What I don't get is why you would say the difference is miniscule? What exactly is the difference between 2 and 1.999....


People seem to have trouble grasping the concept of infinity.

I understand what Infinity means. Never-ending and all of that jazz.

The difference between "1.999..." and "2" is "0.000...001"
And I also understand the whole "not logically being able to be anything but 1" also, but there's still a difference in 1.999... and 2.

That's wrong, because you then imply that 1.999... ends with a 9, which obviously it doesn't seeing as how it never ends.

1.9999..... is a limit. It can be written as 2 interchangeably.

But, it's never completely two. If it never ends, there's a very small difference, but it never quite reaches two.

Dude, I don't know how I can explain it any better. There's no difference when it never ends.

I'd rather you offer up some sort of proof (in the form of mathematical equations) rather than stubbornly sticking with what you've always believed. If you see fault in the logic I originally posted, feel free to critique it.

I also have no idea how I can explain my side any better.
Agree to disagree, my good friend.

Fair enough, as long as you understand that in the mathematical community it IS accepted as one and the same.

But I respect your thinking.

I do understand that it's accepted as one and the same. Of course.

But I also feel like, if it continues forever (1.99999999999...) it's never REALLY 2. Just that if it continues infinitely, the difference is so miniature that it could be replaced with two, and be pretty much the same (but not quite, at the same time).

Yes, the difference between the two is 0.000000... infinity .... 0001, which is the same as 0.
0.000...001 is infinitely small, as is 0.

I, too, had problems grasping this concept when it was first introduced to me.

Mathematicians knew you would try this, so they made a ton of......FALSE MATH? to keep you occupied with intuition and uneducated "common sense" that got kicked around in grade school for the general betterment of the average guy. Please do not rule this life with that small a bubble, oh king!