Theos-Talk Archives (March 2005 Message tt00139)

<< But how can that ratio be infinite and exact (at the end of a long 
row of carry-outs) at the same time? Either things are infinite, or 
they're not, seems to me. >>

< Nevertheless if the ratio wasn't exact, then either the radius or the 
circumference would be variable and the mathematical circle (or the 
metaphysical sphere) wouldn't exist ... >

Exactly ...

(sorry for the pun)

Pi is indeed an exact number, even if we can't represent it in digits.

The same is true for other irrational numbers. Just because we can't 
exactly represent the square root of 2 (which as I recall is 
approximately 1.4142136) doesn't mean that it's not an exact value.

Also, we might remember that a number that we can clearly write in one 
numbering system cannot be as cleanly written in another system.

What if we used the number of hours in a day to represent our numbering 
base? Base 10 means that we can write fractions like 1/2, 1/5, and 1/10 
cleanly (.5, .2, .1), but fractions like 1/3, 1/6 and 1/12 are repeating 
digits when written out in numeric form (I hesitate to say 'in decimal 
form') and they require an infinite number of digits to represent 
exactly (except that mathematicians take the 'shorthand' of putting a 
bar over the digits to represent the part that infinitely repeats.

in base 24, 1/2 would still be a clean fraction, but so would 1/3, 1/6 
and 1/12. But 1/5 would become an unclean number, requiring an infinite 
number of digits to exactly represent.

Perhaps base 24 would make more sense, because you can get exact 
fractions more easily, but we could no longer count on our fingers, we'd 
have to use fingers, toes plus our two legs and two arms to reach 24.

That is, I think, why there are 360 degrees in a circle, because there 
are many more useful fractions of the circle that can be exactly 
represented, so perhaps we should think of base360 as being even more 
closely related to the infinite presence or infinite spirit. All of 
these fractions can be exactly represented in base360: 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 
1/5, 1/6, 1/8, 1/9, 1/10, 1/12, 1/15, 1/18, 1/20, 1/24, 1/30, 1/36, 
1/40, 1/45, 1/60, 1/72, 1/90, 1/120, 1/180 and 1/360.

So, just because pi cannot be written out EXACTLY in decimal form does 
not mean that it is not an exact number. As one of my math friends used 
to say, "God knows pi exactly, we are not capable of knowing its exact 
value ... NOT YET!"

In another vein, we could extend that to say that God knows us exactly, 
even though we are not capable of knowing him exactly, at least not yet.

--
John, webmaster
www.GodLovesEveryone.org and www.MAZES.com

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