Bertrand Memes

Internet: "Is this dress blue/black or white/gold?" Mathematicians: "Hold my chalk." Bertrand's Paradox shows how different sampling methods for the same problem yield different probabilities—much like how different lighting conditions make that infamous dress appear as different colors. While normal people argue over dress colors, mathematicians quietly obsess over the probability of random chords being longer than the side of an inscribed triangle. Both groups are equally insufferable at parties.

When mathematician Joseph Bertrand asked "what's the probability a random chord is longer than a triangle's side?" he broke probability theory by getting three different answers (1/2, 1/3, and 1/4) depending on how you define "random." The Spider-Man pointing meme perfectly captures the mathematical chaos that ensues when your seemingly innocent geometry problem creates a full-blown paradox. It's basically the mathematical equivalent of opening a portal to the multiverse where every answer is simultaneously right and wrong. Probability theorists are still having existential crises over this nearly 150 years later!