This is obviously correct math, but formally you would do each step separately. The steps don’t necessarily need to be checked either, because it is an easy enough one that you can just check the result.
Math is a language, just a rigorous one, where it is simple to be right or wrong. It is a simple way to abstract away things that don’t matter, and talk about the underlying relations. Math is a subset of language with easier relations. For something with a pure general intelligence, math is probably much easier than a normal language.
I hold that we are story telling intelligences [and consciousness is us telling ourselves our own story as we compose it] that have been generalized through a deep understanding of the patterns in stories, which is why normal languages are easier for us -they were made to tell stories. (I also hold that you story of math is technically incorrect.)
You kind of can be informal though?
Suppose, 5x − 2 = 3b +9, thus
x = (3b + 11)/5 or b = (5x −11)/3
If b = 2, then
x = 17⁄5
If x = 2, then
b = −1/3
This is obviously correct math, but formally you would do each step separately. The steps don’t necessarily need to be checked either, because it is an easy enough one that you can just check the result.
Math is a language, just a rigorous one, where it is simple to be right or wrong. It is a simple way to abstract away things that don’t matter, and talk about the underlying relations. Math is a subset of language with easier relations. For something with a pure general intelligence, math is probably much easier than a normal language.
I hold that we are story telling intelligences [and consciousness is us telling ourselves our own story as we compose it] that have been generalized through a deep understanding of the patterns in stories, which is why normal languages are easier for us -they were made to tell stories. (I also hold that you story of math is technically incorrect.)