{
  "$type": "site.standard.document",
  "description": "seme",
  "path": "/posts/tok-mat-faq/",
  "publishedAt": "2025-06-11T04:00:00.000Z",
  "site": "at://did:plc:6n2ngs7zpcpwxz3jaoxj56tu/site.standard.publication/3mo6y7ludvn2h",
  "tags": [
    "toki pona"
  ],
  "textContent": "FAQ\n\nFrequently asked questions about toki pi (nasin nanpa).\n\nWhy not use ijo symbol instead of ijo symbol?\n\nThese are NOT the only symbols you can use for this.\nFar from it, in fact.\n\n- It would make more intuitive sense to use wan for addition, but then using tu for subtraction could sound strange.\n- You could use sin instead for multiplication or addition.\n- You could use ala for subtraction.\n\nThe symbols you chose are weird.\n\nI really think this is not as important as people make it out to be.\nIf you think there is a difference between multiplication and addition, let me remind you that\n\n\\[(\\mathbb{R}_{> 0}, \\times) \\cong (\\mathbb{R}, +).\\]\n\nWhy did you choose those symbols in specific?\n\nA distinction that I would like to make clear is that, in the language of Mathematics, there is a general difference between the \"product\" and \"sum\" of something.\nI think this is best expressed in examples:\n\n- algebra of sets:\n    - \\(A \\cap B\\) := product\n    - \\(A \\cup B\\) := sum\n- boolean logic:\n    - \\(a \\land b\\) := product\n    - \\(a \\lor b\\) := sum\n- order theory:\n    - \\(\\inf\\{a, b\\}\\) := product\n    - \\(\\sup\\{a, b\\}\\) := sum\n- algebraic data types (Haskell):\n    -  := product\n    -  := sum\n\nBoolean logic, being the closest to natural language in my opinion, has the clearest example of what a general \"product\" and \"sum\" expresses.\nThe \"product\" should express the notion of \"both\" things and \"sum\" should express the notion of \"either\" things.\n\nWith this in mind,\n\n- I am using namako for addition because it expresses \"additonal\" or \"extra\" things.\n- I am using weka for subtraction because of the dual reasons of namako.\n- I am using wan for multiplication because it expresses the idea of \"both\" things that a \"product\" should express.\n- I am using tu for division because of the dual reasons of wan.\n\nIsn't it confusing that wan and tu refer to a number and an operation?\nYes.",
  "title": "Mathematics in toki pona"
}