this post was submitted on 07 May 2024
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Science Memes

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Why do we even use natural numbers as a subset?

There are whole numbers already

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

Apparently some people are scared of negative numbers.

[–] Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In 2 points 6 months ago

They're not natural

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

I'm not too good at math but i think it's because the set of integers is defined as the set that contains all natural numbers and their opposites, while the set of natural numbers is defined using the successor function - 0 (or 1) is a natural number; if a number n natural, then S(n) is natural where S(n) = n+1.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

Thanks!

But if we talk whole numbers, we just change the rule that if n is whole, then S(n) is whole where S(n)=n±1.

Essentially just adding possibility for minus again.