What if X Plus Three Equals One?

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i think that's a very natural answer, coming just from the naturalo progression of matics toward greater generality and abstraction. You have an equation like, two plus three equals five. And you're still very happy. But then some says, ok, wise guy. What about if x plus three equals one? What you going to do then? And you can say, well, you know, what are we going to do? Youre gong to invent negative numbers. Back in the day, that was a big deal.

Welcome to the March 2022 Ask Me Anything episode of Mindscape! These monthly excursions are funded by Patreon supporters (who are also the ones asking the questions). I take the large number of questions asked by Patreons, whittle them down to a more manageable size — based primarily on whether I have anything interesting to say about them, not whether the questions themselves are good — and sometimes group them together if they are about a similar topic. Enjoy!

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