That's not how it works. Addition losing structure doesn't mean "strip out everything from the textual description that isn't a number". It just loses some properties, like ordering.

Which means, for example: (3 liters and (i.e. "+") 6 seconds) + (4 liters and 2 oranges) = (7 liters and 6 seconds and 2 oranges). Perfectly sensible addition, which you do all the time. There's no stipulation the output has to be a single number...

Alright you're just talking about a different operation entirely but have decided to give it the name "addition". Not particularly insightful, but thanks anyway.

What? Addition isn't just for numbers. This is literally no different from adding vectors. I'm sure you've seen that in school?

What do you mean subtracting a cat from a dog doesn't make sense? Heh, ackshualllyyy I was imagining a vector of pets, where we have still have a dog but now a cat deficit of one, because the cat died and now we have a big hole in our family... nothing personnel kid. surely you learnt that in school?

The point is, making a vector, that's not addition.

This is quite literally no different than 1i + 2j. Or if you hate vectors like i or j, just complex numbers -- 1 + 2i. I'm not sure why you feel the rudeness is helping you get a point across, because it's very much not.

I am being no ruder than you are, more or less.

> because it's very much not

I don't expect to change the mind of someone who thinks that addition and defining a vector are the same thing. You've just redefined generally common terms and then started accusing people of being uneducated for not sharing your own eccentric definitions. Poor show.

No, you're grossly misrepresenting what I said. I never accused you of being poorly educated; in fact quite the opposite. I was ~100% sure you had seen vectors and complex numbers before and I was telling you this is exactly like what you have already seen. That's not an accusation of poor education, that's literally the opposite: pointing out that you're well educated enough to have seen that before.

I didn't intend that to be rude, I was pointing out this is something everyone learns in a standard curriculum i.e. that this is very much the opposite of esoteric. But you seemed determined to reply that way, so I'll stop here.