Why does multiplying two negative numbers equal a positive number?
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Math is a tool we use to measure the universe. Negatives are a concept, not a universal truth. If we based our numbers with zero being absolute nothingness, negative would be an impossible number, so we would always have to be positive, so we’d have to define our initial reference point if we ever had to deduct from our initial reference. This becomes a problem if you have no way to define the initial reference point, so we make the reference point 0 and allow anything under it to be a negative. So we have to make a “rule” on how to measure from this initial reference point. That role is that multiplying two negatives is positive, and we formulate equations around this rule.
We also could redefine our order of operations (and we do in many fields), but then we need to formulate our equations to match that order of operations.
So the reason is because it’s a rule we’ve all agreed on to make our measurements of the universe able to be communicated in a standardized way.
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