08-02-2017, 07:02 AM
I have the feeling this isn't to do with QM.
Yes, you're right.
It's a line from one of my Summer 2017 reads*, The Nothing That Is (A Natural History of Zero) by Robert Kaplan. The author was attempting to explain the difficulty humanity had in trying to understand and accept the concept of zero, and negative numbers.
People had counted for millennia, they could add and subtract with words or roman numerals, but the idea of Arabic numbers was a hard sell. And introducing zero as a placeholder for tens, hundreds, thousands, etc. met with even more resistance:
"The void was identified with evil."
I'm sure there are some, even today, depending on how they did in math class, who might agree.
Fortunately as you said "You know, this is starting to bother me!"
It bothered some others in the past too, which allowed us to progress into algebra, and everything else advanced mathematics has given us today, including our cell phones, computers, and even the ability to communicate via Punaweb.**
* Read here in Puna District
** Further gratuitous Puna reference
Four people are in a room and seven leave. How many have to enter again before it's empty?
Yes, you're right.
It's a line from one of my Summer 2017 reads*, The Nothing That Is (A Natural History of Zero) by Robert Kaplan. The author was attempting to explain the difficulty humanity had in trying to understand and accept the concept of zero, and negative numbers.
People had counted for millennia, they could add and subtract with words or roman numerals, but the idea of Arabic numbers was a hard sell. And introducing zero as a placeholder for tens, hundreds, thousands, etc. met with even more resistance:
"The void was identified with evil."
I'm sure there are some, even today, depending on how they did in math class, who might agree.
Fortunately as you said "You know, this is starting to bother me!"
It bothered some others in the past too, which allowed us to progress into algebra, and everything else advanced mathematics has given us today, including our cell phones, computers, and even the ability to communicate via Punaweb.**
* Read here in Puna District
** Further gratuitous Puna reference
Four people are in a room and seven leave. How many have to enter again before it's empty?
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves