Infinite numbers are strange

[jmaida]

i don't want to think about it

"A little time, a little trouble, your better day" Badfinger

[Kenneth Haugland]

As long as it is approximately right, the computer is very happy.

[StarNamer work]

Kenneth Haugland wrote:

As long as it is approximately right, the computer is very happy.

The accountants aren't! :) Also, which AI are you running which expresses emotion? :)

[Lost User]

You cannot add a 3 to the end of an infinite number, as that converts it to a finite one.

[pkfox]

0.14285714285714285714285714285714 If you multiply this by 3 you get very close to Pi

In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity. - Hunter S Thompson - RIP

[Kenneth Haugland]

Im running Marvin from Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy. It's useless. Not that anyone cares though :laugh:

[Amarnath S]

pkfox wrote:

multiply

You meant "add"?

[pkfox]

I did thanks

In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity. - Hunter S Thompson - RIP

[Sander Rossel]

And accountants be like "your infinite number has a rounding error and now the books are off!"

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[englebart]

Don’t let Marvin near your primary computer, it might blue screen itself, permanently!

[englebart]

I would not consider 1/7 or its decimal equivalent an infinite number. I think technically it is a rational number. Unless you are using a special library, then computers (and especially databases) don’t deal that well with these types of numbers. This is why there are fixed decimals that always round in favor of the bank.

[Lost User]

Explain the problem? A lot that is infinite to us, can be rounded.

Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.

[honey the codewitch]

I was told there would be no math.

Check out my IoT graphics library here: https://honeythecodewitch.com/gfx And my IoT UI/User Experience library here: https://honeythecodewitch.com/uix

[TNCaver]

So how do you put a 3 at the non-existent 'end' of an infinite sequence?

There are no solutions, only trade-offs.
   - Thomas Sowell

A day can really slip by when you're deliberately avoiding what you're supposed to do.
   - Calvin (Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes)

[Chris Maunder]

StarNamer@work wrote:

But what if you take that the repeating 6 digit sequence indicated and repeat it infinitely to the right followed by a 3.

But you can't. If you repeat it infinitely that means there's always another digit. When you try and add it to the "end", there's always another digit after that spot, so you're not at the end.

StarNamer@work wrote:

That is clearly an infinity (it has infinitely many digits!),

Not quite. It doesn't mean the result is infinite, just that there's no finite representation in base 10. There are actually many different "infinities". The numbers 1,2,3...is an infinite set. The set of real numbers between 1 and 2 (eg 1.1, 1.01, 1.001 and on and on) is also infinite, and large than the set of integers. One infinity can be bigger than another infinity. Even though they are both infinite. This is why mathematicians never need to do drugs.

cheers Chris Maunder

[Daniel Pfeffer]

englebart wrote:

This is why there are fixed decimals that always round in favor of the bank.

This is incorrect. Bank accounts use "round to nearest or away", where fractional cents are rounded to the nearest value (up or down). If the residue is exactly 0.5 cents, the number is rounded "away" - up for positive, down for negative. If you are running a credit, this gives you a tiny statistical advantage. If you are running a debit, this gives the bank a tiny statistical advantage. In neither case is this likely to have a measurable effect, unless you aggregate over billions of operations a day.

Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. -- 6079 Smith W.

[Daniel Pfeffer]

Infinity is a very tricky concept, and you have misunderstood it. You cannot add anything to the "end" of an infinite sequence - it has no "end". It is as ridiculous as claiming that your password is the last eight digits of Pi.

Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. -- 6079 Smith W.

[StarNamer work]

Start with the 3 and just prefix it repeatedly!

[StarNamer work]

Chris Maunder wrote:

But you can't. If you repeat it infinitely that means there's always another digit. When you try and add it to the "end", there's always another digit after that spot, so you're not at the end.

Start with the 3 and just prefix it repeatedly!

[StarNamer work]

Daniel Pfeffer wrote:

You cannot add anything to the "end" of an infinite sequence - it has no "end".

Start with the 3 and just prefix it repeatedly!