Re:The Math Myth
by umanwizard on Saturday September 03, 2016 @11:45AM
(#12419617)
If people accept 0.33... = 1/3 but not 0.99... = 1, they are being logically inconsistent.
A "proof" that just plays a trick on people's logically inconsistent assumptions to derive a result isn't very satisfying. You're not really uncovering anything fundamental through that proof, just playing games.
Edit: what I mean to say is there are reasonable things "..." could mean such that .99... and .33... are both not equal to 1 and 1/3, respectively. But there are none for which one pair is equal and the other not, as you rightly point out. So all your proof does is show that the other person's viewpoint is inconsistent, but it doesn't give any evidence for one of the two consistent viewpoints over the other.
A "proof" that just plays a trick on people's logically inconsistent assumptions to derive a result isn't very satisfying. You're not really uncovering anything fundamental through that proof, just playing games.
Edit: what I mean to say is there are reasonable things "..." could mean such that .99... and .33... are both not equal to 1 and 1/3, respectively. But there are none for which one pair is equal and the other not, as you rightly point out. So all your proof does is show that the other person's viewpoint is inconsistent, but it doesn't give any evidence for one of the two consistent viewpoints over the other.