Behold, the mathematical function that's making Reddit's puzzle enthusiasts question their life choices! The pattern is actually quite elegant - f(n) = n² + n × (n+1). So f(5) = 5² + 5 × 6 = 25 + 30 = 55... wait, no... it's actually 290. Or maybe it's factorial? Or Fibonacci's revenge?
The beauty of these puzzles is watching people with PhDs furiously scribbling quadratic formulas while some teenager solves it instantly because they recognize it as the number of distinct handshakes possible in a group of n+2 people. Meanwhile, half the comments are just people typing "290" with absolutely zero explanation, as if mathematical gatekeeping were an Olympic sport.