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2+2 = not what you think

felipec.substack.com

Changing someone's mind is very difficult, that's why I like puzzles most people get wrong: to try to open their mind. Challenging the claim that 2+2 is unequivocally 4 is one of my favorites to get people to reconsider what they think is true with 100% certainty.

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This is usually covered in basic math courses or textbooks. For example, freely translated from The Open University of Israel's a quick intro to logic:

We mentioned that 3*4 > 10 is a true statement. This statement is false if the numbers are actually written in Hexadecimal base, where "10" represents the decimal number 16.

So that we don't require the assistance of a lawyer every time we determine a statement to be true or false, we agree that in every case where concepts have a common interpretation or context, we assume (without mentioning) that we speak in that common context, [...]

My post has absolutely nothing to do with bases. Did you read it?

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2+2 is unequivocally 4 unless the numbers are redefined, such as by changing the base you're working in.

Except my post proves that's not the case. Again: I did not change any the base in my post.

You’re missing the point. It’s not that you literally changed the base, but you did effectively the same thing

No. Apples are not oranges. Abstract algebra is a much less known concept than numeral systems. Virtually nobody thinks of that when considering 2+2.