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PEMDAS is technically correct, but morally wrong (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 year ago by Chainweasel@lemmy.world to c/showerthoughts@lemmy.world
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If we're supposed to be able to understand math as easily as a language, we should be able to read it from left to right like a language.
Yes, I know there's lots other languages that go right to left or top to bottom, but the point is you don't have to go jumping around the page or sentence figuring out which word should be read first based on which characters it contains.
We put the first word first, then the second word second, etc.
Why can't we just write equations in the order they were meant to be solved?

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[-] droning_in_my_ears@lemmy.world 21 points 1 year ago

Morally wrong? What does morality have to do with any of this?

This is a matter of conventions. Which way we do it doesn't actually matter that much as long as we all agree on a way. Maybe you think PEMDAS is counterintuitive, maybe others disagree. That doesn't make it morally wrong.

this post was submitted on 13 Feb 2024
-37 points (21.5% liked)

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