Re:Are real numbers really real?
by btilly on Tuesday June 12, 2018 @11:17AM
(#17294052)
Actually there are non-computable numbers known that you can encounter. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaitin%27s_constant.
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Re:Are real numbers really real?
by chriswarbo on Tuesday June 12, 2018 @01:11PM
(#17295389)
Yes, there's actually another distinction we can make: between incomputable numbers and indescribable numbers. The latter is very slippery, since it can lead to things like the Berry paradox https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berry_paradox
For example, we would need some way to avoid expressions like "the smallest indescribable number", since that itself is a description ;)