Math Scams

In the video “Something Strange Happens When You Keep Squaring” Derek of Veritasium claims that he can turn 0.9999 to 1.

His first step is convert 0.9999 to a variable k.

Then he multiplies it by 10 to make 9.9999 = 10k.

Then he arbitrarily subtracts 0.9999 from both sides of 9.9999 = 10k to get 9 = 9k.

Then divide both sides by to get 1 = k

The scam really happens when he removes the 0.9999 from 9.9999.

This is because 0.9999 represents a repeating decimal, very different from 1 which is a whole number.

The nature of a repeating decimal is different from a whole number.

To confound their natures, the 0.9999 is converted into a variable k which makes it look like a whole number or at least hides its decimal nature.

Then 0.9999 is expanded into a whole number by multiplying it by 10 to make 9.9999.

Then 0.9999 is subtracted from both sides, as the main part of the scam, leaving only the whole number as 1 = k.

In effect, the 0.9999 was converted to 1 by arbitrarily stripping away the decimal under the cover of whole variable.

There are so many math paradoxes caused by such intellectual scams.

In fact, there is a Millennium Prize for such scam math problems. They are impossible or very difficult to solve because they are scams.

For example, it has a Yang–Mills existence problem which is the basis of the standard model. But, in reality, the standard model is wrong (i.e. Yang-Mills is based on manifolds just like Relativity).

Its only winner so far, Grigori Perelman who solved the Poincare conjecture, refused to accept the prize money.

This is consistent with him lamenting the ethical standards in mathematics, purportedly abandoning mathematics in 2010.

This is the same complaint by Sabine Hossenfelder who blames math for theories that don’t match evidence.