematical contradiction to break a student's spirit! The meme shows the empty set supposedly being an element of itself (∅∈∅), which implies the empty set is not an element of itself (∅∉∅). Pure mathematical chaos.
For the uninitiated, the empty set contains absolutely nothing – not even itself. Trying to claim it contains itself creates a paradox that would make Russell and his barber-who-shaves-himself puzzle look like child's play.
The stick figure's journey from shocked realization to defeated acceptance perfectly captures every math major's existential crisis. First-year students think math is about numbers. By graduation, they realize it's about crying over symbols that shouldn't logically exist.