For mathematicians, = does not mean equality

#1

Post by hds » Fri, Apr 13, 2018, 7:55 PM UTC

For mathematicians, = does not mean equality
jeremykun.com

Re: For mathematicians, = does not mean equality

#2

Post by mabbo » Fri, Apr 13, 2018, 8:56 PM UTC

Title could use a touch up. On mobile chrome at least, I'm not seeing the "=" in the title.

Re: For mathematicians, = does not mean equality

#3

Post by vondur » Fri, Apr 13, 2018, 9:00 PM UTC

mabbo wrote: post #2

Title could use a touch up. On mobile chrome at least, I'm not seeing the "=" in the title.

Same on desktop.

Re: For mathematicians, = does not mean equality

#4

Post by allthenews » Fri, Apr 13, 2018, 9:00 PM UTC

Operators in mathematics are overloaded in a very similar way to operators in computer science (in languages that permit overloading).

I think the author hints toward a good point: there is no use arguing over the meaning of "=" in a general sense, because the meaning is contextual.

I think this whole discussion is merely indicative of inexperience on the part of computer scientists attempting to navigate mathematics.

Re: For mathematicians, = does not mean equality

#5

Post by hds » Fri, Apr 13, 2018, 9:02 PM UTC

mabbo wrote: post #2

Title could use a touch up. On mobile chrome at least, I'm not seeing the "=" in the title.

Thanks, fixed.

Re: For mathematicians, = does not mean equality

#6

Post by rsp1984 » Fri, Apr 13, 2018, 9:08 PM UTC

This. It's even more obvious in linear algebra where mathematicians routinely start with the premise "Ax = b", even if there is no solution x that would satisfy the equation exactly.

Re: For mathematicians, = does not mean equality

#7

Post by theparanoid » Fri, Apr 13, 2018, 9:24 PM UTC

A succinct summary is that mathematics is about understanding a thing and computing is about describing a concrete process.

Re: For mathematicians, = does not mean equality

#8

Post by nothrabannosir » Fri, Apr 13, 2018, 9:24 PM UTC

Minor note:

> A = { n^2 : n = 1, 2, …, 100 }

> In Python, or interpreting the expression literally, the value of n would be a tuple, producing a type error. (In Javascript, it produces 2.[link] How could it be Javascript if it didn’t?)

That linked JS code uses ^, which is xor, not pow. Math.pow([], 2) = NaN. Or maybe that was the joke and it flew completely over my head.

Re: For mathematicians, = does not mean equality

#9

Post by maho » Fri, Apr 13, 2018, 9:28 PM UTC

rsp1984 wrote: post #6

This. It's even more obvious in linear algebra where mathematicians routinely start with the premise "Ax = b", even if there is no solution x that would satisfy the equation exactly.

I disagree: "Ax = b" is a statement. It does not need to be true. This is quite useful and often used for "proofs by contradiction".

Re: For mathematicians, = does not mean equality

#10

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Apr 13, 2018, 9:32 PM UTC

allthenews wrote: post #4

Operators in mathematics are overloaded in a very similar way to operators in computer science (in languages that permit overloading). I think the author hints toward a good point: there is no use arguing over the meaning of "=" in a general sense, because the meaning is contextual. I think this whole discussion is merely indicative of inexperience on the part of computer scientists attempting to navigate mathematics…

[deleted]