>>16692077>R-modules a vector spaceVector spaces are a subclass of modules. In particular, they’re free modules because fields are division rings. Generic modules aren’t free (ie admit a basis). I literally gave you a concrete example of vector fields on a sphere.
>>16692254>The "smoothness" condition for a smooth Riemannian manifold (i.e., the thing differential geometry is about) is literally that the tangent plane is well defined at all points on the manifoldNo, that’s not what it’s about. It’s about coordinate chart transition maps being smooth. Tangent spaces are, in fact, vector spaces, but tangent BUNDLES, which are used to define vector fields, are not. There is no notion of adding to vectors at two different points. You have take sections of the bundle and the existence of a particular section isn’t guaranteed.
>Differential geometry is all about the Riemannian metricAgain, very ignorant take. You can establish almost the entire vocabulary of differential geometry without a reference to the metric. I would argue that introducing the metric early on is pedagogically misleading as the musical isomorphism leads to students not properly understanding the essential differences between vectors and covectors. This difference is essential to understanding why pushforwards, pullbacks, exterior derivatives, integration on a manifold, etc are defined the way they are.