I am teaching myself discrete math from this text:
In chapter 5 there is an example of mathematical induction, and then a comment about what NOT to do, but it seems to me that what is described as bad is exactly what was done in the good example. What am I missing? Here is the "good" example first:
Note that this is not the complete induction process, only the "basis step." Later, an example is given of the "wrong" way to solve that same basis step:
It seems to me that in the first example, both the LHS and the RHS were reduced to 1, to show that 1 = 1. In the second example, i.e. what not to do... the same process was undertaken. What is the difference?