Unlocking the Humor: The Mathematical Analysis Behind "Silicon Valley"
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Chapter 1: The Scene That Sparked a Mathematical Debate
In the season 1 finale of HBO's Silicon Valley, a particularly memorable moment unfolds when Erlich Bachman, the founder of Aviato, hypothetically ponders how he could stimulate an audience of 800 men to completion using only his hands. With the impending pressure of the TechCrunch Startup Battlefield competition, the group humorously embarks on the creation of a mathematical model that accounts for the essential variables in this outrageous scenario. The aim of this article is to further this mathematical exploration, building on the foundational work of Misra (2014). Enjoy the read!
"We're gonna win even if I have to go into the auditorium and personally jerk off every guy in the audience!" — Erlich Bachman
Section 1.1: Constructing the Model
To begin with, we consider the individual stimulation of a generic audience member, denoted as i, by the agent E (Erlich). We assume a rigid, cylindrical shaft with a specific girth D. The contact area be