[OPE-L:7152] [OPE-L:658] Re: Am I my own brother?

Gerald Levy (glevy@pratt.edu)
Thu, 11 Mar 1999 22:22:21 -0500 (EST)

Consider the following equation:

1 U.S. dollar bill = 100 pennies

Can we infer from the above "equation" that a penny is in all respects
merely 1/100th of a dollar?

If this were quite literally true than we should be able to divide a
dollar bill into 100 pieces and each part would then = 1 penny.

Yet, this is not the case! Thus we must reject the "equation" of pennies
with dollars!

Or should we?

Perhaps an alternative explanation might be that there is no necessary
suggestion that 100 pennies and 1 dollar are in all respects equal simply
because there is an equation and an "=" sign.

In solidarity, Jerry