Path: ...!npeer.as286.net!npeer-ng0.as286.net!weretis.net!feeder8.news.weretis.net!eternal-september.org!feeder3.eternal-september.org!news.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "Chris M. Thomasson" Newsgroups: sci.logic,sci.math Subject: Re: Replacement of Cardinality Date: Thu, 8 Aug 2024 15:14:43 -0700 Organization: A noiseless patient Spider Lines: 38 Message-ID: References: <42d2b329-5394-47e0-b8c9-098908b2e9a8@att.net> <__cCn6h6Ey1Kz0BrIf6EShypg4M@jntp> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Injection-Date: Fri, 09 Aug 2024 00:14:43 +0200 (CEST) Injection-Info: dont-email.me; posting-host="b13f035f3b6c63f4aa9017887683f0eb"; logging-data="316095"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX19V1f+Sunm8fMQVxxX8bKWh8rlXslIonKI=" User-Agent: Mozilla Thunderbird Cancel-Lock: sha1:AWcwGlkd0JFsmQbtEmltT50IfUc= In-Reply-To: Content-Language: en-US Bytes: 2753 On 8/8/2024 2:56 PM, FromTheRafters wrote: > Chris M. Thomasson has brought this to us : >> On 8/8/2024 3:30 AM, FromTheRafters wrote: >>> on 8/8/2024, WM supposed : >>>> Le 08/08/2024 à 00:17, Moebius a écrit : >>>> >>>>> Actually, his "thinking process" is simple: >>>>> >>>>> "Since there is a gap (space) between adjacent unit fractions and >>>>> all unit fractions are in the interval (0, 1], there must be >>>>> FINITELY MANY of them (i.e. a first/smallest one)." >>>> >>>> No, that is nonsense. There are not finitely many unit fractions. >>> >>> Then stop assuming that there is a first and last element. >> >> The first unit fraction is 1/1, there is no last one... > > ... or there is a last one but no first one. :^) Depends on your path... ;^) Going from 1 to 0, or 0 to 1. So: (0/1)->...->(1/1) (0/1) is not a unit fraction so there is no first one in this context. However, going from: (1/1)->...->(1/0) There is a first one in this context. I generally consider (1/1) to be the first unit fraction. The main point is that there is no smallest unit fraction and there is no largest natural number... :^)