I mean, there are lots of ways that 2 + 2 = 5, but the fact that the numbers aren't precise is the simplest one for people to accept. There's very little point going into other examples if they can't accept the basic stuff.
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Replying to @phyphor @arthur_affect
And in vector math 2+2 = the inclusive range [0,4], depending on the relative angles
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Replying to @Gent_Sausage @arthur_affect
You're still assuming 2 is precise.
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Replying to @phyphor @arthur_affect
2 IS precise. 2 grams is not. 2 inches is not. But 2 itself, the product of no unit and no context other than itself is precise 65,000,000 is precise. 65,000,000 years is extremely imprecise.
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Replying to @Gent_Sausage @arthur_affect
2 isn't precise. 2.0... is. It is commonly accepted that 2 is precise, but that's a convention and not universal.
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Replying to @phyphor @arthur_affect
It's universal to any case in which there is no other context to the 2 than its own inherent 2ness, barring any post hoc shoehorned context in which case it ceases to be a contextless 2 anyway
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Replying to @Gent_Sausage @phyphor
By definition, there cannot be such a "case", a "case" means you're talking about real things that are actually happening that someone cares about for some actual reason
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Replying to @arthur_affect @phyphor
The case being the discussion and conceptualization thereof. I mean you might be under the impression that thoughts aren't real because you've never actually had one but...
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Replying to @Gent_Sausage @phyphor
Well, that's not a case, is it Talking about numbers in the abstract is fun but they don't actually exist, they're like Pokemon
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Moreover, even if I agreed with you, so what Who cares what goes on in the Platonic universe of ideal forms, there's no job openings there
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The correct response, both to people completely losing their shit about this on Twitter and to people protesting the new Seattle math curriculum, is "So what" So what if your math is the True Math and Most Correct What has it done for me lately
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Replying to @arthur_affect @phyphor
First of all I'm all for that common core visualize numbers as rectangles thing to improve mental calculations. Only hicks knock it because it looks funny and "I did it the old fashioned way faster than you explained the new way" like yeah, the explanation takes longer. And?
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