That's pretty much what I thought. The idea that the sum of such a series *equals* 1/2 I think is only one way to make sense of it. Who says that a rational number is even an option? What if +1 and -1 are absolute, like 'moving' and 'static'. There is no 1/2 moving. Still, it's interesting to ponder the meaning of -1/12.
On Friday, January 17, 2014 8:27:42 PM UTC-5, Liz R wrote: > > The demonstration that the sum of the positive integers is -1/12 relies on > the assumption that the sum of > > 1 + 1 - 1 + 1 - 1 + 1 - 1 + 1 - 1 + 1 - 1 + 1 - 1 + 1 - 1 + 1 - 1 .... is > 1/2 > > However that is by no means certain. The sum could be undefined, in which > case the proof simply fails. Or it could be one of the other values > mentioned - if it's 0, we get the sum of the positive ints is either 0 or > infinity (because S = 4S). If it's 1, we get the sum of the pos int = -1/6! > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
