Introduction to Blockchain Mechanism Math, Terminology, and Hieroglyphics

This satirical guide, written as a mock introduction by Alex Watts et al., explains math notation and terminology used in DeFi mechanism design white papers for readers who want to sound informed in discussions about them. It covers set notation such as union, intersection and cardinality, along with probability symbols and expectation, sigma and product notation, and derivatives. The author says many of the explanations are deliberately oversimplified and in places wrong, and jokes that the notation is meant to confuse readers. The excerpt ends partway through the section on derivatives.