Can we ever understand infinity?

1. 74

   jostersposted 11 years ago

   Can we ever understand infinity?
   
   Is it possible to get over the fact that time (and everything else, actually) was there before we were born and will continue to be there even long after we're gone? Can we understand "forever"?

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2. 51

   whonunuwhoposted 11 years ago

   We understand everything we encounter in human terms. Our existence and very beings dictate that there is a beginning and and end in our lives as well as for everything else. It is virtually impossible for our little minds to fully comprehend the concept of foreverness(my own term), whonu

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3. 64

   chef-de-jourposted 11 years ago

   If something is infinite it never ends so we can only understand it in the context of known parameters which is a paradox, so no, we can never truly understand the concept. The only way we can get near understanding infinity is to try and imagine what it looks or feels like.
   Some fairy tales begin with 'once upon a time' which suggests what? It's not really a grounded beginning, it has no base in real time...and some stories end...forever and ever...which again suggests an imagined but never ending journey.
   
   Perhaps some stories are written or created to help us gain a sense of understanding what being a human 'in time' means, but I don't think we'll ever need to fully grasp the concept.
   
   Someone who may know the answer is one Dr Who, a TimeLord!!!

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4. 67

   conradofontanillaposted 11 years ago

   If you travel in a circle you are involved in infinity. If your reasoning is in circles you are involved in infinity. A stone jettisoned to a hyperbolic path would travel around the earth in infinity. It would free fall and not impact on earth because its path matches the curvature of the earth.
   An astronaut can experience infinity. Suppose he travels as fast as light and starts now to try to reach the edge of the universe. Given that the universe started its expansion several billion years ago, the edge of the universe has a head start billion of years over that astronaut. Having reached the edge of the universe would end his seeming infinite travel. His speed of travel is equal to the speed of the expansion of the universe. (To recall, nothing travels faster than light.) He travels in infinity because he can never reach the edge of the universe.

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   1. 67

      conradofontanillaposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Time is not a physical reality, according to general theory of relativity. Space-time is real. Interval is a physical entity. We experience infinity. However, we should not use one human lifespan as one measure of it.

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