I was listening to the radio the other day and this mathemetician was explaining how there is no such number as 1, but actually it's a representation of .9999999999999999999999999 repeating. Has anyone else heard this before? I found it fascinating.
Isn't the same concept applied toward absolute zero? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asymptote P.S. Let's take those rounded fractions of a cent and deposit them in a secret account. It's fool-proof. Spoiler
maybe there's no such thing as 9 either, it's just a representation of .8999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999 repeating.
So when I flick off this mathmatician for his asinine claims....I'm only using .999999999999999999 of my middle finger?
Wait wouldn't that mean .9999999999999 is a representation of .99999999999999999999999~99998. So that means no numbers exist, every number is a representation of the number before it . Physics just unraveled itself...
The most fascinating thing is that some obscure mathematician managed to get a little bit of actual attention. Next, chicks and riches! And totally ignore the fact that the claim that there is no such thing as '1' is utterly stupid.
Yeah my mind was blown when I heard it as well but it is true. Infact every number can be represented that way. Take 2 for example. 2 = (2/3) + (2/3) + (2/3) 2 = 0.66666666..... + 0.66666666...... + 0.666666666....... 2 = 1.9999999999999999999999999999999999......
In one sense, they both exist in the realm of numbers and they are one and the same (no pun intended). But maybe he means that in the real world, everything can be thought of as an "infinite" series which due to the limits of our imagination we apply a recognizable form to. If I have an apple, to understand what that apple really is, I would need to zoom in closer and closer to understand its constituent components. Maybe it has an infinite nature to it -- meaning I'll never fully understand it -- but nevertheless I conceptualize it as a single apple. By analogy, the number 1 can be broken down into 0.9 + 0.09 + 0.009 + ... . We never will really "see" it all, because the series goes on forever, but we conceptualize it as as whole number.
And: 1/9 = 0.11111 ... 2/9 = 0.22222 ... 3/9 = 0.33333 ... ... 7/9 = 0.77777 ... 8/9 = 0.88888 ... 9/9 = 0.99999 ...
That was one example. IF you want to go with 1+1 then fine, 1+1 = 0.99999999999999999... + 0.999999999999999999..... 1+1 = 1.9999999999999999... OR X = 1.99999999999999999999...... 10X = 19.9999999999999999 10X-X = 19.99999999999... - 1.999999999999999999..... 9X = 18 X = 2