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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[–] rumba@lemmy.zip 134 points 2 weeks ago (38 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 2 weeks 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 2 weeks ago (1 children)

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

[–] rumba@lemmy.zip 9 points 2 weeks 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 2 weeks 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 2 weeks 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 2 weeks 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 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks 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 2 weeks ago

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

[–] AltheaHunter@lemmy.blahaj.zone 33 points 2 weeks 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.

[–] Digit@lemmy.wtf 1 points 6 days ago

Imagine how much better with ranked choice voting/answering, and write-in votes/answers. ;)

[–] chiliedogg@lemmy.world 28 points 2 weeks 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 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)

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

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[–] psoul@lemmy.world 25 points 2 weeks ago (11 children)

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

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[–] wuffah@lemmy.world 20 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (12 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 2 weeks ago

Wait until you hear what the average reading level is.

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[–] Archangel1313@lemmy.ca 15 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

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

[–] bstix@feddit.dk 6 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

That 10 guy is totally biased.

We should hear from both sides.

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[–] lugal@lemmy.dbzer0.com 13 points 2 weeks ago

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

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

Okay, buddy elementary school

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[–] ameancow@lemmy.world 10 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks 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 2 weeks 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 2 weeks ago

Which is perfectly fine for languages:)

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

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

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[–] outer@mas.to 5 points 2 weeks 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.

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

So people just assumed an imaginary parentheses?

[–] Maiq@piefed.social 12 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (3 children)

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

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

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