Thread: Proof: 1 = 2

The error is when you divide by B-A since B-A=0, and division by zero is an undefined operation.

Coool! As long as your not trying to compare apples to oranges!

Originally Posted by VirginiaBob

The error is when you divide by B-A since B-A=0, and division by zero is an undefined operation.

Bingo!

Divide?

Originally Posted by VirginiaBob

The error is when you divide by B-A since B-A=0, and division by zero is an undefined operation.

Originally Posted by VirginiaBob

The error is when you divide by B-A since B-A=0, and division by zero is an undefined operation.

Originally Posted by Fivetears

Divide?

It's been over 30+something years since I took an Algebra class but here's my rusty stab at this:

If

A = B

Then doesn’t
AB = A2
No... > unless [A2 ] means [A²]?, this dog won't hunt! (A2 = A x 2)

>continue, substituting A² for A2
AB = A² (ok)

And also doesn’t

AB - A² = B² - A² < so far, this equation is true: ( 0 = 0 )

Can this be factored as

A (B – A) = (B – A) (B + A) (yes- again, 0 = 0 )

Can we then factor out (B – A)? [divide both sides of the equation by (B - A)? ]
NO, this requires division by zero, since (B - A) = 0

(Division by zero is "undefined", corrupting ALL assumptions below)
A = B + A

Since A = B… then

A = A + A

This is also expressed as

A = 2A

So, if we factor out the A…

1 = 2

Cut-n-paste didn't transfer to well did it?.

I need to slow down.

Yep I meant subscript: A².

Dang it.

I got this from a book excerpt called "The Siege of Mecca" by Yaroslav Trofimov.

How Mecca Uprising Helped Give Birth to alQaeda - New Book Documents U.S. Participation in 1979 Mosque Siege.

"The wave of Islamist violence that culminated in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks can be traced to a sunny November morning almost 28 years ago. Then, hundreds of Islamist radicals from several countries seized at gunpoint Islam's holiest shrine, the Grand Mosque of Mecca, with nearly 100,000 pilgrims inside.
This first-ever operation of global jihad - an inspiration to al Qarda's future outrages - sought to spark a world-wide clash of civilazations and restore the glory of Islam. As the rebels turned the mosque's minarets into sniper nests, Saudi Arabia's shaken royal family imposed a near-total news blackout and sent in the troops.
The siege lasted two weeks. Crushing the rebels, who were led by Saudi preacher Juhayman al Uteybi, required the use of artillery, heavy armor and poison gas - as well as assistance from the Central Intelligence Agency and French commandos. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people paid with their lives.
Osama bin Laden - whose family had constructed much of the mosque - had cited the bloodbath as a major reason for turning against the House of Saud".

Here comes the good stuff - a little disjointed - so be patient.

"After a stint flying UH-1 "Huey" choppers in Vietnam, the cousin - drawn by Saudi Arabia's lucrative expatriate pay - had moved to the kingdom and now piloted the heavy twinrotor Chinook helicopters for the Saudi Civil Defense. He had been told through the family grapevine the Mr. Hambley was also posted in the kingdom. Now, he told the startled diplomat, it seemd like a good time to establish contact. (Mr. Hambley was an American diplomat). What American pilots flying in Mecca didn't know at the time is that the gunmen who fired at them from below included America's own citizens, converted to a violent brand of uncompromising Islam.
Saudi Arabia has been reaching out to the African-American community ever since Malcolm X went on a hajj to Mecca in 1964, abandoning the Nation of Islam for more mainstream Muslim faith. In the late 1970s, hundreds of black radicals - including some former Black Panthers - flocked to Saudi-funded Islamic academies in the U.S., and in the kingdom itself. A handful followed Juhayman al Uteybi into the Grand Mosque in November 1979, putting to use skills of urban guerrilla warfare that they had learned at home.
The American Embassy became aware of such participation in the Mecca uprising by at least two African-American converts only on Dec. 8, 1979, four days after Saudi security forces finally overran the sacred compound. This embarrassing information had been kept under wraps by the American and Saudi governments alike."

Dennis, it was supposed to be a little trick math argument.. for fun.