Fake and gay.
No way the engineer corrects the mathematician for using j instead of i.
this post was submitted on 14 Jul 2025
814 points (94.9% liked)
Science Memes
20668 readers
2359 users here now
Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!
A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.
Meta Post Tags
Rules
- Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
- Keep it rooted (on topic).
- No spam.
- Infographics welcome, get schooled.
If you are here asking: "Is this a science meme?"
Probably, yes. We use the Dawkins definition of meme: a replicating idea, not just an image macro with a fact on it. A good post here doesn't need to teach you something. It needs to make you ask something: who, what, where, when, and especially why or how.
Science isn't a filing cabinet of facts, it's a conversation. For example, a photo of an eel or other localized wildlife counts because most people never see one, and wonder is the first step of inquiry. A car meme counts if it makes you curious about what's under the bonnet. If you want to talk about something you noticed in the world, chances are someone else wants to talk about it too.
We moderate for vibe, not category. Pruning is light, especially where a post creates interesting discussion. Experimenting is encouraged.
See the pinned paper on Shitposting as Public Pedagogy if you want the academic case for why this works.
Research Committee
Other Mander Communities
Science and Research
Biology and Life Sciences
- !abiogenesis@mander.xyz
- !animal-behavior@mander.xyz
- !anthropology@mander.xyz
- !arachnology@mander.xyz
- !balconygardening@slrpnk.net
- !biodiversity@mander.xyz
- !biology@mander.xyz
- !biophysics@mander.xyz
- !botany@mander.xyz
- !ecology@mander.xyz
- !entomology@mander.xyz
- !fermentation@mander.xyz
- !herpetology@mander.xyz
- !houseplants@mander.xyz
- !medicine@mander.xyz
- !microscopy@mander.xyz
- !mycology@mander.xyz
- !nudibranchs@mander.xyz
- !nutrition@mander.xyz
- !palaeoecology@mander.xyz
- !palaeontology@mander.xyz
- !photosynthesis@mander.xyz
- !plantid@mander.xyz
- !plants@mander.xyz
- !reptiles and amphibians@mander.xyz
Physical Sciences
- !astronomy@mander.xyz
- !chemistry@mander.xyz
- !earthscience@mander.xyz
- !geography@mander.xyz
- !geospatial@mander.xyz
- !nuclear@mander.xyz
- !physics@mander.xyz
- !quantum-computing@mander.xyz
- !spectroscopy@mander.xyz
Humanities and Social Sciences
Practical and Applied Sciences
- !exercise-and sports-science@mander.xyz
- !gardening@mander.xyz
- !self sufficiency@mander.xyz
- !soilscience@slrpnk.net
- !terrariums@mander.xyz
- !timelapse@mander.xyz
Memes
Miscellaneous
founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
As an engineer I fully agree. Engineers¹ aren't even able to do basic arithmetics. I even cannot count to 10.
¹ Except maybe Electrical engineers. They seem to be quite smart.
Electrical engineers are the ones that use j though (because i is used for current)
load more comments
(1 replies)
10? That’s the name some put to 1e1, right?
load more comments
(4 replies)
How do we know it's gay though? OP could be a girl (male)
Because it's 4chan. And there are no women on the Internet on 4chan
Sure OP is a girl. Guy In Real Life
Newfag.
(sorry! seemed like the appropriate 4chan reply)
The mathematician also used "operative" instead of, uh, something else, and "associative" instead of "commutative"
load more comments
(7 replies)
Right? They got that shit backwards. Op is a fraud. i is used in pure math, j is used in engineering.
load more comments
(3 replies)
My thoughts exactly lol
Wait bottom mathematican is using j=√-1 instead of i and not the engineer? Because I'm EE gang, and all my homies use j.
That part also got me really confused. All the mathematicans I know use i while engineers use i or j depending on the kind of engineer. I've never seen a Pikachu engineer using anything other than j.
Pikachu engineer
That's a fucking favorite now. Keeping that in my back pocket.
load more comments
(1 replies)
The fun starts when you study quaternions
i^2 = j^2 = k^2 = ijk = −1
This can't be real
It gets worse actually. You can define a number system using any power of 2 amount of i-like units in a similar relationship to quaternions using the Cayley-Dickson construction
Fascinatingly, you lose some property of the algebra at each step. Quaternions aren't commutative: ABC != CBA. Octonians aren't associative: (AB)C != A(BC). Once you get into 16 i's with subscripts, it really gets crazy.
(Also, I just got the joke. Damnit @HappyFrog@lemmy.blahaj.zone your serious answer threw me off!)
load more comments
(2 replies)
load more comments
(1 replies)
I agree. Clearly i is current. What is this i=√-1 nonsense.
[Lapsed] mechanical engineering gang checking in. I was also surprised. Though, tbh, I think it came down to personal preference of the professor more than field-wide consensus.
load more comments
(1 replies)
Is anyone doing anything tonight?
no, d..do you have a plan?
Something something distance calls for norm, not just squares.
||i||² + ||1||² = 2
load more comments
(2 replies)
NGL, this is hot.
I’m a mechanical engineering student with a math minor and I’m a switch so yeah, I’d take either side of this
operative?
Also mathematicians use i for imaginary, engineers use j. The story does not add up. I have never seen a single mathematician use j for imaginary.
load more comments
(8 replies)
This is the kind of brat I can get behind. 😏
😏
I have no idea what they're talking about, but I do love a happy ending.
As a physicist I can't understand why would anyone complain about a +jb or $\int dx f(x)$. Probably because we don't fuck
As a software dude I can see you wrote a regex, I just can't find out what you're trying to match.
load more comments
(5 replies)
Why would a mathematician use j for imaginary numbers and why would engineer be mad at them?
The only thing I can think of is that the OP studied electrical engineering at some point. But it's a 4chan story so probably fake anyway.
load more comments
(1 replies)
load more comments
(2 replies)
Relationship goals
They both bottoms.
I think rather d/dx is the operator. You apply it to an expression to bind free occurrences of x in that expression. For example, dx²/dx is best understood as d/dx (x²). The notation would be clear if you implement calculus in a program.
load more comments
(1 replies)
I believe the correct terminology is denominator mathematician.
I love how that wannabe 4chan nerd just got outnerded in the comment section
view more: next ›