4! is funny because there’s a common pitfall with math, which is just going from the left to right, instead of the order of operations. The former, pitfall answer is 20/5 which equals 4. The correct answer from using PEMDAS is 25-1 which 24.
Since the math is presented pretty simply, and She is asking for the solution to her problem, our first assumption is that the response is an enthusiastic 4, where this boy is confident, but very incorrect. We see he fell for the common blunder. (In a situation like this, without any other context, it’s safe to assume she’s looking for an integer, not a function. That would be like going to a store, and when the cashier gives you change, they say, “here’s 3 factorial dollars”).
But, this is clever, as his answer can be read in a second way, that still makes sense as a solution to the problem. 4 factorial is 24, the real solution. So, this boy could also be correct, that he’s telling her the right answer, albeit not outright, if we were to believe she’s looking for a simple “24” response, so he’s kind of being a dick.
Now that we’ve fully dissected this joke and killed any of the humor, thank you for coming to my Ted Talk!
4! is funny because there’s a common pitfall with math, which is just going from the left to right, instead of the order of operations. The former, pitfall answer is 20/5 which equals 4. The correct answer from using PEMDAS is 25-1 which 24.
Since the math is presented pretty simply, and She is asking for the solution to her problem, our first assumption is that the response is an enthusiastic 4, where this boy is confident, but very incorrect. We see he fell for the common blunder. (In a situation like this, without any other context, it’s safe to assume she’s looking for an integer, not a function. That would be like going to a store, and when the cashier gives you change, they say, “here’s 3 factorial dollars”).
But, this is clever, as his answer can be read in a second way, that still makes sense as a solution to the problem. 4 factorial is 24, the real solution. So, this boy could also be correct, that he’s telling her the right answer, albeit not outright, if we were to believe she’s looking for a simple “24” response, so he’s kind of being a dick.
Now that we’ve fully dissected this joke and killed any of the humor, thank you for coming to my Ted Talk!
I appreciate the clarifications. I now find the joke funny, beep boop beep! I am not a robot, for the record, I just like R2D2. Hes my spirit animal!