The Case For Negative Integers (Revisited!) by Ruth Utnage

I once wrote an almost satirical piece challenging the validity of negative integers. But, I was reading this book titled "How The Mind Works" by Steven Pinker and in it he briefly describes the physical action of a firing neuron, "A synapse has a strength ranging from positive (excitatory) through zero (no effect) to negative (inhibitory)." It was the natural usage by our brains of "negative" that provided some context to me on how negative integers actually exist.

I know my original argument can be easily defeated via currency. If you have $10 and you owe $3 of your original $10, you are now $-3 (negative 3) and simultaneously $7 (positive 7). The point being the $-3 is a fact. It exists because it was used to deduct a certain determined amount that the $-3 represents precisely and exactly.

What I find so interesting is that our brains also use negativity, as an inhibitor. I want to find out more about this process, in due time I'm sure.

So who cares about any of this? Well, me. I like to understand and understanding must sometimes come from mistakes, sometime uninhibited play and freedom of thought. The case here is uninhibited freedom of thought. Will thoughts such as these lead anywhere? Who knows, but I do know one thing, if I were to be asked to determine the validity of negative integers as their own number, I now have an answer.

With Love

Ruth