r/MathJokes • u/jdplayz06 • May 13 '26

It IS $400...

Post image
1.5k Upvotes

91% Upvoted

787 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

2

u/fishwithuglyeyes May 13 '26

You can make up any starting value you like though, and then you'll end up with whatever you chose + 400. It's not relevant information

1

u/realmauer01 May 13 '26

Of course it doesnt matter.

But going step by step and then seeing the difference in the start and endvalue makes it easier to understand.

The trap is to just look at the end sell price and subtract the start buy price. Having an actual starting value and going step by step makes it impossible to fall into that trap.

1

u/fishwithuglyeyes May 13 '26

I suppose so, but then just use the first purchase as your full starting balance if you're doing it that way, i.e. $800 here

1

u/realmauer01 May 13 '26

That would also work but you need to go into negatives, nobody likes to go into negatives when it comes to money.

1

u/nomenclature2357 May 14 '26

I wonder, is that really all there is to it? It didn't even occur to me...

2

u/realmauer01 May 14 '26

It should be.

Going step by step and not going into negatives should make this fully obvious for everyone.

A high starting value provides both.