390

The Pigeonhole Principle - February 22, 2011
Rating: 4.5/5 (153 votes cast)

Currently 4.5/5
1
2
3
4
5

Google+ Page // Facebook Page // Twitter Page

21 Comments

Meher Anand | February 23, 2011 2:01 AM | Reply

I wonder if he cheated on her with a pigeon.

adasdasasdas replied to comment from Meher Anand | February 23, 2011 3:09 AM | Reply

^like!

sagudson replied to comment from Meher Anand | February 23, 2011 6:26 AM | Reply

You have readed my thoughts...

The K | February 23, 2011 3:55 AM | Reply

And the point is: Don't cheat on your significant other, using condoms from the same box.

bmonk replied to comment from The K | February 23, 2011 8:45 PM | Reply

Or maybe: date the artist, not the mathematician...

Smithers replied to comment from bmonk | February 25, 2011 2:01 PM | Reply

Actually, date the mathematician, they are less likely to be able to count.

bmonk replied to comment from Smithers | March 3, 2011 11:26 AM | Reply

Very wise response.

meatball893 | February 23, 2011 4:09 AM | Reply

Doesn't the pigeonhole principle suggest that on one of those occasions he used two condoms at once? She created another pigeonhole!

Angela replied to comment from meatball893 | February 23, 2011 4:41 AM | Reply

Methinks her 'pigeonhole' had more than one 'pigeon'.

John replied to comment from meatball893 | February 23, 2011 5:28 AM | Reply

It's more like a reverse of the principal. If there are n pidgeon holes and n+1 pidgeons then at least one hole must be empty. It doesn't sit the theme established before it.

hamstap85 | February 23, 2011 9:50 AM | Reply

Dude, if she has to use the pidgeonhole principle to prove that you're cheating, don't be cheating.

smilewithani | February 23, 2011 10:08 AM | Reply

Now Now Mike have you been...? ;P

RainmanDX replied to comment from smilewithani | February 23, 2011 11:03 AM | Reply

Note he wisely opted not to use his avatar as the subject in this comic.

isfturtle | February 23, 2011 1:36 PM | Reply

Or he had a friend who needed to borrow a condom?

isfturtle replied to comment from isfturtle | February 23, 2011 1:37 PM | Reply

Or one was made into a balloon...

Jyrki | February 23, 2011 4:48 PM | Reply

About a year ago I got to go to Cairo to attend a conference. And see the pyramids. All because I gave a talk about yet another application of the pigeonhole principle!

The Missing N | February 25, 2011 8:16 AM | Reply

Surely the most logical conclusion using the pigeonhole principle, would be: "One time, you put two condoms on"

Sander replied to comment from The Missing N | February 25, 2011 9:39 AM | Reply

You should see the condoms as pigeonholes and the vagina's (xD) as the pigeons. 1 'pigeonhole' was empty, so he is cheating.

hasnohat | February 26, 2011 1:31 AM | Reply

One of my favorite applications of the pigeonhole principle:
Pick five points on a sphere. You can cut the sphere in half such that 4 points lie on the same hemisphere.

How?
Choose two points, which define the line of the equator. By the pigeonhole principle, one side of the equator will have at least 2 points on it (excluding the two along the equator.)