Do you know a hipster when you see one? Well, now there’s a mathematical equation for that.
In yet another example of how math can explain everyday phenomenon, a Paris professor has figured out the “hipster paradox,” aka what makes a hipster a hipster via a mathematical equation, as reported by Reuters.
While hipsters have traditionally been seen as “nonconformist,” mathematician Jonathan Touboul from College de France in Paris has “devised a formula” to explain the hipster phenomenon. And what he found shows that they’re not as anti-establishment as they think.
“I realized that actually if you had individuals that wanted to be different from the others and that they were too slow in detecting the trend in the population, then you did synchronize…” Touboul told Reuters. “In the end, just because they are too slow to detect the trend, they synchronize.”
Not only did the equation find that hipster’s behavior was slow and predictable, but that “they all do the same thing at the same time.” Makes you rethink growing that mustache, doesn’t it?
Why research this group behavior? Touboul used hipsters as one example of a counterculture to base his equation on. He told Reuters that it would work on any group that decides “to go against the majority.” Eventually, he hopes to use it in “deciphering collective phenomena and understanding brain dynamics.”
Watch the Reuters video report below:
