10 Photos That Definitively Prove Math Is Really Hard

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around a humorous post featuring ten images that illustrate the complexities and absurdities often encountered in mathematics and advertising. Participants share their reactions to the images, analyze specific examples, and explore the implications of mathematical principles in everyday scenarios.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express amusement at the images, particularly enjoying the humor in the quadratic equation typo.
  • One participant critiques the advertising in image #2, suggesting it employs misleading calorie information based on serving size.
  • Another participant expands on the critique of image #2, humorously calculating the calories based on the bottle's serving size.
  • A participant discusses images #1 and #6, arguing they violate the triangle inequality by suggesting that purchasing two items together costs more than buying them separately.
  • Several participants provide interpretations of other images, such as the implications of "200% increase in deliciousness" and the non-additive nature of certain qualities like temperature.
  • One participant comments on the misleading representations in fast-food advertisements, drawing parallels to the images discussed.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally share a sense of humor about the images, but there are differing interpretations regarding the mathematical implications and advertising strategies depicted. The discussion remains unresolved on the validity of the critiques presented.

Contextual Notes

Some claims depend on specific interpretations of mathematical principles and advertising practices, which may not be universally agreed upon. The discussion includes assumptions about the nature of quantities like "deliciousness" and the validity of the triangle inequality in the context provided.

anemone
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(Rofl) (Rofl)

My favorite is the quadratic equation...because that's the kind of typo I might make. (Swearing)
 
Thanks for sharing! I like #2, but they are all funny! :D
 
#2 seems to be a case of sneaky advertising. It's 10 calories! ...per half the bottle, that is, per "8 fluid oz". I don't think the others have such a justification though. I guess the quadratic formula holds for quadratics of the form $ax^2 + b(x+1)=0$.
 
TheBigBadBen said:
#2 seems to be a case of sneaky advertising. It's 10 calories! ...per half the bottle, that is, per "8 fluid oz".

Yeah. And doubling half the bottle gives us... erm... 20 fluid oz!

In other words, 8 fluid oz should be 8 calories.
But then, these are bold calories! ;)
 
Regarding #1 (two \$1.69 burritos for \$4) and #6 (two \$2.97 bottles of body wash for \$6.97), I call it a violation of the triangle inequality: buying two things at once costs more than buying them in turn. This seems strange, but then the following joke come to mind. Two panhandlers sitting next to each other have notices in front of them. One says, "Please give to a Vietnam veteran", and the other one says, "Don't want to work". Everybody gives money to the first guy, and his mug is almost full, while the mug of the second guy is empty. One of the passers-by tells the second guy, "You've got to change your notice like the other one". He turns to his neighbor and says, "Listen to him! He is going to teach us commerce!" So, who am I to teach these stores commerce? Maybe they are enticing customers to buy two things by letting them think they are ripping the store off.

Several other pictures can be explained. Number 10 ("Was 8.00, now 7.50, save 1.00) is correct if you buy two things. Number 9 ("Was \$52.99, now \$47.99, you save \$12") writes the saving in base 3. Number 5 ("We wanted to increase deliciousness by 200%") implies that originally a pack contained 2/3 of a bar. In fact, deliciousness is arguably a non-additive quantity like temperature: when you put two bars together, their temperature is not added.

Number 4 (drawn 11 nuggets instead of 10) is no different from any other fast-food advertisement where sandwiches look better and bigger than they do in reality. And concerning two cups with sauces, I want to tell Americans how lucky they are. In some other countries (even first-world ones), one has to buy sauces and dips separately. The worst case of this is a fast-food restaurant I knew where one had to buy Caesar salad sauce in addition to the salad itself. That place went out of business.
 

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