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MrBlueIncognito | 3 years ago

> It's marked as Known Unknowns, but what is unknown?

The infinite digits of pi that we don't know. But we do know that they exist, so pi, or any other irrational number, will aptly be called a "known unknown."

> Virtually all numbers are irrational.

For every n irrational numbers you name, I can name n+1 rationals. There is no firm basis to the argument that there are somehow more irrational numbers than rational numbers.

discuss

order

tgv|3 years ago

Do you reject Cantor's proof then? That takes mathematical bollocks.

beardyw|3 years ago

Without wishing to defend it, the gotcha here is "numbers you name". Rational numbers are "named" by putting together a string of digits. That is not possible for the irrationals so the only ones we can name are a handful with alphabetic names. There are more sheep in a field than those.

I think Cantor can rest peacefully.

johnday|3 years ago

> For every n irrational numbers you name, I can name n+1 rationals.

I name "x+pi for every rational number x". Good luck!