Infinity: The Possiblity

Originally posted by Black Samurai


Also, who said infinity has to have no beginning?

Yeah, that\'s true.

It\'s called negative infinity

Why can\'t the beginning of infinity be whereever you define it from.  From my perspective, infinity starts with me and extends out in all directions infinitely

Infinity can\'t have an ending or a beginning.  It\'s a simple matter of definition.

^^^Look it up again because you are wrong. There is NO definition of infinity that says it can\'t have a beginning.

Maybe there is a new definition taught in High School Physics/Calculus since I\'ve been gone but I doubt it.

[SirMystiq]

Originally posted by politiepet
that\'s the crappiest bullshit I\'ve ever heard.....
please explain to me why aliens are necessary for infinity to exist!

Infinity is basically a measure of time. Without any other life form alive to measure "infinity", infinity doesn\'t exist. Unless planets and asteroids can think.

I think infinity has to have had a beginning. B/c unless we believe that the universe has been here forever, if it has then infinity is only moving forward, if it didn\'t its moving forward and backwards.

Why does it have to have a beginning?  Why can\'t right now be its beginning?  Time doesn\'t have to be so linear.  All that is ever really real is the exact moment that\'s happening now.  The only way you measure the past is by things that exist in the present.  So why doesn\'t it just start with this moment?  Then it can extend infinitely in all directions from there.

Originally posted by SirMystiq
Infinite=endless

What is there to "wonder" about. Technically everything is finite...when you die. When this galaxy ends, there won\'t be any more "infinite" because unless aliens exist, the word "infinite" will have no value on our universe.

You win the dumbass award of the year.

Originally posted by Black Samurai
Why is it impossible for us to grasp the concept of infinity?

Because infinity is impossible.

Everything, EVERYTHING must have an end to some degree.
That is the dilema. We state that infinity is possible. But is it really?

Is their anything that is really infinite. And dont say a circle, because a perfect circle is impossible, nothing in nature is infinite. Nothing is.

But what about when you travel to the "ends" of space. A wall- it seems inconceviable, but infinity does too.

Before posting, just think about it, imagine you are in a ship, and you are traveling. Forever.... Its impossible.

I don\'t see how it\'s so hard to grasp.  Of course you can go forever, it\'s the only thing that makes sense.  

And for the circle example, why does it matter if it is or is not a perfect circle?  Just anything in a loop like that.  And I also don\'t see why a perfect circle is impossible either.  I think I\'m just looking at it from a very different perspective though.  I don\'t see why infinity has to have any start other than you.  Everything is really just relative to your own perspective anyway.  My view of the universe (no jokes here, I know how this sounds) is that it starts with me.  From there it just expands out in all directions.

Improbable and Impossible are not the same thing.

Even in an imperfect circle(baring the presence of gaps) there is no end so it is still infinite. Infinity has no end. To say that it is impossible for some thing to "never end" is ridiculous.

Originally posted by Spudz
Everything, EVERYTHING must have an end to some degree.
That is the dilema. We state that infinity is possible. But is it really?

There is no dilemna. Not everything MUST have an end.

Just because YOU can not grasp a concept does not mean that it is impossible for EVERYONE to grasp.

[clips]

it\'s pretty simple everthing has a beginning and thus must have an end..including the universe. unless the universe is layered & is evolving unto itself...wtf am i talkin about?

[Paul2]

...wtf am i talkin about?

No clue, but funny nonetheless...

Calculus helps us in understanding infinity, at least in a way our brains can work with it, by putting up rules about infinity that we can use to work with it.

ie.
Any rational number /  infinity = 0

10000000 divided by infinity?  0

Originally posted by SirMystiq
Infinity is basically a measure of time. Without any other life form alive to measure "infinity", infinity doesn\'t exist. Unless planets and asteroids can think.
 

this statement is wrong in a lot of ways: [list=1]

• infinity is not (just) a measure of time, something infinitely large is not time based for example
• infinity doesn\'t have to be measured to exist. Just because there will be a time in which no one will be able to measure it, doesn\'t mean it\'s gonna stop being there...
• if the universe were to be infinite (time based) that would mean everything would happen, even the extinction of all lifeforms! (also their reappearance )
[/list=1]

btw. time is not so much an absolute existing principle as you might think! it is (quite probably) bendeable (sp?)

Originally posted by Black Samurai
^^^Look it up again because you are wrong. There is NO definition of infinity that says it can\'t have a beginning.

Maybe there is a new definition taught in High School Physics/Calculus since I\'ve been gone but I doubt it.

Eh you\'re right.  I don\'t know what I was thinking.  Hell we have a ton of equations in calc that state a point in a line that goes to infinity ex.  (1, ‡)


Edit: why won\'t it let me use the infinity character????