Numbers
Explanation
The Joke
The comic presents a fake academic-style table titled "Proposed Number Improvements," suggesting changes to fundamental mathematical constants to make equations look nicer. The proposals include: changing every instance of pi to 2*pi (because it "makes several equations prettier," with the new symbol being tau); changing every instance of e to e/a (to make "exponential equations chill out a little" and make Euler's equation "look way harder"); changing every instance of i to just 0 (because "many equations become more elegant because a big chunk of them is now missing," with the symbol being a zero rotated 180 degrees); and finally, changing every use of 1 to 3.5 (because 3.5 is "just a much better number"), with the new symbol for 1 being pi, which is "no longer in use" since it was already replaced.
The Humor
The comic satirizes the real mathematical debate about whether tau (2pi) should replace pi as the fundamental circle constant. The tau movement (championed by people like Michael Hartl in "The Tau Manifesto") argues that 2pi appears so frequently in mathematics that it deserves its own symbol. The comic takes this one reasonable-sounding proposal and extends it with increasingly absurd suggestions, each presented in the same dry, academic format. Replacing i with 0 would literally destroy complex analysis. Replacing 1 with 3.5 would break all of arithmetic. The deadpan presentation style -- as if these are serious proposals being considered by a committee -- makes the absurdity even funnier. The circular logic of the final row (pi's symbol is now free because pi was already replaced) is a particularly nice touch.
References
The tau vs. pi debate is a real discussion in mathematics education. The number tau (equal to 2pi, approximately 6.283) is advocated by some mathematicians because many formulas become simpler when expressed in terms of tau rather than pi. "Tau Day" is celebrated on June 28 (6/28). Euler's equation (e^(ipi) + 1 = 0) is often called the most beautiful equation in mathematics, connecting five fundamental constants. The comic's suggestion to make it "look way harder" is a deliberate inversion of the usual reverence for mathematical elegance.