alt Hacker NewsI'm not a professional, but to me it's clear that whether i and -i are "the same" or "different" is actually quite important.
Replies
grumbelbart • yesterday at 7:50 PM
They would never be the same. It's just that everything still works the same if you switch out every i with -i (and thus every -i with i).
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kergonath • yesterday at 7:14 PM
A bit like +0 and -0? It makes sense in some contexts, and none in others.
I'm a professional mathematician and professor.
This is a very interesting question, and a great motivator for Galois theory, kind of like a Zen koan. (e.g. "What is the sound of one hand clapping?")
But the question is inherently imprecise. As soon as you make a precise question out of it, that question can be answered trivially.