• expr@programming.dev
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    40
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    5 months ago

    I just found out about this debate and it’s patently absurd. The ISO 80000-2 standard defines ℕ as including 0 and it’s foundational in basically all of mathematics and computer science. Excluding 0 is a fringe position and shouldn’t be taken seriously.

    • RandomWalker@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      15
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      5 months ago

      I could be completely wrong, but I doubt any of my (US) professors would reference an ISO definition, and may not even know it exists. Mathematicians in my experience are far less concerned about the terminology or symbols used to describe something as long as they’re clearly defined. In fact, they’ll probably make up their own symbology just because it’s slightly more convenient for their proof.

    • Kogasa@programming.dev
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      edit-2
      5 months ago

      Ehh, among American academic mathematicians, including 0 is the fringe position. It’s not a “debate,” it’s just a different convention. There are numerous ISO standards which would be highly unusual in American academia.

      FWIW I was taught that the inclusion of 0 is a French tradition.

      • xkforce@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        5
        arrow-down
        3
        ·
        5 months ago

        The US is one of 3 countries on the planet that still stubbornly primarily uses imperial units. “The US doesn’t do it that way” isn’t a great argument for not adopting a standard.

      • pooberbee (any)@lemmy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        5 months ago

        This isn’t strictly true. I went to school for math in America, and I don’t think I’ve ever encountered a zero-exclusive definition of the natural numbers.

      • holomorphic@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        4 months ago

        I have yet to meet a single logician, american or otherwise, who would use the definition without 0.

        That said, it seems to depend on the field. I think I’ve had this discussion with a friend working in analysis.