Infinity

Episode #645

June 12, 2021

0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5…
Keep counting.

 

Can you count to an infinite number?
You can try.

A person can count the integers by adding the number “1” to each number: 0+1=1, 1+1=2, 2+1=3…
The person could keep counting until their death without reaching infinity.
Let’s make a solar powered computer to count to infinity.
It would count until the Earth or the Sun was destroyed.
Still, it would not have counted to infinity.

Most computer programs, such as operating systems, are designed to run until the program or the computer is turned off.
The following program counts three “zzz”s, then does it again, infinitely.

while :
# by rickiT

:Sleep
For zzz = 1 To 3
Next zzz

GoTo Sleep

 

There is undying love, but of course there is not.

Infinity comes in different sizes.
There are an infinite number of integers (solid numbers).
Yet, there are infinitely more real numbers (all the fractions) than there are integers.
Is the infinite number of real numbers greater than the infinite number of integers?

It seems that you should not be able to draw a line of infinite length.
A right triangle with two 1 inch sides has a hypotenuse of the length 1.414211356…infinite inches, yet that hypotenuse can be drawn.

The circumference of a circle can be calculated using the formula:
pi times the radius squared.
Since pi is an infinite number, the length of the circumference must also be infinite.
Not surprisingly, there are an infinite number of radii in a circle.

If you were to travel through a möbius tube the journey would be infinite. A möbius tube has no end and no beginning.

Zeno’s paradox:
Traveling along a line to a destination is equally impossible.
To go from a starting point (A) to a destination (B) you must first go half way (point C).
To get from point C to point B you must go half that distance (point D).
To get from point D to point B you also go half that distance.
This progress will repeat infinitely so that you can never arrive at point B.

How can something without a last step be completed?

According to the laws of physics an object approaching the speed of light  is stretched to an infinite length. How long is the object?

In the religion of Scientology there are eight dynamics.
The eighth dynamic is:
“the urge toward existence as INFINITY … It actually embraces the allness of all.”
L. Ron Hubbard must have had his tongue in his cheek when he wrote the eighth dynamic, because the number “8” is the infinity symbol sideways. Really Ron?

I tell my writer’s group that anyone can write a great story.
Take, for example, a monkey hitting random keys on a typewriter for an infinite amount of time. The monkey will almost surely write every text that has ever been written.

How can an infinite process end?

The decimal form of irrational numbers, like pi, go on infinitely, never repeating.
Some calculations approach a solution infinitely.
The Fibonacci sequence approaches the golden ratio, also known as the  Greek letter Phi.
Phi is an irrational number and therefore infinite.

1.61803398874989484820458683436563811772030917980576286213544862270526046281890
244970720720418939113748475408807538689175212663386222353693179318006076672635
443338908659593958290563832266131992829026788067520876689250171169620703222104
321626954862629631361443814975870122034080588795445474924618569536486444924104
432077134494704956584678850987433944221254487706647809158846074998871240076521
705751797883416625624940758906970400028121042762177111777805315317141011704666
599146697987317613560067087480710131795236894275219484353056783002287856997829
778347845878228911097625003026961561700250464338243776486102838312683303724292
675263116533924731671112115881863851331620384005222165791286675294654906811317
159934323597349498509040947621322298101726107059611645629909816290555208524790
352406020172799747175342777592778625619432082750513121815628551222480939471234
145170223735805772786160086883829523045926478780178899219902707769038953219681
986151437803149974110692608867429622675756052317277752035361393621076738937645
560606059216589466759551900400555908950229530942312482355212212415444006470340
565734797663972394949946584578873039623090375033993856210242369025138680414577
995698122445747178034173126453220416397232134044449487302315417676893752103068
737880344170093954409627955898678723209512426893557309704509595684401755519881
921802064052905518934947592600734852282101088194644544222318891319294689622002
301443770269923007803085261180754519288770502109684249362713592518760777884665
836150238913493333122310533923213624319263728910670503399282265263556209029798
642472759772565508615487543574826471814145127000602389016207773224499435308899
909501680328112194320481964387675863314798571911397815397807476150772211750826…

You can approach the golden ratio, but can never achieve it.

Some infinity is indeterminable.
Ask Siri to divide zero by zero:

The universe seems infinite to us, but maybe it is just immense. 
Buzz Lightyear says: “To infinity and beyond…”
What is beyond infinity?

Time itself may be infinite.
As far as we can see there will be no end to time.

Stand between two mirrors to peer into infinity.
Your eyes and your brain cannot see where your mirrored images end.

Because it cannot be observed or displayed infinity may only exist in the world of ideas.

Keep counting.

… 6, 7, 8, 9, 10…

2 Comments

  1. Tom Mills June 11, 2021
    • Rick Thues June 12, 2021

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