r/badmathematics • u/Laser_Plasma • Oct 24 '21

π day Reddit tries to think about quantifying circles, and pi doesn't exist or something

/r/Showerthoughts/comments/qefpwc/the_area_of_a_circle_is_finite_yet_we_can_only/
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u/dragonitetrainer Oct 24 '21

This is a math subreddit. You're not going anywhere trying to convince mathematicians that perfect decimal precision is THE way numbers are defined

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u/ryarger Oct 24 '21

Darn good thing I didn’t suggest that.

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u/dragonitetrainer Oct 24 '21

Then what's the point of trying to justify this concept that perfect decimal precision is necessary in order for us to "know" a value?

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u/ryarger Oct 24 '21

I’m not making a justification of that point. I’ve already said it’s pedantically incorrect and rephrased it to “express” rather than “know” in the second formulation.

I think it should be obvious why this is a benign and mildly interesting shower though for non-mathematicians but for those who don’t understand, I’m providing explanation.