Re: naive question from a non-mathematician

G.E. Ivey wrote:
It's hard for me to believe this has gone on so long. While every "quibble" is correct (and mathematicians love quibbles!) John Smith did say "mathematically equivalent", not "identical" or "the same" or "equal" so I would have no trouble at all accepting "Yes, they are mathematically equivalent".

That's a great answer. But I don't think it could be fully appreciated without the long discussion that preceded it.
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