Zero (1)

This is math, forget the politics.

Prof. Strogatz continues with his very interesting series on numbers in the NYT.

You can read there about division. Here I write my take on numbers.

It all starts with the counting numbers, that as Kronecker said, God gave us.  I believe that even these counting numbers do not exist but in our head. You know, I am a radical materialist. I do not believe in any π in the sky. All numbers are electrical and chemical marks in our cerebral mass. From there they "jump" to marks in silicon wafers, designed in California, and more and more, actually put together in China.

Nevertheless by the time we go to school, we all but forgot where these counting things came from. Hazy memories in not very reflective little heads. Somehow I saw in my mind's eye the image of that little girl that dozes off in mid class in Peanuts comic strips. That makes them God given.

Then we start with more grown up stuff.

n+1 is the next number.

n+1 = 1+n (mh, neat)

1 + x = 2

I know that, x is one. Good boy, good boy.

And so on and so forth. We engage in games, and we think we are discovering transcendental truths, to later fill in Ph.D. theses.

At some point we come up with someting like:

1 + x = 1

Weird, what can this be?

And volià, there is zero!

Now you can read Prof. Strogatz take on things like these.