this post was submitted on 18 Dec 2025
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A collection of some classic Lemmy memes for your enjoyment

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[–] FranciscoLopez@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago

Polls are fun, but order of operations never takes a vote. That’s what makes math comforting.

[–] rumba@lemmy.zip 134 points 1 month ago (44 children)

I mean, obviously ten.

But I at least understand 16.

I deeply worry about the percentage just next to the other three numbers.

[–] TheMinions@lemmy.dbzer0.com 97 points 1 month ago

13 is probably the next most chosen because it’s closest to 10.

Not including the correct answer is also a form of engagement bait to get additional comments and such saying “wait the real answer is 10, wtf?”

[–] LodeMike@lemmy.today 11 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Why worry? You can see them on the right side of the image

[–] rumba@lemmy.zip 9 points 1 month ago (1 children)

It not even remotely possible to make an odd number out of that.

The numbers on the right-hand side are what I'm actually working about.

[–] LodeMike@lemmy.today 13 points 1 month ago (3 children)

I was trying yo make a shitty joke conflating you worrying (having concern) with you worrrying (wondering what).

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[–] NCJP@lemmynsfw.com 7 points 1 month ago

The other choices are people that wanted to awnser ten but could not because it wasn't a choice. So they took a random number or the one closest to ten

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[–] hildegarde@lemmy.blahaj.zone 82 points 1 month ago (5 children)

A multiple choice question where all the answers are wrong, says nothing about math or the mathematical understanding of the general population.

This is engagementbait and its hooked you too.

[–] someguy3@lemmy.world 48 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Was this multiple choice? Because if 10 isn't an option, people are just going to answer whatever.

[–] Klear@quokk.au 55 points 1 month ago

It was engagement bait. It's always engagement bait.

[–] AltheaHunter@lemmy.blahaj.zone 33 points 1 month ago (1 children)

It’s not a bad analogy for american democracy. None of the options are correct, so you either pick the wrong answer that makes some amount of sense or write in the correct answer and be completely ignored in the tally of results.

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[–] chiliedogg@lemmy.world 27 points 1 month ago (2 children)

This is why I write it as 2+(2x4). The parentheses aren't techniclly necessary, but they do make it clearer to people who haven't been in a school for 35 years.

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 8 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

just get rid of the x. 2+(24) = 26

[–] Barbarian@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Why write more than necessary? Surely 26 = 26 is enough.

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[–] psoul@lemmy.world 25 points 1 month ago (22 children)

This isn’t even math, just convention on rules for order of operations.

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[–] wuffah@lemmy.world 20 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (19 children)

The annoying prevalence of this meme suggests to me that an alarming number of people lack even a middle-school understanding of basic arithmetic.

[–] MotoAsh@piefed.social 17 points 1 month ago

Wait until you hear what the average reading level is.

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[–] Archangel1313@lemmy.ca 15 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Let's just agree to disagree, then. /s

[–] bstix@feddit.dk 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

That 10 guy is totally biased.

We should hear from both sides.

[–] Archangel1313@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 month ago

I say we vote on it. Oh, wait. /s

[–] lugal@lemmy.dbzer0.com 13 points 1 month ago

I love this so much because on the ballot, the right answer is also often missing

[–] ameancow@lemmy.world 10 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

I know this is a PEMDAS joke, one of many for the PEMDAS throne.

But yeah, we need to really, really worry about the coming day when "math becomes a democracy" and that is already happening for a wide array of other facts and knowledge about the world.

Whatever "civility politics" liberals infested our collective minds with have to be abandoned. We have to get a lot harder and a lot less tolerant of other people's "beliefs" even if you think "Well they're only harming themselves by thinking 1x1=4" but they're not, we need to start viewing these people as threats to our future. We no longer live in isolation, whatever bullshit your parents drove into you about "nothing on the internet being real and shouldn't matter" was utter hogwash and even less relevant in 2025/2026. We get everything from the internet, including a sense of community and connection, which is why nutsoids find each other and turn something like a joke about earth being flat into an entire anti-science movement.

If you've ever seen those dumb sci-fi shows or movies where science if forbidden and people caught learning science are punished, and thought "that's so unrealistic" well I have some real bad news for you.

[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

But if enough people are doing it wrong, that means it’s common usage, and therefore it’s right!

-The English Language

[–] Shanmugha@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago

Which is perfectly fine for languages:)

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[–] LyingCake@feddit.org 10 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Okay, buddy elementary school

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[–] db2@lemmy.world 9 points 1 month ago
[–] Agent641@lemmy.world 8 points 1 month ago (2 children)
[–] rustydrd@sh.itjust.works 9 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

Here you go. By the commutative property of multiplication:

2 + 2x4 = 2 + 24x

Rearranging this leads to:

x = -1/12

which means that x is the limit of the diverging series:

x = 1 + 2 + 3 + ...

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[–] Digit@lemmy.wtf 6 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Should really allow people to answer how they want.

Who's Big Math in charge of the multiple choice?

Who's denying a voice to those who want to answer that question with "10"? [Edit: or "F"? ~ or an essay on being "off by 1"]

[–] sepi@piefed.social 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

In america, math IS a democracy, and this is why we are losing our democracy.

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[–] NoFood4u@sopuli.xyz 5 points 1 month ago
[–] scytale@piefed.zip 5 points 1 month ago (2 children)

So people just assumed an imaginary parentheses?

[–] Maiq@piefed.social 12 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

Parenthesis, Powers(exponents), Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction is the order of mathematics.

https://www.mathsisfun.com/operation-order-pemdas.html

[–] scytale@piefed.zip 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Yes, that’s why I was asking why 59% just assumed there were parentheses in the equation.

[–] Maiq@piefed.social 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I see your thinking now. I thought you might not remember that multiplication, division comes before addition, subtraction and were just doing right to left operations.

Didn't really understand how the imaginary parenthesis came in.

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[–] outer@mas.to 5 points 1 month ago

@Mog_Spawn @humour 2 2x4's are not as strong as a 4x4. But you have to remember to take of 1/4" from every width.

[–] Th4tGuyII@fedia.io 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I'm worried how many people answered the odd numbers for an equation where it is only possible to end up with an even numbered answer.

[–] krooklochurm@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 month ago
[–] lugal@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 month ago

2+2*4=16~4~ ☝️🤓

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