The most dangerous problem in math

The Collatz Conjecture is easy enough for almost anyone to understand but notoriously difficult to solve.

[veritasium]

A number of people are asking why this problem is “dangerous”.

It’s described as dangerous because its difficulty has defeated the world’s greatest mathematical minds for generations.

Paul Erdos, a famous mathematician, said, "Mathematics is not yet ripe enough for such questions." Jeffrey Lagarias called it "an extraordinarily difficult problem, completely out of reach of present day mathematics".

The problem is so maddeningly difficult, mathematicians are warned to stay away from it.

[Rizzlers_Edits]

Mathamaticians : "why cant i sleep "

3x + 1

[seadub]

It's no joke. I got stuck in the 4-2-1 loop for years once.

[NotBlazerMC]

The goal is to find a number which does not end up in a 4, 2, 1 loop. But the problem is that there's no such number found yet even after calculating millions of numbers

[G.h.o.s.t-midc]

"Pick a number"
4
"7, good choice"
Oh ok

[LRun]

I was wondering why this was the most dangerous problem. So got out my calculator and tried solving it, and my car ran off the highway. Point taken.

[nasimahasan]

It's called the collatz conjecture.

[gamingvibes]

The word "Problem" has seven letters
The word "Seven" has Five letters
The word "Five" has four letters
The word "Four" has four letters
The word "Four" has four letters
The word "Four" has four letters
The word "Four" has four letters
The word "Four" has four letters
The word "Four" has four letters
The word "Four" has four letters
The word "Four" has four letters
The word "Four" has four


No matter which word you start with it will always end up being four at last

[takingthethingyabove]

What normal people are afraid of:
Spiders, death, jumpscares, dark
What mathematicians are afraid of:
3x+1

[blackman]

Alternative title : What overthinking does to a mf

[sonicwaveinfinitymiddwelle]

"Pick a number"
Let me thi-
"7? Good choice"
🗿

[bulgarianempire]

"Pick a number"
Me:5
"Seven?Good choice!"
Me:😢

[nutz]

You try to impress someone at a party and they pick 1 right out the gate…

[QuacksDuck]

"Pick a number"
Huh
"7? Good choice"
Wait what

[diodsaputra]

Smartest mathematician : "This is the biggest problem in math"
Optimist : "Nah, it still can be solved"
Businessman : "Nice problem to solve, but at what cost?"
Non-mathematicians : "Wait, is that a problem?"
Me : "What happened?"

[peni]

I looked up unsolved math equations in math yesterday and found this equation, today when I was scrolling I saw this and i’ve never ever seen a short to do with math

[Iateacat]

"one must imagine sisyphus doing math"

[TheDivineChicken]

I never thought I’d hear someone say a math problem is dangerous 💀

[arghyadas]

"Pick a number"
'Alright, two-'
"Seven? GoOD ChoICe!"

[GiftEsefo]

You could apply the same rule, using 3 as the multiplier and converting it to an even integer with any odd number as an accessory and would end up in a loop of other numbers.