Eff this, philly mike is an idi0t, ask zdunklee.

[taekahn]

fractions are the simplest way to write out a representation of an irrational number.

I would take this one step further, fractions are often the simplest and most visually pleasing way to write out decimals. I don't recall walking into a department store and seeing a tag that says 0.50 off, they usually say 1/2 off. Yet, 0.50 easily fits and has the exact same meaning. This kind of deflates your most recent post mike, that "the reason [we] use a fraction to represent an infinite is because an infinite can't really be shown."