Definitions by Fasters
Thailand Math
Math questions on food, drinks, and consumer items (toothpaste, lipsticks, skin lotions, etc.) that contain cannabis or its derivatives, which poses a health or moral threat to concerned or conservative parents, pastors, and politicians.
A raw math manuscript, which defines “green products” as those containing marijuana in controlled amounts, was leaked out to some expatriate teachers in an international school in Bangkok. One such Thailand math question is the following: “Two green cookies and a cup of green coffee cost 415 Baht. Three green cookies and two cups of green coffee cost 710 Baht. What much is a green cookie?” Answer: 120 Baht.
Thailand Math by Fasters September 12, 2022
Sheep-and-Wolves Math
Provocative or subversive math questions set by allegedly mean or wicked educators in Hong Kong, whose aim is to brainwash students, by sowing the "seed of instability" in the once-democratically free colonial city and across totalitarian China.
A middle school teacher in Xinjiang was sent to a reeducation camp for two years after he’s found guilty of setting some sheep-and-wolves math questions, one of which is the following: “In a village, a pack of eight wolves have encircled a pen that encloses a hundred and ten sheep. Guesstimate how many sheep could lose their lives before the shepherd and his two assistants arrived on the scene to rescue his flock.”
Sheep-and-Wolves Math by Fasters September 10, 2022
The McDonaldization of Singapore Math
When bots would select word problems from a question bank, then forward them to ghost editors in Bangalore, before sending the final proof to POD publishers like Amazon Kindle to distribute both printed and e-copies to customers worldwide.
Guesstimate how much the McDonaldization of Singapore math mass market is worth every year, as professional pirates from India, Pakistan, and Nigeria try to cash in.
The McDonaldization of Singapore Math by Fasters September 10, 2022
Less Is More
When an item or product costs more than a similar one with less sugar or salt content, which seems to suggest that having lesser or fewer of something is more inconvenient or harder to produce, or making a decision to be healthier is dearer—could it also be a mere marketing gimmick to lure health-conscious freaks?
A six-pack of Chrysanthemum Tea costs $1.95, but a similar one with lower sugar content costs $2.30; two isotonic bottle drinks cost $3.95, while the ones with zero sugar cost $4.40—aren’t these two cases prove that “less is more”?
Less Is More by Fasters September 8, 2022
Orgasmic Pi
The aha! feeling math geeks experience at the sight or sound of a little juicy or sexy theorem, or math factoid, on the number π—a minor form of mathematical bliss that could last for days in some instances.
Just as Roland Barthes, French writer and critic, associates a good or pleasurable read with a dizzying orgasm, pure mathematicians or number theorists secretly dream or long for an orgasmic pi chance encounter, especially when they’re at their most vulnerable state of mind.
Orgasmic Pi by Fasters August 28, 2022
Piconomics
When math educators and creatives capitalize on their obsession or perversion of the number π to produce collectibles and mementos, such as pi e-cards, pi-related art or NFTs, and pi jokes, to earn some side income.
Thanks to the metaverse and the blockchain technology, mathepreneurs expect their country’s now-modest piconomics to arouse much public interest in coming years.
Piconomics by Fasters August 26, 2022
Pi Check
When the number π signs checks and creditors decide not to cash them because they have gotten her signature on—when pi’s personality or identity is more valuable than the amount owned.