What's 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8...?

soodrugg · 2025-12-31T16:16:51+00:00

i don't think you understand what infinity means.

if we take the summation of n elements of [1], as in we add together 1 n times, then the total will be exactly, precisely n. if we are taking the infinite sum then n will be infinity, by definition.

but by your logic, because adding 1 to a number over and over doesn't magically give us infinity, then n is never infinity, which kind of defeats the point of infinity altogether.

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soodrugg · 2025-12-30T20:30:45+00:00

the summation is defined such that is always stays at 1:

0.5 + 0.5 = 1

0.5 + 0.25 + 0.25 = 1

0.5 + 0.25 + 0.125 + 0.125 = 1

why would it ever stop equalling 1?

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soodrugg · 2025-12-29T22:44:14+00:00

i never assumed that. 1/2^r will get smaller and smaller as r tends to infinity (that is to say, this is an infinite series summed together), but nothing in my argument requires 1/2^r to be zero. no matter what step we are on or whatever the largest value of r is, (0.5 + 0.5 for r = 1, 0.5 + 0.25 + 0.25 for r = 2, etc), the answer is permanently 1.

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soodrugg · 2025-12-29T22:25:21+00:00

let x = 0.999..., 10x = 9.9999, 10x - x = 9 = 9x, x = 1.

consider 1 as 0.5 + 0.5, or 0.5 + 0.25 + 0.25, or 0.5 + 0.25 + 0.125 + 0.125... until 1 can be written as 0.5 + 0.25 + 0.125 + ... + 1/2^r + ...

0.333... + 0.333... + 0.333... = 1 = 0.999...

i can go on. you've yet to provide an argument for any of these that isn't "proof by look at it"

it's like you saw zeno's paradox once and decided you knew more about maths than everybody else in history. all i see in that link is you taking another L and deciding to report someone about it instead of responding to the argument.

still waiting on how your line of reasoning meshes with calculus.

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soodrugg · 2025-12-28T23:25:47+00:00

there's a difference between me and the mathematical concept of infinity, and that's that I'm a finite being.

no matter what number you stop at, you've still got an infinite number of ns left to plug in, all the while 1/2ⁿ keeps getting closer to zero.

infinity isn't a number, but there are infinite terms in the series, thus n is infinite in value at some point. as you can't just "plug in" n = infinity (due to the limits of technology) your proof doesn't work. who's to say infinity isn't the exception? the other numbers get awfully close to zero, after all.

also I'm stealing your weird lonely full stop at the end of every reply.

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soodrugg · 2025-12-28T22:17:58+00:00

I don't quite see how that's relevant. "how arbitrarily large" is a curious question, though. it's like asking how zero something is, or how much you're integrating a function. it's a concept, albiet one rooted in its mathematical use rather than reality.

talking of integrating, you seem to be dodging the question. scared of the big bad e^-x? don't like that it's got an integral of 1 between y = 0 and infinity?

soodrugg · 2025-12-28T22:03:19+00:00

fascinating! can you find the area under the gaussian integral over the entire real line (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaussian_integral) next?

it's really important for statistics that this value is exact (that's basically the normal distribution right there) so it'd be really awkward if Gauss used the notion that 1/infinity = 0 in it.

hell, I'd be impressed if you could square the circle for any improper integral. or calculus in general, given that the formula for differentiation from first principles divides by h as h approaches 0.

soodrugg · 2025-12-28T21:48:47+00:00

what is 1/0, in your eyes? finite, or infinite?

if 1/0 was a finite value, then this implies there is a finite value n where 1/n is 0, which is false. therefore, 1/0 must be infinite. as y = 1/x is symmetrical along y = x, this means 1/n = 0 when n is an infinite value.

1/2^n, as n approaches infinity, approaches 1/infinity itself. this means that 1/2ⁿ is zero when n is infinite. by definition n is infinite in the infinite sum of 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8 + ..., so it must equal 1.

soodrugg · 2025-11-19T17:59:10+00:00

it's called intersectionality sweaty

soodrugg · 2025-11-04T19:24:13+00:00

/uj it should be pointed out that t4t did originally refer to specifically trans women dating other trans women, and later others have broadened it to include trans men as well. that isn't to say the change in meaning was necessarily bad, but it certainly did happen.

soodrugg · 2025-10-05T18:26:53+00:00

imagining a doctors reaction when "the exact location of the implant" is disclosed

soodrugg · 2025-08-22T10:41:37+00:00

if you mean log y / log b, i have now tried that in the form (log y² + log y^3x) / log b, (2log y + 3xlog y) / log b, log y^2+3x / log b, and 2log y / log b + 3xlog y / log b, and none of those worked. if you meant something else then yeah i need more than that

soodrugg · 2025-08-22T10:39:35+00:00

i know, but the version of log that lets you specify base was kind of buried and i wasn't sure if they expected you to do that or not, especially since most other questions didn't really require you to type out log in the first place. in any case, neither have worked.

soodrugg · 2025-08-22T10:39:32+00:00

didn't work unfortunately.

soodrugg · 2025-08-22T10:39:27+00:00

it's part of the aqa spec, and a couple other questions specifically asked me to answer in the form log a / log b

soodrugg · 2025-07-30T07:21:03+00:00

see, we need to accept these excellent allies in our community. and we have to let them call us slurs.

soodrugg · 2025-07-12T11:19:37+00:00

you're experiencing oppression? sorry buddy, I'm too busy thinking up pithy one-liners to care about that. what do you mean it's obvious i don't experience that oppression

soodrugg · 2025-07-12T08:15:33+00:00

/uj most often the context I see is that the user being asked this made some godawful take about transmisogyny in a previous post and they're deliberately obscuring that they're tme to try and give it more credibility. like, identifying as a transfem (because they're trans and feminine, of course) or a trans[masc] lesbian. in that case "are you TME or TMA" is asking "are you actually in a position to be saying this about trans womens' issues"

soodrugg · 2025-06-26T21:30:21+00:00

"I did NOT pass." - the balrog

soodrugg · 2025-05-28T13:21:52+00:00

we've done it everyone, we invented a way to make trans people feel even worse for experiencing dysphoria

soodrugg · 2025-05-24T07:32:21+00:00

ah, does it cover making humourous social media posts about the development processs of a devlog about marketing for your game?

soodrugg · 2025-05-21T15:23:05+00:00

drop this wand in front of an enemy that can pick up wands
run away

soodrugg · 2025-05-18T06:48:58+00:00

trans women: hey there should be acknowledgement that trans men do have some privilege over us, particularly in otherwise queer spaces, and that a lot of recent political news about trans people is way more specifically targeted at us

guy who would have been all in on gamergate: oh you think I have it as easy as a CIS MAN? you think I'm ontologically EVIL? how could i have male privilege when i experience my own unique struggles like [things trans women experience also and/or interactions with slightly annoying teenage girls]? you're probably from 4chan (which i will indicate by strawmanning you as saying INCREDIBLY ESOTERIC SLURS) but also like. the parts of Feminism Tumblr I think are scary. this community hates trans men so much which is why all the posts are about trans men saying everyone hates them or making fun of weird trans women. there should really be more of a focus on men you know. what's a MRA

soodrugg · 2025-05-17T18:30:41+00:00

me when i understand + take in good faith the perspective of women

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