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Math is not a democracy (europe.pub)
submitted 10 months ago by to c/memes@lemmy.world
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[–] 1 point 10 months ago (4 children)

The order of operations is different between conventional written maths, calculators, reverse polish notation, python, etc.

The notation might be different, but the rules are universal

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  • [–] 0 points 10 months ago (3 children)

    The rules are about how you interpret the notation, so that makes no sense.

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  • [–] 1 point 10 months ago (2 children)

    The rules are about how you interpret the notation

    No, the notation definitions are about how to interpret the notation. The rules are about how to do the Maths.

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  • [–] 0 points 10 months ago (1 child)

    So if you have one "notation definition" as you call it which says that 2+2*3 means ”first add two to two, then multiply by three" and another which says "first multiply two by three, then add it to two", why on earth do the "rules" have anything further to say about order of operations?

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  • [–] 1 point 10 months ago

    and another which says “first multiply two by three, then add it to two”

    No we don't. We have another notation which says to do paired operations (equivalent to being in brackets) first.

    why on earth do the “rules” have anything further to say about order of operations?

    Because if you don't obey them you get wrong answers 🙄

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