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> There is no answer for an infinite sum. It is impossible to sum an infinite quantity of integers. I agree. Infinity is a process that can yield a number but
by dmfdmf 10y ago
> There is no answer for an infinite sum. It is impossible to sum an infinite quantity of integers.
I agree. Infinity is a process that can yield a number but is not an actual number and, Cantor et. al. notwithstanding, there is no such thing as a "completed infinity" other than terminating it at a finite step. If you are careful and in certain contexts you can use the "limit" of an infinite converging process but you must make that assumption explicit to avoid errors.
All these bizarre math tricks rest on treating it as a number when its undefined. Its like those puzzles I read as a kid that "prove" 1=0 and they typically depend on an implicit division-by-zero step which is also undefined just like infinity. Once you start working with the undefined you have to very careful and even Gauss made errors when he was laying the groundwork for infinite series. To the degree that this math has ANY validity it is in the context of some esoteric and specialized area of math and it is NOT appropriate to foist it on the general public as a general result. The motive in such attempts is to impress or intimidate or destroy math (nihilism) which I find despicable.