MathPlus's definitions

Mathematically Irreverent

When someone decides to coin a math word or phrase, or to redefine an existing one, without fear of being censured, rebuked, punished, or fired.

Urban Dictionary remains the social platform of choice for mathematically irreverent writers, who just want to sexify or spice the most boring or disliked school subject for millions of students worldwide.

by MathPlus November 23, 2020

Coronadoku

Short for “Coronavirus Sudoku.” A sudoku that uses nine corona variants represented by the Greek characters (⍺, β, 𝛾, 𝛿, …) rather than numbers 1–9 to make it look devilishly harder to solve.

MathPlus Publishing is releasing “Coronadoku for Gifted Kids” before the Lunar New Year as a reminder of the initial number of people who died of the coronavirus in Wuhan, before the epidemic became a pandemic.

by MathPlus October 18, 2021

If Trump Had a Burmese Wife

When Donald J. Trump wished one of his wives were from Burma, who would have reminded him to seek undemocratic advice from her country’s military coup leaders, which could have allowed him to have faux more years at the White House should his numerous lawsuits against alleged fraudulent voting fail.

If Trump had a Burmese wife or mistress, he’d have undemocratically been re-elected, by staging a professionally planned coup à la Birmanie, or by declaring a years-old martial law to prolong his illegal stay at the White House.

by MathPlus January 31, 2021

The Pi Self

When the number π is suffering from imposter syndrome in spite of its perceived or recognized beauty, ubiquity, and utility in many areas of mathematics and science.

Since the start of the pandemic, there have been few new theorems or breakthroughs on the irrational number π, so mathematicians have started to hypothesize whether the pi self phenomenon isn’t finally being manifested.

by MathPlus July 23, 2021

Use Your Bible and Your Brain

The advice preached by some fringe American pastors to their congregations with regard to mask wearing and vaccination, who claim that Covid-19 is a “fake pandemic” and that they themselves would not take a vaccine—and that Donald J. Trump won the 2020 presidential election by a landslide, who would be re-elected as the President of the United States, be it in 2020, 2024, 2028, or even later (after serving his reduced jail sentence, commuted by the President of the day).

A conservative pastor from Tennessee, who is probably scientifically challenged, told his faithful uncritical church members: “Don’t trust the fake media, but use your Bible and your brain to decide whether you want to wear a mask or get vaccinated.”

by MathPlus December 11, 2020

Malay Math

When Singapore’s affirmative action allows Malay students to pay zero school fees all the way up to their tertiary education, which has raised the mathematical proficiency of the Malay community over the decades—Malay math students, of which 99⁺% are Muslims, have fared reasonably well in international comparative studies like TIMSS and PISA vis-à-vis their foreign counterparts, albeit they still have some catching up to do compared to their local peers from other races.

Years ago, based on some TIMSS rankings, a Malay cabinet minister had figured out that Singapore Malay students are unofficially among the “world’s top ten,” which positively suggests that Malay math policies have helped raise the quantitative literacy of the Malay or Muslim community in Singapore.

by MathPlus July 15, 2021

FICA Math

When the Singapore authorities could stop, disable, or block access to any online math content, which was unprovenly created via the works of foreign mathematicians or math educators, that the government deems politically, racially, religiously, or socially inappropriate to be published, because it could cast doubt or create confusion in the minds of locals, who could then have a low or wavering confidence in the Ministry of Education (MOE)’s goal in making the “fine” city an innumerate-free nation—FICA is short for “Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act.”

With a penalty of a fine of up to S$5,000 and continuing fines of up to S$500 for “every day or part of a day” for refusing to remove any politically incorrect content, guesstimate how much FICA math revenue could be generated annually from “mathematically significant” individuals and organizations that committed a mathematical offence.

by MathPlus October 13, 2021