Re:Is infinity an odd or even number? (2011)
by umanwizard on Tuesday May 02, 2023 @12:37PM
(#35790230)
It’s not just pedantic! It completely changes the answer to the question.
Re:Is infinity an odd or even number? (2011)
by yamtaddle on Tuesday May 02, 2023 @01:27PM
(#35791132)
Do you actually think I meant otherwise? Like, actually? Do you think anyone on HN was confused about it? Did you really think that?
Re:Is infinity an odd or even number? (2011)
by GreymanTheGrey on Tuesday May 02, 2023 @01:35PM
(#35791262)
Yes, I thought you meant otherwise. Yes, I was confused about it. Yes, I really thought that. Truly.
Re:Is infinity an odd or even number? (2011)
by yamtaddle on Tuesday May 02, 2023 @01:40PM
(#35791341)
You truly thought I didn't realize that "3.14" is an abbreviated representation of π, or that I somehow missed years and years of using the "repeating" sign above various decimal representations, or all those "..."s, such that it was plausible I meant the obviously-wrong thing rather than the correct thing? This stuff is hammered in in US K-12 school.
Re:Is infinity an odd or even number? (2011)
by mercutio2 on Thursday May 04, 2023 @02:41AM
(#35811993)
You really are being mean about someone trying to help you. Not sure why.
“Decimal numbers” is not a term routinely used in mathematical circles, precisely because of the confusion you, perhaps unwittingly, elicited. If you mean by this phrase all infinite series with a decimal approximation, then you’re talking about the reals. Some people thought you meant this!
Other people, quite reasonably, interpret “the Decimal numbers” to mean all numbers that can actually be expressed with decimal notation, in which case you are talking about (a subset of) the rationals.
It is extremely important, when discussion different sets, to be clear about the difference between these two.
To be pedantic, we experienced writing approximations of these numbers in decimal arithmetic.