Editing 447: Too Old For This Shit
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
β | This comic makes fun of the fact that most mathematical geniuses have done their exceptional work (for which they eventually become famous) in their early years by exaggerating it, particularly given that "too old for this shit" is a phrase more appropriately used by people later in age. At the age of thirteen, | + | This comic makes fun of the fact that most mathematical geniuses have done their exceptional work (for which they eventually become famous) in their early years by exaggerating it, particularly given that "too old for this shit" is a phrase more appropriately used by people later in age. At the age of thirteen, even precocious mathematicians would not be pushing the frontier of mathematical knowledge, let alone to the point where they would be "too old for it." As such, this is more of a joke about a young boy attempting to dismiss the world around him. It also plays on the fact that in xkcd comics, it is often difficult to tell age because of a lack of detail, which is necessary to set up the final punchline. |
A striking example is {{w|Carl Friedrich Gauss}}, the famous mathematician, who wrote his exceptional masterpiece ''{{w|Disquisitiones Arithmeticae}}'' at the early age of 21. This idea was for instance used in the fictional biography of Gauss, ''{{w|Measuring the World}}'', where he admits to having trouble understanding his own work when he got older because of his age. | A striking example is {{w|Carl Friedrich Gauss}}, the famous mathematician, who wrote his exceptional masterpiece ''{{w|Disquisitiones Arithmeticae}}'' at the early age of 21. This idea was for instance used in the fictional biography of Gauss, ''{{w|Measuring the World}}'', where he admits to having trouble understanding his own work when he got older because of his age. |