# Are Equal Things Equal?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-equal-things-equal/384328>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 15, 2006, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-equal-things-equal/384328 "2006-12-15T19:54:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\
**Post date:** [December 19, 2006, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-equal-things-equal/384328/21 "2006-12-19T22:14:19Z")

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[QUOTE=Mathochist]  
…Once you get a few steps up this ladder, you lose essential information about the structure when you decategorify, so it becomes extremely important to keep track of what things are really equal, and what things are merely equivalent.  
[/QUOTE]

Thanks **Mathochist** 🙂 I see what you are driving at. I haven’t done any of that sort of theory of math ever (just some calculus and vector maths), so you have just opened up vast new vistas of ignorance for me to not know about. :smack:

Hmm - I need something to read over christmas (since there won’t be any snow on my _skiing_ holiday[/rant]) so maybe I’ll look for something in the maths line - for laymen.

Si

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