Infinity does not exist in the real world.

thefisherman · #1 01-20-2006, 08:39 PM

Maybe this has been posted a million times, and flame me if it has, but does anyone disagree that infinity -- as a concept -- does not exist in the real world. Maybe in math, but not in the real world. It seems as if a number of questions here ask where the logical error is in something, and many times this is where it is.

Anyway, if someone thinks they have an example of a "real world" infinity, I will gladly explain why it doesn't exist. However, be warned, that most often infinity doesn't exist becaue whatever a person is talking about requires infinite time, which everyone should know, certainly is not true in our universe.

Galois · #2 01-20-2006, 08:46 PM

What does it matter? Infinity as a concept in an integral part of mathematics, and mathematics has nothing to do with the real world (i.e., physical world).

Bork · #3 01-20-2006, 08:48 PM

I am not sure what you mean by 'infinity the concept', but nonetheless here are some examples off the top of my head that I am curious what you have to say about.

The amount of different possible sentences is infinite.

The number of spatial points in any extended volume is also infinite.

God (if he exists) could create an infinitely large object.

Demiparadigm · #4 01-20-2006, 09:38 PM

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The amount of different possible sentences is infinite.

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This is not true as long as we assume that sentences can only be made from words. Since there are a finite number of words, it follows that there are a finite number of sentences, though that number would be very large.
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The number of spatial points in any extended volume is also infinite.

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I don't think that this is a good "real world example" but along the same lines is there are an infinite number of places to stand in a room, or an infinite number of positions that you can make with your hand.
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God (if he exists) could create an infinitely large object.

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Like the universe?

billygrippo · #5 01-20-2006, 10:11 PM

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God (if he exists) could create an infinitely large object.

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Like the universe?

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isnt the univrse finite?

Slow Play Ray · #6 01-22-2006, 06:40 PM

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God (if he exists) could create an infinitely large object.

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Like the universe?

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isnt the univrse finite?

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what's outside of it then?

atrifix · #7 01-20-2006, 10:19 PM

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This is not true as long as we assume that sentences can only be made from words. Since there are a finite number of words, it follows that there are a finite number of sentences, though that number would be very large.

[/ QUOTE ]No, this follows in essentially the same way that infinite numbers do: we can always add the word "very" or whatever to a sentence. Or, consider the language {0, 1} where words are composed of the Kleene closure {0, 1}*. I don't know what a "real world" example is supposed to mean, though.

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I don't think that this is a good "real world example" but along the same lines is there are an infinite number of places to stand in a room, or an infinite number of positions that you can make with your hand.

[/ QUOTE ]Presumably, this could be false. If quantum physics is true, then we should expect that the matter that occupies space is discrete.

soon2bepro · #8 01-20-2006, 11:24 PM

infinity is just a concept. we know of nothing that is infinite; i agree with the thread creator (how do you call that? OP? no idea what that stands for [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img])

(edit: oh, maybe Original Poster)

thefisherman · #9 01-21-2006, 01:41 AM

This correct on the quantum part. But more importantly, the point is infinity is a theoretical concept. Only that.

Infinite number of places you can stand? That would require an infinite amount of time to actually stand in all those places. Be "real world" here. Stand in all the places you want, but you can only stand in a finite amount. Plus, as mentioned before, the number is still finite due to the fact that quantum mechanics requires uncertainty in position, so the idea of position as a concept is flawed.

Secondly, I would say a sentence is something someone uses to communicate language. An infinite number of infinite length sentence, while in math, is possible, but not a "real world" example. Time prohibits it.

>>>>>>>>>>>>&g t;>>>>>>>>>>>&gt ;
The point is:
People seem to think of infinity as something that is real world. To those of you who differentiate real world and theoretical, congrats, that's the point. But I think it's astounding the number of people who believe infinity transcends that boundary. I'm just out to show that it does not. It is confined only to the mathematical/theoretical region.

Smock8 · #10 01-21-2006, 02:37 AM

You seem to be arguing that infinity cannot be acted out in any way. However this does not mean that infinity deosnt exist, the example of an infinite number of possible sentances is a good one, yes there is an infinite number of sentances, no you cannot come up with a list of them because of the nature of infinity and the fact that we are assuming that we live in a finite time universe.