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Anonymous B joined in and replied with this 7 years ago, 1 hour later[^][v]#970,971
(((They)))
MR STEVEN MNUCHIN joined in and replied with this 7 years ago, 20 minutes later, 1 hour after the original post[^][v]#970,982
x-y=difference
Anonymous A (OP) replied with this 7 years ago, 3 hours later, 5 hours after the original post[^][v]#971,047
@previous (MR STEVEN MNUCHIN)
They are asking for the distance. I already have the difference.
Sheila LaBoof joined in and replied with this 7 years ago, 3 hours later, 8 hours after the original post[^][v]#971,067
OK then. If you have two positions in space represented by a number for each, as though they appeared on a number line, then arithmetic involving those numbers can tell you things about how the positions relate to each other. If you cared about directional information, such as how much further from a reference point zero is position A compared to position B, then you'd do B minus A. Not only would you then know the distance that separates A and B, but you would also know in which direction you would have to move to get from A to B. If B - A is positive, then you'd be going in the positive direction, and if B - A is negative, then you'd be going in the negative direction.
However, if you don't care about the directional crap, then nevermind whether you got a positive or negative result and merely pay attention to the magnitude (bigness) of the number.
In physics, we speak of displacement versus distance: if you care about direction, then you are talking about displacement. Otherwise, you are talking about distance. It's a vector versus scalar thing. Vector quantities involve directionality as well as magnitude.
Anonymous E joined in and replied with this 7 years ago, 25 minutes later, 8 hours after the original post[^][v]#971,070
@previous (Sheila LaBoof)
Fuck, man. Talk about demonstrating your knowledge and competence of the subject matter by giving a direct and useful answer. You're one those posters who is fun to have around on any occasion.
Sheila LaBoof replied with this 7 years ago, 22 minutes later, 9 hours after the original post[^][v]#971,074
wheeee!
MR STEVEN MNUCHIN replied with this 7 years ago, 1 week later, 1 week after the original post[^][v]#973,552