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ahbwramc comments on Is Scott Alexander bad at math? - Less Wrong
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Sure, I understand the identity now of course (or at least I have more of an understanding of it). All I meant was that if you're introduced to Euler's identity at a time when exponentiation just means "multiply this number by itself some number of times", then it's probably going to seem really odd to you. How exactly does one multiply 2.718 by itself sqrt(-1)*3.14 times?
You simply measure out a length such that, if you drew a square that many meters on a side, and also drew a square 3.1415 meters on a side, they would enclose no area between the two of them. Then evenly divide this length into meters, and for each meter write down 2.7183. Now multiply those numbers together, and you'll find they make -1. Easy!