Checking only midpoints is not enough for an arbitrary subset of a real vector space. The rational numbers contain the midpoint of every pair of rational numbers, but the line segment from to also contains irrational numbers. For instance lies on that line segment and is not rational. This shows why the definition quantifies over every real .
There is a useful additional hypothesis: a closed subset containing the midpoint of every pair of its points is a convex set. Repeated bisection includes all points with dyadic rational . These coefficients approach every real ; being a closed subset then includes each limit. This is a short proof outline, and the rational numbers example identifies precisely why a closed subset was required.
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