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I don't get it (the joke and the purpose of the universe)
It all equals zero. There is no purpose or meaning. Optimistic take: because that's not what math does. Pessimistic take: because there is none.
Note that an absurdist or existentialist who likes not having to perform to a divine meaning may prefer this state of affairs to being told what to do. The author is making humour out of scientists gleefully proving nothing matters. But I think glee at nothing mattering should be the normal reaction. Unfortunately, it seems most neurotypicals would rather be told what to do.
Meaning or purpose doesn’t have to be divine. I think the search for meaning or purpose in life is fairly important to many people.
There is no search for purpose. That's a viewpoint influenced by thousands of years of authoritarian religions. The belief in "glorious purpose" may not be divine in understanding, but it is divine in causation. What there is instead of a search for purpose, is the creation of purpose. You get to choose. And that choice can even mean choosing to surrender yourself to a god, if that's your informed decision.
Personally, I chose to dedicate my life to doing good. But I think it's a mistake to imagine that the universe wants this of us. The universe is made up of people, and what most people want is to do what they're told, operate according to the systems they know, keep their heads down. If there is an intention the universe has, it's to participate in capitalism and create value for the shareholders. Fortunately, that's fucking silly, and we get the choice not to do that without a fight. We are imbued with radical freedom by our essential nature. It cannot be taken away except by our ongoing consent.
Optimist take: Because there is none! (whoo)
Optimistic take: because they just rearranged it to equal 0 by subtracting something from both sides as is often done in "these quantities are conserved" types of equations in physics!
So we still don't know the true purpose...
I took it to be contrasting the "thrill of discovery" with doing math that would be boring and tedious to most people.