infinity...

[dannyday5821]

can it be debated that infinity does not actually exist?
i mean, do we even know infinity exists? if it does, how can we actually see it. surley, scientifically, we have to see something in action to prove its existance.

[mibn2cweus]

Huh? . . . debated? . . . who? . . . what?


Infinity, like anything else can be debated but for such a debate to be resolved requires careful adherence to definitions of the terms used and logical analysis to avoid self-contradicting statements.

Everything is all there is and is therefore and thereby limited by virtue of being contained within the set of all that exists. Anything postulated to be outside or beyond the realm of existence is by definition non-existent. There is no such thing as everything and something else.

Infinity refers to an abstraction of an indefinite and theoretically limitless number of entities. However, when a set of specified enties is implied we find that even infinity is limited to the specific entities defined as belonging to that set. (see previous paragraph).

The problem appears to be a matter of defining precisely what you mean by the term "infinity" which once limited to the meaning of its definition is shown to itself be a contradiction.

For example: Eternity: time without end

Without specifying both a beginning and an end, time becomes a meaningless, non-event. Eternity is likewise meaningless unless it is meant to refer to time from the beginning to the end of time. Even if we (hopefully) do not live to witness the end of time, the beginning of time is one end of time. We now have strong evidence to support the �big bang� when the markers we use to measure time, space and matter, came into being.

cont . . .

. . . what?

[mibn2cweus]

There is also evidence that the universe is currently expanding at an accelerated rate. While this expansion appears as though it will go on indefinitely at any point in this expansion the universe is as big as it is and getting bigger, therefore it will never be of infinite size and to predict that the universe will continue to expand for ever remains for the moment a job for fortune tellers. As I am not immune to the potential folly of speculation, I will go out on a limb here and assert that neither �timeless time� nor infinity (as much as it may seem to at times) exists as much more than unbounded abstractions to spur on endless debate.

By God I think I could go on with this forever but alas all things (good or bad) must come to an end . . .


D�oh!

[jake-the-peg]

I think you're confusing maths and physics.

Infinity is really a mathematical concept it's highly dubious whether it has any physical manifestation. For this reason physicists tend to believe that the laws of physics break down when they get infinities in their equations and start to talk about "singularities".

There's no problem here, mathemeticians are quite capable of devising concepts that have absolutely no physical meaning.

For example we are used to 3+1 dimensions and there may be as many as 11 but mathematicians can and do work in terms of many more dimensions or even infinite dimensions.

Mind you maths has a poor track record for mental health - especially when infinity in concerned.

Georg Cantor was the first man to come up with really novel ideas about infinity. He showed that there is more than one type of infinity.

He died in a mental home in the end but was a truely great mathematician.

Check him out and "transfinite numbers" on Wikipedia if you feel smart....and brave!

[beso]

Infinity is a very important and well studied mathematical concept. I was told once by a mathematician that some infinities are bigger than others. Don't ask me.

[688]

infinity exist

universe infinity

look at night sky

telescope

NASA ESA

NASA ESA multimedia, video, photos

the rotation of the earth
1670 km / hours

Earth orbit around the Sun
30 km /seconds

the rotation of The Milky Way Galaxy speed

The Milky Way Galaxy orbits in the Local Group
600 km/sec

The Local Group falls toward the Virgo Cluster of Galaxies
600 kilometers per second

http://helios.gsfc.nasa.gov/qa_sp_mw.html
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970308.html

the Virgo Cluster of Galaxies n many other Cluster of Galaxies form larger group

many larger groups from larger group...

infinity

boundless

endless

universe

endless