The Paradox of Infinity

but how do we know if light speed is really the fastest speed in the universe? perhaps it's simply the fastest observed phenomenon/matter/energy/whatever in the universe. there are a few things left in the universe that are as yet unstudied. dark matter for example. black holes. are those ideas only figments of our imagination created to comfort us?

 

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Well, how many numbers are there between 0 and 1?

 

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Define number, Truthseeker. What do you mean by "between?" I could say zero and be able to back it up.

 

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Errr... any decimal number that is greater then 0 but less then 1...

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That a distance may be infinitely divisible (mathematically at least) does not mean that the distance is infinite. You're just reworking Zeno's Dichotomy paradox.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeno's_paradoxes#The_dichotomy_paradox

Additionally, remember that math is a logical system and is not itself reality. That we run into various paradoxes indicates a limitation of the system and/or our ability to accurately describe the world within the system not a problem with the world. In particular, the concepts of zero and infinity are problematic.

~Raithere

 

Jeeze. You, I know for a fact, should know that there is a much different universe on the (hard to observe) quantum level; logical observation of the macro world doesn't tend to agree with the "micro" world.

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Boyakasha! Finally someone who is thinking like me!

 

Hey, I am not here to give explanations for scientific equations. As of now, I am just merely a reporter of the findings of science. The speed of light as a "speed-limit" was derived from Einstein's equations --equations that many scientists view as fact. Just like myself, and probably 99.9% of the members, I do not know that math for much of what I preach. I do not deny the possibility of something going faster than the speed of light, and I am also quite intrigued by seemingly incongruent observations to the theory (see double-slit experiment and EPR paradox). One thing I know, however, is that the idea of light-speed being a universal speed limit was not created as a comfort. Do you really think that Einstein slaved over his theories and equations to create a comfort --and that scientists produced supporting evidence only as a comfort? i mean C'mon.

 

Infinity is a concept with no correlation to reality as currently understood by GR & QM. Planck length is indeed a limit on how small you can divide something. Smaller does not make sense as you would have a black hole. Information cannot travel faster than the speed of light. The universe itself does not "go on forever".

Does this mean these are indeed hard limits? Or does our understanding of reality simply break down at this point? I'm not sure.

 

humans will do almost anything to comfort themselves and make sense of what they can't understand...

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in all seriousness, i ask because i want to understand. don't condemn me for my curiousity. what you see as assinine could very well be a justified idea. how many centuries was the earth flat, as a fact. how many centuries did the earth exist at the center of the universe? how long was man earthbound?

just want to express myself like anyone else, dude...

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Try again.

 

From the link...
"Zeno's paradoxes are a set of paradoxes devised by Zeno of Elea to support Parmenides' doctrine that "all is one" and that contrary to the evidence of our senses, the belief in plurality and change is mistaken, and in particular that motion is nothing but an illusion."
The guy was obviously a genious. Unfortunately, people are still not ready to accept the Truth...

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I know. You think my observation does not include the micro?

 

Oh. Wow. You answered your own quesiton, haven't ya?

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I hope you do not fall for Zeno's paradox as truth. Look at his assumption. He ASSUMES that the sum of the infinite series (1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8 + ...) is infinite.

 

No no no no...

The sequence is infinite, but the sum of the parts are finite because the size of the parts decreases indefinetely!

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My claim is that the sequence is infinite.

 

So you are saying 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8 + ... = infinity?

What do you mean? The number of terms is infinite or the sum is?

 

Let me try to demonstrate it with the following graph

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Damn! I need some place to upload my pictures to! :bugeye:

The number of terms is infinite.

 

Upload your picture to photbucket.com - it's free.

And big deal if the series is infinite with regard to the number of terms.