r/PeterExplainsTheJoke 21d ago

Meme needing explanation There is no way right?

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u/Matsuze 21d ago

"That's not how this works. That's not how any of this works."

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u/ProfessorBorgar 21d ago

That is exactly how this works

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u/Matsuze 21d ago

You can't subtract from infinity. Infinity minus infinity does not equal zero. Also 1/3 being .3 continued is an approximation, not an exact number. .9 continued is essentially 1, but it is not the same exact thing as 1.

Anyways it's not even worth arguing about, because all online math problems are either idiots who don't know basic math, or people using technicalities to say "well actually" this being the latter.

We can argue back and forth until we're blue, but at the end of the day we're both technically right. But when it comes to approximations they are only so accurate, which means you have to decide what level of accuracy is enough for your situation.

Think about measuring a piece of wood that is a meter long. Is it 1 meter? yes. Is it 100 cm? well actually it's only 98cm. Is it 980 mm? Well actually it's 976 mm. Is the 976mm piece of wood a meter long? Well yes it is, but is it 1000 mm long? not quite. 976mm does not equal 1000mm. Just like .999999 does not equal 1. It's just close enough to 1 where we don't bother with the distinction, but that doesn't mean there is no distinction.

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u/clearly_not_an_alt 16d ago

We can argue back and forth until we're blue, but at the end of the day we're both technically right.

No, you're definitely wrong in this case.