Math with Bad DrawingsCartoon Archive

Proving New Things

December 3, 2019

A student's 'proof' that 0 = 1 is dismissed: the field already has several such 'proofs.'

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Free for classrooms, worksheets, slides and other non-commercial use under CC BY-NC 4.0, with credit to Ben Orlin.

Cartoon by Ben Orlin, Math with Bad Drawings. https://cartoons.mathwithbaddrawings.com/2019-12-03-proving-new-things/ (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Transcript

A: "What I love most about math is proving new things. Making my own deposit in the bank of human wisdom."

B: "I just proved 0 = 1! Does that count?" A: "No. We already have several independent proofs of that fact." B: "Aww…"

Topics
Logic & Proof › Proofs & TheoremsLogic & Proof › Proofs & Theorems › False Proofs (2 = 1)Math Culture › Research
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High SchoolCollege
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Math CultureInspirationSelf-Reference