Alan,

Given that the operand is the number negative two I am correctly following the rules of PEDMAS. I really don't know why you all have such problems with signed numbers.

>But that's exactly why there are rules. Without the rules of math, the debate would never have a resolution. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me in the least to learn that this is how the rules came about. Why pedmas in the first place. It's so we all end up in the same place. The rules say one thing, and you say another. You insist that the result provided by the rules is wrong. It's not wrong; it's what following the math rule produces. Not following the rules results in chaos - even if, intuitively, the result seems more reasonable.