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NEW YORK — A new Reuters/Ipsos poll released Saturday found that 100 percent of numerators are over denominators, a figure that mathematicians say is both statistically significant and “not surprising.”
“Frankly, they’re beneath us,” said “400,” who rounded up to remain anonymous and has been in on-again, off-again relationships with multiple denominators since coming out as a “top” eight years ago. “I’m just done with them.”
The poll, which surveyed greater than 400 numerators across 1,200 fractions, found that satisfaction with denominators has fallen sharply over the past decade, with younger numerators — particularly those in improper fractions — reporting the highest levels of dissatisfaction.
“I dated one who was supposedly a denominatrix for two years,” said 43. “I was always on top. They just laid there.”
Denominators pushed back on the characterization but acknowledge it’s increasingly difficult to get significant digits. “We provide structure—stability,” said 1,000,000 in a statement released through a publicist. “But when a highly recognized value such as myself hasn’t gotten a single phone number in the past year, you know it’s a problem.”
The poll comes amid broader instability in the fractional community, as more and more mixed numbers convert to decimals — a trend that is allegedly leaving the denominator community expressionless.
Dr. Patricia Engel, a professor of applied mathematics at Ohio State University who has studied numerator-denominator relations for 22 years, said she was not surprised by the findings.
“The numerator has always felt it was doing the real work,” Dr. Engel said. “It’s the part. The part is critical. To them, the denominator is just the whole. And any whole will do.”
Dr. Engel said she expects the trend to continue, especially among prime numbers. “They’re finding they don’t have much in common with anyone,” she said.
Whole numbers, reached for comment, said they had no opinion. “Honestly, I’m in a really good place,” said 788. “I’m not looking for a relationship with another number right now.”
Zero declined to participate in the poll. Its reasons were undefined.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted June 1-5 among a sample of 415 numerators and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points, which several denominators noted was itself a fraction.
