this post was submitted on 14 Mar 2024
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cross-posted from: https://feddit.nl/post/12236757

A little mathematics joke on PI day (3/14/2024)

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[–] NeatNit@discuss.tchncs.de 6 points 8 months ago (3 children)

What's wrong with me, why am I getting so annoyed that the other comments are acting like there's actually a chance it's right? Are they just being funny, or do they actually think the question "what's the last digit of pi" makes sense? Even if they're wrong, why should I care?!

[–] Ashyr@sh.itjust.works 9 points 8 months ago

They're just being silly, man. That's literally the joke.

[–] nieceandtows@programming.dev 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

What is wrong with you is that you're not realizing that your niche knowledge is not common knowledge.

[–] NeatNit@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

It's not common knowledge that the digits of pi go on forever?

(I think I'm asking this as a rhetorical question but I suppose I have to upgrade it to a genuine question)

[–] nieceandtows@programming.dev 2 points 8 months ago

It's common knowledge, yes, but most people don't care about differentiating between a humongously large number we are not capable of calculating vs an infinite number that can never be calculated even if we have a machine powerful enough to do it, because it's not relevant to pretty much any day to day life.

[–] CheeseNoodle@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

iirc it can potentially make sense in the event that our universe turns out to be simulated and subject to floating point errors.

[–] NeatNit@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 8 months ago

Nah, pi arises purely from math, it doesn't depend on the universe. The number we call pi would still be an irrational number even if the universe is a simulation that uses a rational approximation of pi.