How long is infinity?

[brandnewdrunk 10]

how long is infinity?, I once read this desciption of infinity and I quote, although not quite verbatim

 

If you imagine the earth is actually a huge ball bearing made of steel, ok, and once every million years a fly lands on it and flies straight away again, when the earth has been worn away, infinity will not even have started

 

 

thoughts please

[nomme 10]

Originally posted by brandnewdrunk

thoughts please

 

Take more water with it.

 

Nomme

[Sam Miguel 10]

Isn't it like a figure eight that fell over?

[BrainThrust 10]

Infinity isn't a number, it's a concept, we need it to make maths work.

 

That strangest thing is, infinity is also a mathmatical impossibilty, well as near as it can get in world of lies, damn lies and statistics.

 

Wilf

[Sam Miguel 10]

How can it make maths work if it don't have any value?

 

It's just a get-out-clause for mathematicians to give a name to something they don't understand.

 

Mark my words.

[Phanerothyme 12]

zero has no value, yet it is vital to even mental arithmetic.

 

infinity is likewise, a container or a set, rather than a fixed value.

 

infinity has no size, cannot be added to or taken away from.

 

the ability to detect infinite recurrence, as well as infinite recursion , in a process or function, is one of things that still separates our minds from computers.

[Sam Miguel 10]

Yes, I get your drift: infinity +1 = 1

 

zero + 1 =1

 

Am I getting near?

[t020 11]

Originally posted by Sam Miguel

Yes, I get your drift: infinity +1 = 1

 

zero + 1 =1

 

Am I getting near?

 

No.

 

Infinity is a concept not a number. It is the way to explain the fact that the sequence of numbers we use is never ending. Therefore adding 1 to infinity is a non-sense because, obviously, infinity isn't a finite number to which you can add. Zero on the other hand, while in some respects still being a concept, still holds a single finite value, so adding 1 to a zero value would indeed be 1.

[Sam Miguel 10]

Thanks . T. It's a bit like doing the age-old sum of multiplying loads of numbers and putting a zero somewhere in the middle.

 

A table without a fruitbowl full of apples standing on it is completely different to a an identical table without a fruitbowl full of oranges or apples.

 

So: A full lift is different to a full lift, as is an empty lift and so on.

And an empty lift is a full lift?

 

Well, dig me parrot's head up please!

[stephstellar 10]

my favourite definition of infinity is that it's like washing up - You think that you've washed every darn pot in the house but there's ALWAYS another cup! Works with most other kinds of housework too...

[Phanerothyme 12]

Originally posted by Sam Miguel

Yes, I get your drift: infinity +1 = 1

 

zero + 1 =1

 

Am I getting near?

 

nope. way off.

 

I simply said that infinity, like zero, has no value, yet it was useful in maths. Merely because a concept has no numerical value does not mean it is useless in maths, as you implied.

 

 

infinity as a concept in mathematical terms (as I understand it with my limited knowledge of maths), it is the nirvana state that calculations like "1/3" approach in the recurring decimal at the end. No matter how long you carry on carrying the one and dividing by three you get the same answer. For ever and ever.

 

No one can count to infinity, but numbers can progress towards it, just like the recurring number in 1/3, but also in pi, the golden ratio (phi), fractals and so on. It is a final frontier, the eschatology of arithmetic.

 

It's interesting that the natural constants like pi have this never ending quality to them - in that they continue to yield information and accuracy the farther you calculate them.

[BrainThrust 10]

Phan you mention fractals.

 

Fractal can't really be tarred with the same brush as infinity.

 

infinity is a concept

 

fractals are repeating equations that can never end, they cannot be explained numerically very well but they really show off thier beauty when represented graphically.

 

You get some pretty pictures from fractals, but it is hard to show without some pretty nifty resolution and graphics program.

 

Wilf