The Dividing Point
It all started with a seemingly simple question I saw somewhere: Is it possible to divide a square into two triangles? You might think you just need to cut it through the diagonal and you're done. But, if you divide something, its every point must belong to one part or the other. So what about the points on the diagonal? To which triangle do they belong? This problem seems to me like something artificial and counterintuitive, and makes me think the rules of geometry should be modified. Normally a point can't be divided into parts, but let's change the rules and assume it can.
Let's start with a simple 1D object: an interval on the number line. Its ends can be either open or closed. Closed means that the ending point belongs to the interval, and open that it doesn't. But if we can divide a point into two parts, then we can have an interval where an ending point is "at the edge", and only half of it belongs to the interval. It's like taking limits, where we can approach a value from one side or the other, and in some cases we get different results.
In case of 2 or more dimensions the situation is a bit different, because instead of two parts we can have any number of them. It's like a pie chart - when we zoom in to its central point, the situation around it doesn't change: the area is still divided into several parts, with the same proportions as the entire pie chart. So we only need to apply this division to the central point itself. In case of dividing the square into two triangles, the points at the diagonal belong in half to one triangle, and in half to the other. The two points at the end of the diagonal (in the corners of the square) only belong in 25% to the square, so after making the division they belong in 12.5% to one triangle, and in 12.5% to the other.
What do you think about my version of geometry, does it make any sense to you? (It's my original idea, if you know something like it that already exists, then let me know in the comments.)
Edited by PawelS
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