Nerdiest. Pit Thread. Ever.
I had several times wondered what was discussed in this thread, but no way I was going to read a thread where presumably educated mathematicians were arguing page after page about some fine point or another.
You mean that people have wasted 1300+ posts on 27 pages and counting just to try to convince a single poster unwilling to listen?
You guys are way too patient for your own good.
Most of the people I’ve talked to who don’t understand it just don’t understand what the 0.999… notation means. They think, basically, that eventually you’ll run out of space to write all those nines, and that when you finally tire of writing them, the difference will therefore be lots of zeroes (however many nines you got to less one) then a one.
I have posted once or twice in the other thread. Math was always my worst subject in school, and I don’t understand the explanations given in the other thread. Therefore, I will take to my grave the belief that .9999999999 is close to 1. That’s it. A number is not 1 unless it begins with a 1, and isn’t followed by anything.
So it is. In the same way, 0.999…9, with a billion 9s following the decimal point, is close to but not equal to 1. However, 0.999…, with an unlimited number of 9s, is equal to 1, because it’s the limit, not any of the steps on the way.
Yes, but that single poster is has changed many times during the course of the thread. 7… is just the most recent. He is the first to start witnessing near as I can tell.
Not wanting to wade through 20+ pages - can somebody explain how “0.9 recurring = 1” leads to witnessing?
Our friend 7777777 has now invoked “the truth”, his sole personal awareness of said truth against the world, and also God, the Messiah, and biblical passages.
Well, I held out hope but I’m giving up. I can deal with facts. We can measure, verify, and establish those. “The Truth” is another kettle of fish entirely.
“Base 8? What’s base 8?” I hear you cry.
Well, it’s just like base 10, really. If you’re missing two fingers.
Ghod damn it! Friday isn’t for math-Friday is for beer!.
That’s what I used to think, too. But look at it this way: Three one-third fractions - that is, 1/3 plus 1/3 plus 1/3 - add up to 1.
1/3 plus 1/3 plus 1/3 can be expressed as 0.3333333333…plus 0.333333333…plus 0.3333333333…which is 0.9999999999999…
Damn if that wasn’t one of my favorite games in college. How many beers before my proofs starting going horribly wrong?
Tullio Levi-Civita got around your objections with a hierarchy of infinitesimals.
m̅a̅d̅n̅e̅s̅s̅s̅s̅s̅s̅s̅s̅s̅s̅s̅s̅s̅s̅s̅s̅s̅s̅s̅s̅s̅s̅s̅s̅s̅s̅s̅s̅…
Is he Legion?
“I am know by many names…but all of them recognize the superiority of the 1.”
That thread will obvously go on forever, constantly losing significance.
They may be mathematically equal, but they’re clearly different in that one takes longer to write and apparently pisses off Jesus.
Um, no.
0.0…0001, as you’ve written it, has a last nonzero digit, that 1 on the right end. So there are a finite number of zeroes between the decimal point and the 1.
That’s not true with 0.999… which, as written, the string of 9’s goes on forever.
Say that 1 is in the 743rd place to the right of the decimal. Then
0.0…0001 + 0.999… = 0.0…0001 + 0.999…999* + 0.000…000999…** = 1 + 0.000…000999…** = 1.000…0009999… with 743 zeroes, followed by infinitely many 9’s.
*743 9’s to the right of the decimal point, then all zeroes after that.
** 743 zeroes to the right of the decimal point, then all 9’s after that, out to infinity.
Needless to say, the choice of 743 was arbitrary, and the argument will work equally well if the 743 is replaced by any other positive integer.
It’s so simple, so very simple, that only a child can do it!
First, I must mention that the OP’s post was pretty dang funny and erudite.
Tip o the Hat to Stealth Potato.
This is the very first time I have ever heard of mathematics being squished into a Messiah complex. I am not sure I should delve into this deep dark sea of madness that you describe. It sounds much like someone who genuinely needs to medicated or (as suggested before) given a chair at a Liberal Arts College (sorry… but that was a funny line).
What do you suppose 7… does for a living?
Seriously.
Nothing. Lives in Mom’s basement.
Or…
Store clerk?
IT professional?
International spy?
Professor of English?
Rock star?
Transdimensional warrior for Jesus?
Hard to tell.
This place attracts the most interesting folks.
So it’s like the vast majority of threads on this board, right?