What's the story with log(1 + 2 + 3)?

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Published 2019-06-14

This is my deep dive into the log(1 + 2 + 3) = log(1) + log(2) + log(3) log troll meme. I'm not going to link to any of the online discussions incase I accidentally encourage brigading. If you want to join in constructively, you can google them.

Huge thanks to Jane Street for becoming my channel's principle sponsor. If you're curious, this is what they do:
www.janestreet.com/what-we-do/

Ask them for a job here:
www.janestreet.com/join-jane-street/

We make Think Maths teaching resources to go with Stand-up Maths videos. For this one we have a worksheet of questions you can give your students before they watch the video. Plus I provide my excel file for the plot of the max values.
think-maths.co.uk/standupmaths-videos?yt-logs-meme…

CORRECTIONS
- I mis-spoke and said "two" instead of "four" and "one" instead of "zero" but tried to fix both with titles in the edit. Sorry I did not have time to re-film it!
- Yes, my camera autofocus is annoying. I swear it has broken somehow; I thought I'd set it up right this time. I think Jane Street might have to get me a new camera.
- Let me know if you spot anything else!

Thanks to my Patreon supporters who help make these videos possible. Here is a random subset:

Michael Lehenbauer
Richard Dickins
Barry Salter
Maksym Borodin
James Williams
Sarah Gerweck

Support my channel and I can make more maths videos:
www.patreon.com/standupmaths

Music by Howard Carter
Filming and editing by Matt Parker
Design by Simon Wright

MATT PARKER: Stand-up Mathematician
Website: standupmaths.com/
Maths book: wwwh.umble-pi.com/
Nerdy maths toys: mathsgear.co.uk/

All Comments (21)

@wolframstahl1263 5 years ago

Jane Street sponsor Matt Parker because "they just like maths and they use maths to solve complex problems in the financial world." Matt: "half of two is two".
@tomlaight 5 years ago

Taking both verbal slip-ups together: "half of two is two" and "adding one makes no difference", the implication is that 2/2 + 1 = 2 which is... correct! Matt is a genius even in his errors 😅
@janernn 5 years ago

5:28: Half of two is two! Parker division?
@Dahtamnay 5 years ago

Speaking of golden ratio logtrolls: log (φ + φ²) = log(φ) + log(φ²)
@nikdwal 5 years ago

6:47 He said "one", but he meant zero, but he put "zero!" on the screen, which is just one.
@ailkoclaeys182 5 years ago

Half of 2 is 2 Now if that isn't the person that's the inspiration for the Parker's square
@Lordoftheflies234 5 years ago

5:56 woah wait a minute here! Standupmaths is actually SITTING DOWN? My whole life is a lie.
@gabitulbalecu2152 5 years ago

"Half of two is... two!" Good job Matt, you've made the comment section of this video more of a troll than the topic of the video.
@NoNTr1v1aL 5 years ago

Me: Emojis Matt, an intellectual: Emotional indicators
@venabre 2 years ago

He sounded so confident he almost made me believe half of two is two
@andreyrumming6842 4 years ago

"Half of 2 is 2" "Log of 1 is 1" Yep, that's parker maths for you!
@TheStormingmonkey 5 years ago

Also the best sponsor add ever "They don't want you to do anything...They just like maths" XD I also approve
@oisin_smith 5 years ago

1950s: I bet in the future we will have flying cars 2019: half of two is two
@yuvalne 5 years ago

"Unless, I guess, you're a mathematician looking for a job." Best sponsorship message I have ever seen.
@bengrace8808 5 years ago

"A top shelf math meme should use... the golden ratio."
@Linaard 5 years ago

I would have loved to see Matt's reaction to when he edited and realized he said "half of 2 is 2"
@laurihei 5 years ago

2:57 "log(101 + 1.01) - lol" joke got way too little recognition 😄
@ripp_ 5 years ago

I appreciate a short "these people gave me money, ignore them" statement
@pedroscoponi4905 5 years ago

The takeaway, clearly, is that half of 2 is 2
@DekuStickGamer 5 years ago

Y'all just don't understand Parker theory. If you read his work, you'd understand why half of 2 is 2. It's basic Parker arithmetic.