this post was submitted on 11 Jan 2024
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A math lesson from 4chan (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 10 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 8 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

That's surprisingly accurate, as people here are highlighting (it makes geometrical sense when dealing with complex numbers).

My nephew once asked me this question. The way that I explained it was like this:

  • the friend of my friend is my friend; (+1)*(+1) = (+1)
  • the enemy of my friend is my enemy; (+1)*(-1) = (-1)
  • the friend of my enemy is my enemy; (-1)*(+1) = (-1)
  • the enemy of my enemy is my friend; (-1)*(-1) = (+1)

It's a different analogy but it makes intuitive sense, even for kids. And it works nice as mnemonic too.