The discussion revolves around the mathematical technique in computer science where integer addition can approximate floating point multiplication. A prime example is the Fast Inverse Square Root algorithm used in Quake III, which employs a simple shift and subtraction on integers to estimate the inverse square root in floating point calculations. While this method primarily targets the exponent part, it inadvertently also provides decent accuracy for the mantissa due to its normalization. The technique finds parallels in concepts such as logarithmic calculations and the operation of slide rules, highlighting the properties of logs and exponents in simplifying multiplication into addition. Overall, the ingenuity of this approach lies in its ability to bridge integer and floating point operations efficiently.