SmartmanApps , 1 month ago to Science Memes in a very emphatic answer

Even your “BODMAS” isn’t universal, lots of people learn “PEMDAS” or “BEDMAS”

The rules are universal, only the mnemonics used to remember the rules are different

except for facebook and twitter

... and high school Maths textbooks, and order of operations worksheet generators, and...

2/2*2 It is 0.5 or 2 depending on order.

It's always 2. #MathsIsNeverAmbiguous

SmartmanApps , 3 months ago to Asklemmy in Whats your such opinion

A matter of convention: true

False. Actual rules of Maths

This is not one of the ambiguous ones

There aren't any ambiguous ones - #MathsIsNeverAmbiguous

SmartmanApps , 3 months ago to Asklemmy in Whats your such opinion

This isn’t really one of the ambiguous ones but it’s fair to consider it unclear.

#MathsIsNeverAmbiguous if you follow all the rules of Maths (there's a lot of people here who aren't).

SmartmanApps , 3 months ago to Asklemmy in Whats your such opinion

Those math questions that rely on purposeful ambiguity in order to drive engagement

#MathsIsNeverAmbiguous The engagement is driven by people not remembering the rules of Maths. #DontForgetDistribution

SmartmanApps , 3 months ago to Asklemmy in Whats your such opinion

If they weren’t ambiguous, then you wouldn’t see them getting popular

#MathsIsNeverAmbiguous They get popular because people who don't remember all the rules of Maths want to argue with the people who do remember all the rules of Maths. #DontForgetDistribution

SmartmanApps , 3 months ago to 196 in Glitch in the matrix

intentionally ambiguously written

#MathsIsNeverAmbiguous

learned order of operations to cause a fight

The order of operations are the same everywhere. The fights arise from people who don't remember them.

SmartmanApps , 3 months ago to 196 in Glitch in the matrix

Your added parentheses do nothing

So you're saying Brackets aren't first in order of operations? What do you think brackets are for?

If you wanted to express the value 8 over the value 2*(1+3), you should write 8/(2*(1+3))

or, more correctly 8/2(1+3), as per the rules of Maths (we never write unnecessary brackets).

That is how you eliminate other valid interpretations

There aren't any other valid interpretations. #MathsIsNeverAmbiguous

what human being is going to read “8/2 * (1+3)” as anything but 4*4

Yes, that's right, but 8/2x(1+3) isn't the same as 8/2(1+3). That's the mistake that a lot of people make - disobeying The Distributive Law.

Those spaces

...have no meaning in Maths. The thing that separates the Terms, in your example, is the multiply. i.e. an operator.

most calculators don’t have a spacebar

...because it's literally meaningless in Maths.

any more than they have to ability to draw a big horizontal line and place 2(1+3) underneath it

Some of them can actually.

“The rules of math” you keep spamming about are not mathematical proofs

You should've read further on then. Here's the proof.

they’re arbitrary decisions made by individuals

No, they're a natural consequence of the way we have defined operators. e.g. 2x3=2+2+2, therefore we have to do multiplication before addition.

In many cases the opposite choice would be equally sensible

2+2x3=2+6=8 the correct answer, but if I do addition first...

2+2x3=4x3=12, which is the wrong answer. How is getting the wrong answer "equally sensible" as getting the right answer?

Do you want to argue that 8 - (2) + (1+3) should be 2?

No, why would I do that? 8-(2+1+3) does equal 2 though.