I mean, people will go out of their way, just to save themselves from doing even very easy mental arithmetic. Most people are unfathomably lazy when it comes to thinking. I always found it annoying that society shuns people who lack physical fitness, but lacking mental fitness is totally accepted. Just imagine people looked at someone who asks what an item worth 10 bucks costs after a 20% discount the same way they'd look at a fat person stuck in a lawn chair.
Comic transcript
Panel 1:
Prof. Owl is at their desk, answering the phone.
Phone: Hi! I was hoping you could help me with the following problem: A pipe is leaking water at a rate of 3.4 litres per second in a 78 m3 room. The drain in the room has a capacity of 2 litres per second. A valve can be used to ...
Panel 2:
O: What do you think this is? I’m a professor at Bird University. It’s not my job to answer stupidly trivial math problems on the phone. Who even are you? Is this a joke? I don’t like jokes. Don’t ever call this number again.
Panel 3:
The duck, who has apparently been calling Prof. Owl, is in a room that is filling with water from a leaking pipe.