(September 22, 2009 at 5:49 pm)leo-rcc Wrote: They are both infintes, and according to Adrian subtracting infinites gives zero.No, they are both infinitely long, not infinites. Big difference. Infinity - Infinity = 0 because anything taken away from itself is 0.
(September 22, 2009 at 6:01 pm)leo-rcc Wrote: I call bollocks on this mathematical truth. If I am wrong, so be it, but I've seen nothing convincing me that a number smaller than 1 equals 1.That's the point though. It's not a smaller number than one. By definition two numbers cannot be the same if they are different amounts. The point is that 0.999... is provably equal to 1, as demonstrated to you multiple times. Read the Wikipedia article if you doubt it's mathematically true, and if you still aren't convinced, find a mathematician and ask them.
(September 22, 2009 at 6:03 pm)Saerules Wrote: Establishment doesn't make something right 1/3 is an approximation, because 1 does not perfectly divide into three parts. 1/2, on the other hand, divides perfectly into 0.5.1/3 isn't an approximation, it's technically more accurate than 0.333... since 0.333... is infinitely long and can never be written fully. However since 0.333... is a real number, it exists.
(September 23, 2009 at 12:50 am)Rhizomorph13 Wrote: I think it is the mathmatical equivalent of the equivocation fallacy but I can't proove it. I know of no application for this fact in engineering, biology, or even psychology so I feel no great reason to agree or dissagree with it.It's not a fallacy. Point out the error in my calculation.