one of the few fields of study where posting hole is recommended

Eheran, 13 days ago

Explanation?

kakes, 13 days ago

Each “letter” is the topological representation of the corresponding letter of the English alphabet.

So A becomes O because it has one closed loop, B becomes 8 because it has 2 loops, C becomes | because it has no loops, etc.

nicknonya, 13 days ago

not a topologist so this may not be accurate but as far as i understand it topology is the study of the proprieties of shapes that don’t change when the shape is warped, so an A for example only has one hole which makes it equivalent to a circle, a C never closes so it’s a straight line.
There’s no doubt way more nuance that i don’t know but that’s what’s needed to understand the joke here

rockerface, 13 days ago

Yep, topologically identical shapes are ones that can be molded into each other without cutting or glueing pieces together. So the number of through holes is always constant