Coming soon - Get a detailed view of why an account is flagged as spam!
view details
2
Counting all real numbers between 0 and 1, avoiding Cantor's diagonal proof?
Post Body

I've heard about Cantor's diagonal proof that it's impossible to count all real numbers between 0 and 1. However, isn't that proof dependent on the way in which the numbers get counted?

Every time I've seen the proof, the numbers have always been listed directly in ascending numeric order, and then the diagonal line shows that ever nth digit of every nth number is can be changed to make a new number.

However, just like it's possible to count all rational numbers (or fractions) by laying them out in a 2D grid and counting diagonally, isn't it possible to construct the sequence of all real numbers in a way that also makes them countable?

For example, I can list all reals with 0 decimal places, then 1 decimal place, 2 decimal places, 3, 4, and so on... Like this:

0.0  1.0

0.1   0.2   0.3   0.4   0.5   0.6   0.7   0.8   0.9

0.01  0.02  0.03  0.04  0.05  0.06  0.07  0.08  0.09
0.11  0.12  0.13  0.14  0.15  0.16  0.17  0.18  0.19
0.21  0.22  0.23  0.24  0.25  0.26  0.27  0.28  0.29
0.31  0.32  0.33  0.34  0.35  0.36  0.37  0.38  0.39
0.41  0.42  0.43  0.44  0.45  0.46  0.47  0.48  0.49
0.51  0.52  0.53  0.54  0.55  0.56  0.57  0.58  0.59
0.61  0.62  0.63  0.64  0.65  0.66  0.67  0.68  0.69
0.71  0.72  0.73  0.74  0.75  0.76  0.77  0.78  0.79
0.81  0.82  0.83  0.84  0.85  0.86  0.87  0.88  0.89
0.91  0.92  0.93  0.94  0.95  0.96  0.97  0.98  0.99

0.001 0.002 0.003 0.004 0.005 0.006 0.007 0.008 0.009
0.011 0.012 0.013 0.014 0.015 0.016 0.017 0.018 0.019
0.021 0.022 0.023 0.024 0.025 0.026 0.027 0.028 0.029
0.031 0.032 0.033 0.034 0.035 0.036 0.037 0.038 0.039
0.041 0.042 0.043 0.044 0.045 0.046 0.047 0.048 0.049
0.051 0.052 0.053 0.054 0.055 0.056 0.057 0.058 0.059
0.061 0.062 0.063 0.064 0.065 0.066 0.067 0.068 0.069
0.071 0.072 0.073 0.074 0.075 0.076 0.077 0.078 0.079
0.081 0.082 0.083 0.084 0.085 0.086 0.087 0.088 0.089
0.091 0.092 0.093 0.094 0.095 0.096 0.097 0.098 0.099

0.101 0.102 0.103 0.104 0.105 0.106 0.107 0.108 0.109
...

If I continue in this same pattern infinitely, wouldn't I then have counted all real numbers between 0 and 1?

Author
Account Strength
100%
Account Age
17 years
Verified Email
Yes
Verified Flair
No
Total Karma
125,480
Link Karma
9,231
Comment Karma
115,548
Profile updated: 1 week ago
Posts updated: 10 months ago

Subreddit

Post Details

We try to extract some basic information from the post title. This is not always successful or accurate, please use your best judgement and compare these values to the post title and body for confirmation.
Posted
9 years ago