Here is how to break down a number by 1's

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if you read it carefully, you will understad how break down a number by 1's

I improved your block by making it a fast recursive function that can do numbers higher than 1!

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I guess for negative numbers you could just get the absolute value of num and then negate the list at the end.

and how do you do that?

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here it is the exterior image, what's inside of that?

There is nothing in the block. Subtracting the list from zero is what I meant since the subtraction block is a hyperblock.

The definition of the block should make it easier to understand.