However, if the equality doesnt hold, then adding ln0.5 to both sides WONT preserve the equality. I agree with this.thats the problem....that argument relies IF the original equality holds
we have to PROVE that it holds, and therefore CANNOT assume that it holds in the first place
But notice how the guy actually goes on to prove that it does actually preserve the quality (and hence that the original equality is true). He goes this in the step LHS=ln2+ln0.5=ln1=0=RHS