How would you explain to an elementary school student why n + 0 = n?
How would you explain mathematical induction to a high school student?
And how can formal mathematical proofs be made more similar to the way a non-autistic person would explain things?

P11812
>How would you explain to an elementary school student why n + 0 = n?
i hold one pencil in my hand
i add another pencil
now i hold two
i add no more pencils
i still hold two
if you arent braindead you know the same is true for whatever amount of pencils im holding, they arent just gonna appear out of nowhere
the other question ill leave for the other anons

P11866
I would replace a pencil with a quill so instead of spending time thinking, I dip the quill into the inkwell over and over again.

P11866
Seems more like a scientific demonstration than a mathematical proof, though. It's based on empirical observations that pencils and other counted objects don't appear out of thin air. Of course that distinction may not be important for explaining it to an elementary schooler.

I guess the question is, what sort of mathematical postulates really deserve being treated as self-evident? Do any of them?