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Mathematicians Agree On Addition Sign But Fight Over Multiplication Notations

This two-panel comparison meme humorously highlights differences in consensus over mathematical notation. The top panel depicts a large group of formally dressed people seated calmly around a giant circular conference table, with the header text 'Mathematicians on the addition sign:' and the notation 'A+B' displayed in the center of the table, representing universal agreement on the standard notation for addition. The bottom panel shows a chaotic group of people engaged in a physical brawl in an outdoor sandy area, with the header text 'Mathematicians on the multiplication sign:' and multiple competing multiplication notations (A·B, A*B, A×B, AB, A(B)) overlaid on the fighting people, exaggerating the widespread disagreement between different STEM fields and mathematicians over which multiplication notation is the correct standard to use.
Make

Dialogue

Mathematicians on the addition sign:
A+B
Mathematicians on the multiplication sign:
A·B
A*B
A×B
AB
A(B)

Text content

The meme contrasts mathematicians' universal agreement on the addition sign notation with their fierce disagreement over multiple competing multiplication sign notations

Overview

This two-panel comparison meme humorously highlights differences in consensus over mathematical notation. The top panel depicts a large group of formally dressed people seated calmly around a giant circular conference table, with the header text 'Mathematicians on the addition sign:' and the notation 'A+B' displayed in the center of the table, representing universal agreement on the standard notation for addition. The bottom panel shows a chaotic group of people engaged in a physical brawl in an outdoor sandy area, with the header text 'Mathematicians on the multiplication sign:' and multiple competing multiplication notations (A·B, A*B, A×B, AB, A(B)) overlaid on the fighting people, exaggerating the widespread disagreement between different STEM fields and mathematicians over which multiplication notation is the correct standard to use.

Origin notes

This meme was sourced from an RSS feed of the X.com (formerly Twitter) account @WholesomeMeme. It is an edited remix combining two widely used pre-existing meme templates: the top 'large round table conference' template is traditionally used to represent mass consensus on a topic, while the bottom 'group brawl' template is used to represent chaotic disagreement over a divisive topic, with added mathematical notation text to create the joke.

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