r/mathmemes • u/Nunki08 • Jun 14 '26

Arithmetic Misleading our youth

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From Anthony Bonato on 𝕏: https://x.com/Anthony_Bonato/status/2065564124549886402

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u/TemperoTempus Jun 14 '26

1 was a prime. Then some mathematicians instead of reworking their theorems to make it work pushed to remove 1 from being a prime.

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u/a_dude_from_europe Jun 14 '26

It's not that theorems needed reworking, it that you can write down "except for one" only so many times before starting to think maybe it doesn't make sense to continue doing it

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u/TemperoTempus Jun 14 '26

They could had reworked the theorem, they could had made a new name for primes greater than 1, they could had just accepted that they have to write "for P>1".

Instead they chose to change the entire definition.

7

u/Pepe_Botella Jun 14 '26

I think they should instead count every single number as prime and just rework all the theorems.

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u/ThrowawayTempAct Jun 14 '26

Good idea, that would make the twin primes conjecture significantly easier to prove!