Folded paper Memes

Who needs 17 blackboards of tensor calculus when you can just poke a pencil through paper? The meme perfectly captures the two approaches to explaining wormholes in physics. The top panel shows the traditional method—complex equations that would make Einstein reach for aspirin. The bottom panel? Just fold a piece of paper and stick a pencil through it! This elegant "folded paper" demonstration (originally popularized by Carl Sagan) lets you visualize how a 4D spacetime shortcut works in our measly 3D brains. Theoretical physicists spend decades mastering the math, but the rest of us can understand wormholes in 5 seconds with office supplies. Sometimes the simplest explanation is the most satisfying!