The visual motif comes from the three-dimensional counterexample to the Jacobian conjecture: an exact constant Jacobian determinant alongside three distinct rational inputs with the same output. Surprising candidates are valuable, but exact computation and independent checking establish what can be trusted.
Terence Tao gives an accessible mathematical account. The determinant identity and collision have also been independently formalized in Isabelle/HOL. The two-dimensional conjecture remains open.