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Giltwist
Skeptic Friend
USA
69 Posts |
 Posted - 06/02/2006 : 01:01:51 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Ricky
The format of the site is amazingly similar to that of the Time Cube.
*twitch*
Despite my own personal complaints about the educational system, as a math teacher, I really have to say I am continually hurt by people who say things like "-1 * -1 should equal -1" -- especially in an opening sentence. I still can't convince my father that division by zero is undefined... |
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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard
USA
4574 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2006 : 01:42:11 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Giltwist
*twitch*
Despite my own personal complaints about the educational system, as a math teacher, I really have to say I am continually hurt by people who say things like "-1 * -1 should equal -1" -- especially in an opening sentence. I still can't convince my father that division by zero is undefined...
Biggest paradox in math: .99999~ equals 1.
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"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes
"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman
"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie |
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Giltwist
Skeptic Friend
USA
69 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2006 : 03:27:33 [Permalink]
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Not really a paradox. If a number is so close as to be indistinguishable from one, why shouldn't it be one?
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Cuneiformist
The Imperfectionist
USA
4955 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2006 : 04:56:00 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Giltwist
Not really a paradox. If a number is so close as to be indistinguishable from one, why shouldn't it be one?
I don't know-- I am sorta with HH on this one. When I first learned this (and I forget how old I was), I was stunned. |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2006 : 06:14:13 [Permalink]
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Indistinguishable is the key word here. 0.999... behaves (amongst real numbers) exactly as if it were 1.1/3 = 0.333.... Multiply both sides by 3:1 = 0.999... |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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Ricky
SFN Die Hard
USA
4907 Posts |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2006 : 10:16:06 [Permalink]
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| Yeah, if 0.999... and 1 are distinct numbers, then the average of the two ought to also be a distinct number between 0.999... and 1. What is that number, and how does one write it down? |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2006 : 11:30:16 [Permalink]
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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BigPapaSmurf
SFN Die Hard
3192 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2006 : 12:07:40 [Permalink]
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Clearly the answer is .9995, jk.
It is stated as 0.9# + ([1-0.9#]/2) Is there a trick for the repeating number symbol? |
"...things I have neither seen nor experienced nor heard tell of from anybody else; things, what is more, that do not in fact exist and could not ever exist at all. So my readers must not believe a word I say." -Lucian on his book True History
"...They accept such things on faith alone, without any evidence. So if a fraudulent and cunning person who knows how to take advantage of a situation comes among them, he can make himself rich in a short time." -Lucian critical of early Christians c.166 AD From his book, De Morte Peregrini |
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Ricky
SFN Die Hard
USA
4907 Posts |
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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard
USA
4574 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2006 : 13:11:52 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Dave W.
Yeah, if 0.999... and 1 are distinct numbers, then the average of the two ought to also be a distinct number between 0.999... and 1. What is that number, and how does one write it down?
That's why this is a paradox!
Even a 3 year-old can see that .999... is just short of 1, so obviously the human mind is incapable of completely solving this ageless riddle. I suspect that if we were to do so, the Grand Unified Theory of Everything would fall right into place.*
*I first came across this "debate" in the World of Warcraft forums. Whenever the servers would be down (which was often), someone would invariably post ".9999... does not equal 1." The resulting argument would stretch on for pages, with most of the math literate first politely trying to explain how they do equal one another, and then eventually cursing the rest of us out as ignoramuses. I'd post something like the above just to add fuel to the fire. Good times...
Even better: I would tell them that math actually has no place in this debate, that it was a philosophical discussion. They would go ballistic. 
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"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes
"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman
"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie |
| Edited by - H. Humbert on 06/02/2006 14:53:04 |
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9688 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2006 : 14:46:56 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by H. Humbert
Even better: I would tell them that math actually has no place in such a debate, that this was a philosophical discussion. They would go ballistic.
And you complain when creationists say that evolution denies God... 
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Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3
"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
| Edited by - Dr. Mabuse on 06/02/2006 14:47:15 |
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Ricky
SFN Die Hard
USA
4907 Posts |
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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard
USA
4574 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2006 : 15:39:36 [Permalink]
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I'm reminded of a riddle:
The infinite hotel
Imagine a hotel with an infinite number of rooms, numbered 1, 2, 3, and so on forever. All the rooms are full. A man comes in and asks the desk manager whether any rooms are available, and the desk manager replies, "All our rooms are full, but I'd be happy to accommodate you."
How does he do it?
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"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes
"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman
"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2006 : 17:00:34 [Permalink]
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| Jeez, H., just do the ultimate hijack next time and ask about the origins of the phrase "the whole nine yards." |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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