2 ms·

Not if you take into account the special properties of 0. (Generally speaking, a structure that admits a neutral element with respect to addition is not isomorp

• naasking 4y ago
  You are correct, hence why I initially said it's mostly irrelevant. I should have qualified the claim about isomorphism as well. Still, quite a bit of math maps 1:1 without zero, so you can build a common understanding even if they don't have zero. I also don't think any alien species with which we will communicate will not understand zero. It just seems impossible. Before philosophers came up with zero in formal models, everyone intuitively understood the concept. Every animals knows when they have no food vs. when they have some food. Humans in ancient civilizations also couldn't just take something without paying.
  • illogical_spock 4y ago