/sci/ - Science & Math

>>9391502
>If 3 wasn't even a number and we were meant to write three as "-22-", two 2's surrounded by hyphens, this would get very old and cumbersome very fast, and arithmetic with "-22-" would be confusing where 2 × 4 = 8 but -22- × 4 = 12 rather than what might logically be seen as "-88-". Its a battle of logic reminding yourself that "-22-" is not "two 2's" but instead "three"; much the same as 0.333••• or any single digit repeating decimal has no logical meaning when used in arithmetic. "0.333•••" isn't "zero point three three.. three repeating", cause 3 isn't "hyphen two two hyphen". Where the logic problem of -22-×4 = 12 instead of -88-, we get a similar logic problem where 0.333••• × 4 = 1.333••• instead of 1.333•••2