Written as part of a series called “ Natures Family “ Sister Star. From a million miles I see you’re smile though only at night will you stay a while. I feel I can touch you when I point my finger so a diamond In my sky crystal sharp glow. Sometimes a mist hides you from my sight But when it leaves I see you deep into the night. You illuminate my late evening time no cost from you not so much as a dime. From this million miles I watch your setting a memory from which I’ll never be forgetting. Just one tragedy here I’m sorry to say my sister star died long ago and so very far away.
If you replace "infinite" with "larger or smaller than we currently understand" then it makes more sense and avoids going into quantum mechanics (which is always a good thing)
Infinite is a mathematicians way of saying, we don't understand it. Do you know some infinities are larger than others?
The Planck Length is currently the smallest measurement something can reach, I’m not aware of anything that can be infinitely small. Infinitely big, yeah.
I do know that there are different infinities, it's a fascinating topic, but it still doesn't clarify 'infinitely small' in my mind. As for mathematics, infinity isn't a number, so it's not exclusively theirs.
It's unlikely that 'things' can be infinitely small, but the term exists to represent infinitesimals, that are needed when something is smaller than the planck length, but liable to still 'exist' and is needed to make calculus work. It's distinct from zero. I'm glad it's not just me that struggles with the concept.
I’ve always struggled with comprehending the infinite, it’s a concept that nearly every human pushes back against because of the very nature of it. The universe is infinite, yet we as humans ask “where did the universe begin?”. It has always been so, but as humans we try to apply a linear timeline to it because that’s our coping mechanism.
Aye, I've mentioned a few times that peoples issues tend to relate to viewing things in a linear way, and separating things that are more liable to be combined, or work in a synergistic manner. As someone else pointed out, and to sort of contradict myself, people struggle with infinity, as they often fail to recognise that you can have more than one, and sometimes a finite infinity, or finite but unbounded. I think a part of that is that teaching is too much by rote, and not enough about true critical thinking. In my experience, that's because too many teachers are fearful of having their own limitations exposed. I recall David Attenborough saying that his interest in natural history was driven by his father, as when he found a common fossil on a beach, his father, rather than explaining it (which he could) he said, I don't know, how could we find out? And encouraged his son to research it, which he did. None of which explains infinitely small to me though.
Think theoretical sequences. Infinitely large: think of the largest number in existence and multiply it by itself. And so on ad infinitum. Infinitely small: think of the smallest fraction you can and do likewise.
But that doesn't really help. It's like that scenario where if you reduce the distance you travel for each leg of a journey by half each day, you'll never get there, or as the measurement is fractal, the coast of Britain is infinitely long.
Both true. The paradox within the infinite is inevitable. The main problem with grasping infinity is a cognitive one. We cannot stand outside the limits of our own mental faculties.
They reside at the centre of the Universe. If the Universe is infinite then every point is an infinite distance from the edge of it. Therefore every point is at the centre. If all points are at the centre then their co-ordinates must all be identical. So everywhere occupies the same space. There is no distance between any two points. **** - I think that I've just proved that the keep halving the distance you travel paradox is false. And inadvertently proved Dutch correct into the bargain. I ****ing hate fuzzy logic, me.
