"The Scarlet Manuka" <sacha@maths.uwa.edu.au> wrote in message news://a6934a10.0112031920.1314297a@posting.google.com...
> > A default > > definition is, ipso facto, a single definition. > > Only if it is to be universally applied. I see no reason why > a default may not have limited scope.
This begs the question of the meaning of "default definition," in a way calculated to generate heat, not light.
> Let's restore some context. "Such a number system" refers to > the specific phrase, "the number system that permits ordinary > arithmetic operations". My claim is that there are many such > number systems, and therefore one cannot speak of "the number > system that permits ordinary arithmetic operations", as if > there was only one, any more than one can speak of "the positive > integer less than 10", because that does not specify a single > integer.
