this post was submitted on 27 Jun 2024
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Science Memes

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I just cited myself. (mander.xyz)
submitted 6 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 23 points 6 months ago (2 children)

"Approximately equal" is just a superset of "equal" that also includes values "acceptably close" (using whatever definition you set for acceptable).

Unless you say something like:

a ≈ b ∧ a ≠ b

which implies a is close to b but not exactly equal to b, it's safe to presume that a ≈ b includes the possibility that a = b.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Can I get a citation on this? Because it doesn't pass the sniff test for me. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Approximation

[–] [email protected] 21 points 6 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

ISO is not a source for mathematical definitions

[–] [email protected] 22 points 6 months ago (1 children)

It's a definition from a well-respected global standards organization. Can you name a source that would provide a more authoritative definition than the ISO?

There's no universally correct definition for what the ≈ symbol means, and if you write a paper or a proof or whatever, you're welcome to define it to mean whatever you want in that context, but citing a professional standards organization seems like a pretty reliable way to find a commonly-accepted and understood definition.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Tbh I'm just impressed you:

A) knew there was an iso standard

  1. went to the effort of locating it

iii) posted it in respectful manner, and

e) are correct.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

assert np.isClose(3, 3)