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Re: 0^0=1
Posted:
Apr 22, 2012 5:35 PM
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"DonH" <donlhumphries@bigpond.com> wrote in news:R4Zkr.5998$v14.1462
@viwinnwfe02.internal.bigpond.com:
> Every number should be associated with a physical entity.
Then you're in trouble. What does (6 apples) X (6 apples)
enumerate? Is it 36 apple-squareds ? And what is 6 pears/2 apples?
Or even simpler, what is is (6 apples)/(2 apples)? It should be
3 somethings, but what does apple/apple enumerate?
If you insist on your statement above, then the only math
one can do is count sheep. Multiplication and division are
impossible.
There are two approaches to teaching calculus. The popular
one is to try to cut it up into tiny enough pieces that it
will fit into a freshman's small brain. The better approach
is to endeavor to make the freshman's brain bigger so that
calculus will fit comfortably inside it while remaining
intact.
Your attempt to avoid abstraction reminds me of the popular
method. You can eschew abstraction if you like (lots of
people do) but you can't simultaneously to mathematics.
--
Cheerfully resisting change since 1959.
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