THE VIDEO SHELF · divergent series
ASTOUNDING: 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + ... = -1/12
A Numberphile video in which physicists Tony Padilla and Ed Copeland show a seemingly astounding result that 1+2+3+4+... equals -1/12. The argument is informal and has drawn criticism for glossing over what the result actually means.
Why HN readers recommended it
HN uses it as the standard reference for the -1/12 meme, with commenters split between enjoying it and calling it a cheat.
This is a summary from the source dataset, not an endorsement by Hacker News or the video creator.
Video & recommendation details
- Creator / channel
- Numberphile
- Topic
- divergent series
- Format
- explainer
- Level
- general
- HN recommenders in dataset
- 3
- HN mentions in dataset
- 11
- Recommendation years in dataset
- 2014–2023
These counts and years describe the included Hacker News records; they are not YouTube views or the video’s publication date.
From the original HN conversations
Excerpts from the recorded comments. Follow each source for the full comment and surrounding discussion.
this infinite sum was featured in a numberphile video a few days ago with a entraining and simple "proof": [VIDEO] and a more advanced explanation & proof in the bonus-video: [LINK] you should definitely subscribe to numberphile ( [LINK] ) and their sister channel computerphile …
alternize on Hacker News · 2014-01
In 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + ... = - 1/12Watch this entertaining Numberphile video about this topic: [VIDEO] Apparently it's used in many areas in Physics.
yelnatz on Hacker News · 2014-01
In 1 + 2 + 3 + .. = -1/12This is a good video explaining it: [VIDEO] Although it relies on a particular interpretation of the left side of the equation, it's used in some areas of physics.
barbs on Hacker News · 2021-10
In Conterintuitive facts in mathematics, CS, and physics
Summaries, classifications and recommendation records are from the HackerTube source dataset. Read about this library and its limitations.
