Comment on I just cited myself.
pyre@lemmy.world 6 days agoyou said 1/3 ≠ 0.333… which is false. it is exactly equal. there’s no flaw; it’s a restriction in notation that is not unique to the decimal system. there’s no “conflict with reality”, whatever that means. this just sounds like not being able to wrap your head around the concept. but that doesn’t make it a flaw.
Tlaloc_Temporal@lemmy.ca 6 days ago
Let me restate: I am of the opinion that repeating decimals are imperfect representations of the values we use them to represent. This imperfection only matters in the case of 0.999… , but I still consider it a flaw.
I am also of the opinion that focusing on this flaw rather than the incorrectness of the person using it is a better method of teaching.
I accept that 1/3 is exactly equal to the value typically represented by 0.333… , however I do not agree that 0.333… is a perfect representation of that value. That is what I mean by 1/3 ≠ 0.333… , that repeating decimal is not exactly equal to that value.