this post was submitted on 07 Dec 2023
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[–] SmartmanApps@programming.dev -1 points 7 months ago (11 children)

If I write f^{-1}(x), without context, you have literally no way of knowing whether I am talking about a multiplicative or a functional inverse, which means that it is ambiguous

The inverse of the function is f(x)^-1. i.e. the negative exponent applies to the whole function, not just the x (since f(x) is a single term).

[–] rasensprenger@feddit.de 2 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (10 children)

You can define your notation that way if youlike to, doesn't change the fact that commonly f^{-1}(x) is and has been used that way forever.

If I read this somewhere, without knowing the conventions the author uses, it's ambiguous

[–] SmartmanApps@programming.dev -2 points 7 months ago (9 children)

You can define your notation that way if you like

Nothing to do with me - it's in Maths textbooks.

without knowing the conventions the author uses, it’s ambiguous

Well they should all be following the rules of Maths, without needing to have that stated.

[–] rasensprenger@feddit.de 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Exactly! It's in math textbooks, in both ways! Ambiguous notation, one might say.

[–] SmartmanApps@programming.dev -2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Exactly! It’s in math textbooks, in both ways!

And both ways are explained, so not ambiguous which is which.

[–] rasensprenger@feddit.de 1 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

Yeah, doesn't mean that you know what an author is talking about when you encounter it doing actual math

The notation is not intrinsically clear, as any human writing. Ambiguous, one may say.

[–] SmartmanApps@programming.dev -2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

The notation is not intrinsically clear

It is to me, I actually teach how to write it.

[–] rasensprenger@feddit.de 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

We've been at this point, I'm not going to explain this again. But you weren't able to read a single sentence of a wikipedia article without me handfeeding it to you, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I'm sorry for your students.

[–] SmartmanApps@programming.dev -2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

a single sentence of a wikipedia article without me handfeeding it to you

And I told you why it was wrong, which is why I read Maths textbooks and not wikipedia.

I’m sorry for your students

My students are doing good thanks

[–] rasensprenger@feddit.de 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Apparently you can't read either textbooks or wikipedia and understand it.

Also, wait, you're just a tutor and not actually a teacher? Being wrong about some incredibly basic thing in your field is one thing, but lying about that is just disrespectful, especially since you drop that in basically every sentence.

[–] SmartmanApps@programming.dev -2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

you’re just a tutor and not actually a teacher?

Both - see the problem with the logic you use?

Let me know when you decide to consult a textbook about this.

[–] rasensprenger@feddit.de 1 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

I'm not using logic in this case, you are just being insincere. Let me know when you bother to try to understand anything I or the authors of your holy textbooks wrote.

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