Why 1+1 =2 on the 20 greatest equation list?

[CaptainQuasar]

Hmmm... is 1+1=2 like a baby saying “mama”? And perhaps also like “Let there be light” in Genesis?

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[CRGreathouse]

I decided it would be fun to explain the partial order thing.

Let's say you have a set with four members, ɐ, ə, Ϟ, and ש.

You define a partial order that says ɐ < Ϟ < ə and ɐ < ש < ə.

But because this is a partial order there's no definition of a relationship between Ϟ and ש. So what would Ϟ + ש be? There's no answer, unless you define extra rules for the operation that make it unlike addition in integers or real numbers.

Heck, you don't even know what ɐ+ɐ is without some kind of definition there.

Now if you're saying that Ϟ and ש are the successors of ɐ, and ə is the successor of Ϟ and ש, then I follow -- you'd only need to define a 0 point before you'd have 'only' the partialness as a barrier to addition.

 

[CaptainQuasar]

Heck, you don't even know what ɐ+ɐ is without some kind of definition there.

Now if you're saying that Ϟ and ש are the successors of ɐ, and ə is the successor of Ϟ and ש, then I follow -- you'd only need to define a 0 point before you'd have 'only' the partialness as a barrier to addition.

Very true CR, very true.

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[HallsofIvy]

All of this started with:

I'm doing assignment which concern the 20 greatest equation, but i can't figure out why 1+1=2 is in it?

What "20 greatest equation" list? I didn't know there was one! Is it official?

 

[LukeD]

Just think of it… you would actually lose weight eating negative pie! Get hold of your sister OmCheeto, we're all going to be rich!

Oh, wait… nevermind… that would violate Newton's Law of Conservation of Pie.

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Not if eating a negative pie caused another pie to be created. Think about it! Eating a positive pie causes the addition of a negative pie. Therefore, eating a negative pie should cause the addition of a positive pie. Then it's all consistent!

 

[arildno]

From anyone else, I would think that was a foolish post. From arildno, I think I am missing something! Arildno, I think 1+ 1= 2 is an equation because it has an "=" in it! What am I missing?

I'd call it an equality.

 

[CRGreathouse]

What "20 greatest equation" list? I didn't know there was one! Is it official?

I assume it's this one:
http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/print/20407/1/pwpov2_10-04

And oh yes, it's official. I hear that if you reject it, they drive to your house in the middle of the night and take you away in a black van.

 

[CaptainQuasar]

Okay, I could just barely take 1+1=2 but including $$\frac{a}{b} = \frac{c}{d}$$ is just stupid. This list was developed by a hundred monkeys coding LaTeX.

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[Big-T]

I'd call it an equality.

I agree. I thought an equation had to have an unknown.

 

[Singularity]

I assume by the 20 greatest equations he means the 20 problems given by Hilbert in 1900.

 

[Poop-Loops]

I'd call it an equality.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equation

An equality is also an equation.

I mean, hell, look at the root word. "Equals".

 

[CRGreathouse]

I assume by the 20 greatest equations he means the 20 problems given by Hilbert in 1900.

Wow, and to think in the last 108 years the problem has descended from one of the greatest problems in all of mathematics to something taught generally before kindergarten.

 

[eastside00_99]

how about the equation

(-1)(-1) =1

 

[titaniumx3]

Isn't 1+1=2 taken as an axiom (of sorts) hence it requires no proof. I don't understand why this needs to be proved for.

 

[eastside00_99]

How about

epsilon_0=omega^omega^omega^...

i.e., the smallest solution to the equation

epsilon = omega^epsilon

 

[dodo]

I wouldn't call it an equation either. I think it's the definition of the symbol '2'.

(Though probably succ(1) = 2 would be more appropriate.)

 

[_Mayday_]

1 + 1 = 2

The amount of times I have heard someone tell a joke saying 1 + 1 = 3 is sickening. This stuff looks complex, I think I will just accept that 1 + 1 = 2 I don't have the drive to work out why or how or when...

 

[CRGreathouse]

How about

epsilon_0=omega^omega^omega^...

i.e., the smallest solution to the equation

epsilon = omega^epsilon

Isn't that just a definition?

 

[dodo]

Which are the other 19, by the way? :)

 

[John Creighto]

Which are the other 19, by the way? :)

http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/print/20407/1/pwpov2_10-04

 

[eastside00_99]

Isn't that just a definition?

ah yeah, of course. Well, never mind.

 

[lurflurf]

Just think of it… you would actually lose weight eating negative pie! Get hold of your sister OmCheeto, we're all going to be rich!

Oh, wait… nevermind… that would violate Newton's Law of Conservation of Pie.

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I think antipie sounds better.
Newton's Law of Conservation of Pie is safe.
The creation of each antipie requires the creation of an equal and opposite pie.
You would get even richer. You sell the pies and the antipies.

 

[John Creighto]

You would get even richer. You sell the pies and the antipies.

That sounds like a great idea :)

 

[CaptainQuasar]

I think antipie sounds better.
Newton's Law of Conservation of Pie is safe.
The creation of each antipie requires the creation of an equal and opposite pie.
You would get even richer. You sell the pies and the antipies.

As any good arms dealer or crack dealer knows, the ideal business model is one where you sell both the problem and the solution to the problem...

Perhaps there's an underlying phenomenon of quantum pie pair production, in which pies and antipies spontaneously spring into existence, whiz around for a little bit, and then annihilate each other in a collision. I hear that this is how Stephen Hawking was able to determine that black holes radiate energy and will eventually dissolve, because one day he looked up into the night sky and got hit with a pie in the face.

As an aside, a fascinating thing I learned recently is that there's a French word entarteur which means “One who throws pies in the faces of others.” J'Accuse, entarteur‼

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[Hydrargyrum]

Where exactly is this list?

 

[Diffy]

I'm doing assignment which concern the 20 greatest equation, but i can't figure out why 1+1=2 is in it?

Perhaps this footnote at the bottom of the list can provide some insight:

"These equations are listed in order of the number of people who proposed them. The first two received about 20 mentions each out of a total of about 120; the rest received between two and 10 each. Equations are given, where appropriate, in their most common form."

The equations on the list are from people's suggestions. I think in any poll like this, whether it be entirely of mathematicians or not, you will always have people say something like this. While everyone is sputtering off beautiful equations like Euler's, you will have some giggling jokers say "1+1=2" because of how simple it is compared to all the others.

(in no way am I implying that 1 + 1 = 2 isn't beautiful or important, nor do I wish to debate whether or not it is or isn't -- I don't really care -- it just takes less mathematical knowledge to understand this equation when compared to some others on the list)

As a computer science minor I personally believe that 1 + 1 = 0

 

[John Creighto]

As a computer science minor I personally believe that 1 + 1 = 0

As a CS major I thought you'd say 1+1=11

 

[CaptainQuasar]

As a CS major I thought you'd say 1+1=11

Oh, sorry to be picky but that's 1+1=10.

As in the good old,

“There are 10 kinds of people in the world: those who can read binary, and those who can't.”​

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[Diffy]

Oh, sorry to be picky but that's 1+1=10.

As in the good old,

“There are 10 kinds of people in the world: those who can read binary, and those who can't.”​

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right and 10 + 10 = 100, but if you only had two bytes 10 + 10 = 00, just like if you only had one bit 1 + 1 = 0.

I was assuming one bit.