Pionart
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 17, 2014
- Messages
- 4,024
- MBTI Type
- NiFe
It's generally taken for granted that you can go on counting forever. In mathematics there's even the idea of infinities of different sizes, eg there are more real numbers than rationals.
Analysis as a field of mathematics seems largely to do with infinite sequences which are linked to whether a set is open or closed.
However, I don't believe in infinity. I believe there is a largest, and smallest number.
"But what happens if you add one to the biggest number?". You get the same number. The ordinary rules of arithmetic no longer apply, and the numbers have to be given as formulae.
I can't take analysis seriously because of its focus on the infinite.
I wish there was more of a controversy over this and that maths was being done with a hypothesised biggest number.
I think the idea of infinity is merely a hypothesis, and the alternate hypothesis of a biggest number needs to be given serious consideration.
Analysis as a field of mathematics seems largely to do with infinite sequences which are linked to whether a set is open or closed.
However, I don't believe in infinity. I believe there is a largest, and smallest number.
"But what happens if you add one to the biggest number?". You get the same number. The ordinary rules of arithmetic no longer apply, and the numbers have to be given as formulae.
I can't take analysis seriously because of its focus on the infinite.
I wish there was more of a controversy over this and that maths was being done with a hypothesised biggest number.
I think the idea of infinity is merely a hypothesis, and the alternate hypothesis of a biggest number needs to be given serious consideration.
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