0.99999999.......

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Yes. People who say no are mostly uneducateds who ignore the math involved and just argue it doesn't "feel right". The math involved is pretty straightforward.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

What does 1-0.999999.... equal if not zero?

You can't say a number with an infinite number of zeroes between the decimal point and a one, because infinite means without end. So nothing can come after the zeroes.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Actually for all intents and purposes this IS mathematical fact. It's universally agreed upon by mathematicians, probably more so than evolution is agreed upon by those in that field.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Question for the math and number geeks out there.

Could 1 - .9999(repeating) = *, be regarded as true?
* defined as an infinitesimal

As discussed in this thread no. Basically "infinitesimally small" does not exist, it equals zero.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Also what is 0.999... + 0.999... ?

It can't be 1.999...8 because you can't have a digit after an infinite amount. So it would be 1.999.... In other words, 0.999... + 0.999... = 1 + 0.999.... Subtracted 0.999... from both sides, and you get 0.999... = 1.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Infinity means without end. So nothing can be after an infinite amount as that would indicate an ending to it. 1.999...98 means that there is a final 9 before the 8.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

To your comment to BRTD, there cannot not be a "last" 9. The nature of an infinite series is that it never ends, therefore it is meaningless to say there is a last value in the sequence. It would be just as meaningless to ask for the largest integer. There is always another one higher.

That's my point really. If you have an infinite number of 9s, you can't have an 8 after them.