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  • It's March 14th which means it's time to celebrate the worst number in the universe.

  • Now, I know that usually on Pi day 3.1 million people flood the streets to celebrate or protest,

  • but this year due to the new coronavirus we are having a purely online event so I will

  • have to ask you to please restrain yourself somehow from gathering into a large pi-enthused

  • or pi-furious crowd.

  • Now I know you're thinking, well, if everyone's gonna get this virus anyway why not get out

  • there with your pro or anti-pi signs, get in a fight, express yourself with vigor and

  • spittle?

  • I mean, new coronavirus cases are growing exponentially, before too long there will

  • be 3.14 million cases worldwide and if the exponential trend continues then after that

  • there will be 3.14 trillion people who have it and there's not even that many people

  • on the planet which I guess means we gave it to aliens, or maybe time travel or zombies

  • are involved?

  • I don't know exactly how it's gonna happen but the math checks out.

  • Probably aliens.

  • And you know what?

  • Pi is the real problem here, because Pi is buddies with e and e is so fundamentally intertwined

  • with exponential growth that if the coronavirus has exponential growth then e definitely has

  • also caught it by now and so Pi

  • Is that a cough, Pi?

  • Do you have a fever?

  • Ok so maybe there's other curves in mathematics besides the pure exponential, like the sigmoid,

  • which, I dunno, sigmoid kinda sounds like an alien to me, and sure the sigmoid tapers

  • off eventually, maybe at like some percentage of the human population, maybe more, including

  • aliens, or ghosts, but the beginning is still exponentially increasing so e is still involved

  • and probably Pi and e weren't very careful about not spreading it between them because

  • they figured if e gets it Pi is getting it no matter what so why bother, I guess Pi didn't

  • realize you get less sick if you just get coughed on once than if you're makin out

  • with each other all day and if you think Pi and e aren't that close in this equation

  • well maybe Pi got it while commuting, long story short I'm not saying you can't use

  • Pi in your calculations, but don't you think the right thing for Pi to do is take a sick

  • day this Pi Day?

  • I mean if you're Pi's boss and you're saying Pi, I need you to come help me with

  • this circumference, then you're partly responsible when Pi shows up despite being sick and then

  • ALL the other numbers you need start getting sick too.

  • Or maybe you can't get a virus from a mathematical abstraction, but you still have to worry about

  • the physical pi-day pies.

  • May I suggest that for safety reasons you eat all 2-pi radians by yourself.

  • Also don't share your pi glass of water (which is like a half glass of water but half

  • the long way), and definitely don't share your 3.1fork.

  • Now you may be thinking, well, Tau is 2*Pi so if Pi gets the new virus then Tau will

  • too, and realistically Tau is probably going to get sick, if not from Pi then from 2 or

  • I dunno, planck's constant or something.

  • But there's a big difference to the world between the scenario where numbers get sick

  • just a few at a time, and the scenario where a lot of numbers get sick at the same time.

  • Especially for e, pi, and tau, which are pretty old numbers.

  • If they get the new coronavirus they'll probably have to go to Hilbert Hospital to

  • help them get better, but Hilbert Hospital doesn't have enough room to fit all the

  • numbers.

  • So if Pi goes to school or work even though it has a cough or a fever, and then it spreads

  • the virus even just to a small area of neighboring numbers it could mean there's no room left

  • in the hospital and all those numbers die and no one can do calculations involving circles

  • anymore and that's it for technology, no more internet, no more games, wheels just

  • stop working, it's like dividing by zero.

  • But, say Pi washes their hands frequently with soap and water, stays home, and calls

  • their healthcare provider.

  • Maybe a friend volunteers to drop off some supplies so Pi doesn't have to go to the

  • store.

  • It might not save the world, but it does save lives.

  • If Tau gets coronavirus even just a day or two later than it would've otherwise, by

  • then maybe e is feeling better so there's room in the hospital and both Pi and Tau live

  • and we can have round things again, happy Pi Day!

  • Which by the way coronaviruses are called coronavirus because the virus itself has a

  • mathy roundyshape with sticky-outy-bits like a corona, a crown, and it's made out of stuff

  • that soap smooshes apart which is why soap is antiviral as long as you smoosh it around

  • real good, take that coronavirus, get 'em, yeah, smoosh those shapes, smoosh those shapes,

  • smoosh those

It's March 14th which means it's time to celebrate the worst number in the universe.

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