[victorNicollet]

To be pedantic, 1.5e8 carries additional information about accuracy: $150,000,000 ± $5,000,000. By contrast, 1.50e8 would be ten times as accurate, and so on.

Of course, accuracy is hardly relevant here.

[moron4hire]

s/accuracy/precision

Sorry, I don't usually try to be pedantic, but when the conversation is already about nitpicking, I think it's necessary.

Significant figures are precision, not accuracy. Accuracy is "being in the ballpark". Precision is "tight groups".

[victorNicollet]

I'm sorry for the confusion. English is not my first language, and I resorted to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accuracy_and_precision to pick between "accuracy" and "precision".

[mikeash]

To put it another way: "pi is exactly 3" is extremely precise, but not very accurate.

[tankenmate]

The very next task of mine

is a new value of pi to define.

I think I'll use 3

it's much simpler you see;

than 3.14159

[dredmorbius]

You've simpified pi, that's fo' shore.

But rivalry says "level-up score".

With competitive drive,

It's yet higher I strive.

The value I'll use shall be four.

[keithblaha]

Well played

[moron4hire]

On the other hand, if you had said "Pi is 3", you would have been accurate, but not very precise. If you said "Pi is "Pi is 3.14", you would have been so precise that you could have gotten to the moon and back.

[mikeash]

Damn, and here I thought I needed to build a gigantic rocket.

[moron4hire]

My statement was accurate, just lacking in precision on the details :P