The issue with odd and even and zero is that the concept of odd and even (male and female, good and evil) numbers predates the concept of zero being a number by centuries, let alone negative numbers. Numbers were conceived as some sort of spiritual entities, because they did have power to tell you how the world worked, and they definitely existed because four minus three will ALWAYs leave you with one. But what is 'One'? We've merely fitted the old mythology of the number entities to our extended numberline even though it doesn't really apply. The absence of a number, even a very large number, may be something that you can count, but it doens't make it an entity. Not even a spiritual one.
I hold that zero is not even. Neither is it odd. As for negatives, let's just not go there. Modern fabrications, merely!
I was actually about to post a question raised by my mum's maths teacher about proving that 0.99 reccuring equals 1...the three thirds one being the simplest of those discussed!
Now that's just our brains not dealing with infinity very well. If you were to start at the other end, adding 0.3_ three times would give you 1. But 0.9_ is not 1, tho it's a very close number 2.
For your next entry Ed, I highly recommend you rant about infinity for a while. You had me thorougly entertained at Ali's party. I just started you talking with a joke I'd heard and I think an hour later the beer was warm and I was still in stitches :)
layman's maths = yay! (it's the only maths i've been near since year 11... well with the exception of partly understanding ECGs in relation to vectors - do they count?)
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We've merely fitted the old mythology of the number entities to our extended numberline even though it doesn't really apply.
The absence of a number, even a very large number, may be something that you can count, but it doens't make it an entity. Not even a spiritual one.
I hold that zero is not even. Neither is it odd. As for negatives, let's just not go there. Modern fabrications, merely!
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For your next entry Ed, I highly recommend you rant about infinity for a while. You had me thorougly entertained at Ali's party. I just started you talking with a joke I'd heard and I think an hour later the beer was warm and I was still in stitches :)
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So if n=0, then zero would be written 2*0. But zero can't be written in the form 2n+1.
Or is there a more deep and meaningful explanation?
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(it's the only maths i've been near since year 11... well with the exception of partly understanding ECGs in relation to vectors - do they count?)
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