There is a distinction to be drawn between expression and evaluation. If I express “2+2” it could be evaluated to 4 (in decimal); or 11 (in trinary). If two e

There is a distinction to be drawn between expression and evaluation. If I express “2+2” it could be evaluated to 4 (in decimal); or 11 (in trinary). If two evaluators disagree on the truth-value of 2+2=11 then one possible explanation is that they disagree on the number-system in which the expression was made. That leads to the usual consensus problems in computer science: leader election etc. It can’t be solved without one side “changing its mind” - or, at least translating its expressions for the target evaluator. Consensus requires linguistic norms.