Re:142857
by tomvbussel on Wednesday August 05, 2015 @01:20PM
(#10011293)
Ask a random person if 1 and 0.999999... are the same number and most people will tell you they aren't the same number. Yet: 1 = 3 * (1/3) = 3 * 0.33333... = 0.99999... (they're also epsilon close for every epsilon larger than zero). So yes, this kind of stuff is surprising for a lot of people.
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I'd like to have everyone in the world give me their money and I will promptly return that money times 0.99999... They are the same number, after all.
Aside from the obvious problems trustworthiness and transaction costs, what would be wrong with that?
I'd like to have everyone in the world give me their money and I will return that money times 1.0000000001 about a week later, after making bank off the interest. Sadly there seems to be no general enthusiasm for this plan. :)
Also: Tell you what... you give me your account details, and I'll send you (1 - 0.9999...) times my money. Deal?