re: Spinoff: X=6/2(2+1)

quote:

---

You read it that way because you are reading it left to right. Rules that govern reading a sentence do not govern math equations. You are right that people who answer 1 choose to do the order of operations as if the parenthesis were put that way. But those answering 9 are doing the same thing. You can't assume people will do operations left to right, because that's not a rule.

As someone else said, its up for interpretation until its written correctly.

---

OK we can all acknowledge using your basic keyboard symbols makes complex equations harder to communicate.

That being said, we know the limitations of this style, and we have to add a parentheses to make distinctions. Just like when I type an equation into R, or any other software that has the same language limitations, (I.e., unlike Maple and Mathematica which allow for a more formal representation) if I don't put the parentheses, it doesn't assume they are there.

So only one answer (1) requires an assumption of a symbol that is not clearly specified. I get the reasoning, but it requires an assumption that the other one does not so arguing that they both require one to make a similar assumption is simply not true.