Infinity = 1?

[Retodon8]

I maintain that negative integers are an idea, as is infinity. You can see 3 of something, it can be physical. You can't physically get infinity or any negetive number, they (among other things) are used to help us understand the world, but they aren't "real".

1 isn't any less of an idea than -1.
You can't see 0 of something either... depending on how you reason.
I suppose I see 0 cows right now, but I see 0 of a lot of things, so that's not exactly informative.
Is 1 cow without a tail still a cow, and what about a cow with 6 legs?
What if you cut a cow in half, or into more pieces?
A steak is a piece of cow, 1 piece even, but it's only part of a whole cow.

Objects are defined by their observer, aren't necessarily always the same thing.
Numbers are, they are pretty abstract, and they aren't "real".
You can't see 1.
Just 1, without any units behind it, no cows or steaks or anything.
Numbers only exist in our minds.
Again, numbers and math explain how everything works, but that doesn't mean they are "real".

 

[TheNamlessGuy]

DELETED

 

[reg42]

Infinity isn't a number, its an idea. It can't be 1, because 1 is a number, not an idea.

All numbers are ideas. There was no such thing as "1" until humans created it. Just because it's an easier concept to grasp than infinity doesn't mean it's inherently separate.

But as for the OP, no. Infinity is not one. That is, unless you redefine what it is that you're enumerating.

I disagree. I can count to 1. I can see 1 cow. I can take away 3 from 4 and be left with 1. I cannot, however count to infinity or have infinity cows, and if you can take 3 away from something and be left with infinity, I'll be impressed.
(I'm very tired, so if that didn't make sense, just ignore it.)

So, in order to be a number, you have to be able to count to it. Do you deny the existence of pi?...

(gasps)Wait...

(whispers apprehensively) Can you count to pi?

Haha.
You can certainly try.

But pi is a ratio, not a number. Ratios are represented by numbers, but they aren't numbers themselves. So, no. As interesting as it would be, you can't count to pi.

 

[niglett]

1 is what ever basic unit your measuring with. if 1 is the universe in a particular problem then yes it is infinite if 1 is a apple its a apple. its used to account for how many of something there is.

mesuring amount o' apples

1 = apple

i measure 3 so i have 3 apples

if 1 = universe

universe = everything

everything = infinity

 

[reg42]

I maintain that negative integers are an idea, as is infinity. You can see 3 of something, it can be physical. You can't physically get infinity or any negetive number, they (among other things) are used to help us understand the world, but they aren't "real".

1 isn't any less of an idea than -1.
You can't see 0 of something either... depending on how you reason.
I suppose I see 0 cows right now, but I see 0 of a lot of things, so that's not exactly informative.
Is 1 cow without a tail still a cow, and what about a cow with 6 legs?
What if you cut a cow in half, or into more pieces?
A steak is a piece of cow, 1 piece even, but it's only part of a whole cow.

Objects are defined by their observer, aren't necessarily always the same thing.
Numbers are, they are pretty abstract, and they aren't "real".
You can't see 1.
Just 1, without any units behind it, no cows or steaks or anything.
Numbers only exist in our minds.
Again, numbers and math explain how everything works, but that doesn't mean they are "real".

Well, a steak would be about (lets say) one sixteenth of a cow, and I can believe that, because there it is, right in front of me. However, if you told me that you ate -1 steaks, I would be quite impressed.

I agree with you that numbers are defined by their observers, but I think of it in a more physical sense. IMO, positive integers are real, because they can be used to represent real things. The numbers themselves aren't real. But now I'm just going back to the "show me -3 cows" story.

Thanks for the chat, but I'm off to bed.

 

[Lester.]

Wait a second, isn't a number divided by zero infinite?

Or a black hole's dimension? Infinitely small?

 

[Retodon8]

But pi is a ratio, not a number. Ratios are represented by numbers, but they aren't numbers themselves. So, no. As interesting as it would be, you can't count to pi.

Pi is "only" an irrational number, but it is very much a number.
Why wouldn't it be a number?
I can count to pi actually, although not linearly.
Here goes: 1, 2, 3, pi, all done.

Well, a steak would be about (lets say) one sixteenth of a cow, and I can believe that, because there it is, right in front of me. However, if you told me that you ate -1 steaks, I would be quite impressed.

I agree with you that numbers are defined by their observers, but I think of it in a more physical sense. IMO, positive integers are real, because they can be used to represent real things. The numbers themselves aren't real. But now I'm just going back to the "show me -3 cows" story.

Thanks for the chat, but I'm off to bed.

First of all then, good night.

Actually I'm saying objects are defined by their observer, numbers are not, so I think we may still disagree.

And now for a joke very much related to the above:

A biologist, a physicist, and a mathematician are talking when they see a man and a woman enter a nearby shed.
When they come out a little later, they have a third person with them.
The biologist quickly notes that they obviously multiplied.
The physicist however concludes they must have made an observational error.
Then the mathematician remarks that if one person enters the shed now, it will be empty again.

 

[Burningsok]

infinity is every and no number it is every thing and nothing it's just sad to squabble about it so DONT

That's just wrong.
Writing that equals inviting others to comment, so doing that and at the same time calling people who talk about this sad, isn't very nice.

But, while we're on the subject of things equalling 1: 0.999... = 1

lol ooh yeah, my friend showed me a calculus equation that proved this and its simple, but at the same time you can see that the equation had to be manipulated to where you werer basically adding in a certain part to the problem which is hard to recognize... ok im not making any sense myself lol. i'll just stop talking, im probably wrong.

You can actually wrap your head around it by thinking logically.
1 / 3 = 0.3
Actually more precise would be 0.33333, but if you calculate the exact number you'll find that it is 0.33333... with an infinite amount of 3s.
If you multiply that number by 3, you undo the division, which means the answer must be 1.
Actually calculating though, you'll get 0.99999... with an infinite amount of 0s.

u mean 9's lol but yeah i see what your talking about

 

[SnootyEnglishman]

The symbol for infinity is a sideways 8...so therefore 8 is the number your searching for. There's also 42 the universal answer to anything.

 

[manaman]

...

But, while we're on the subject of things equalling 1:
0.999... = 1

lol ooh yeah, my friend showed me a calculus equation that proved this and its simple, but at the same time you can see that the equation had to be manipulated to where you werer basically adding in a certain part to the problem which is hard to recognize... ok im not making any sense myself lol. i'll just stop talking, im probably wrong.

Possibly, probably, most likely.

It works like this:

1/3=.333...
2/3=.666...

Add both sides up and you get:

3/3=.999...

3/3=1 so .999... also equals one.

you run into the problem of seeing the nines and not realizing that you have an infinite number of them. Our decimal system is quirky like that. Like pi interesting number, but still a number and still definable. Only the decimal system makes it really interesting as the it has a non repeating pattern that is infinite. Interesting in the same way .999...=1

 

[PhiMed]

Infinity isn't a number, its an idea. It can't be 1, because 1 is a number, not an idea.

All numbers are ideas. There was no such thing as "1" until humans created it. Just because it's an easier concept to grasp than infinity doesn't mean it's inherently separate.

But as for the OP, no. Infinity is not one. That is, unless you redefine what it is that you're enumerating.

I disagree. I can count to 1. I can see 1 cow. I can take away 3 from 4 and be left with 1. I cannot, however count to infinity or have infinity cows, and if you can take 3 away from something and be left with infinity, I'll be impressed.
(I'm very tired, so if that didn't make sense, just ignore it.)

So, in order to be a number, you have to be able to count to it. Do you deny the existence of pi?...

(gasps)Wait...

(whispers apprehensively) Can you count to pi?

Haha.
You can certainly try.

But pi is a ratio, not a number. Ratios are represented by numbers, but they aren't numbers themselves. So, no. As interesting as it would be, you can't count to pi.

So what is a ratio, then? Not a number I suppose? 1=number, 2=number, 1/2 not a number?

While pi is defined as the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, it cannot be represented as a ratio of "numbers" as you define them. That's why it's a member of the subset of irrational numbers. What about other irrationals that are not defined as a ratio? The simplest irrational I can think of not defined as a ratio is the square root of 2.

It wasn't so long ago that there were people who were (no offense) much more learned and intelligent than you or me who suggested that negative integers and irrational number simply could not exist at all. Of course we accept these notions today. I think people will eventually be as comfortable with the notion of infinity as we are with integers and irrational numbers today.

Numbers only became a necessary construct when people began using language to describe their surroundings. Animals without language have no notion of numbers, so the fact is we did create them. They are all concepts, not concrete objects. In this, infinity is no different than 1, 0, pi, or the square root of 2.

 

[PhiMed]

Wait a second, isn't a number divided by zero infinite?

Or a black hole's dimension? Infinitely small?

No, a number divided by zero is undefined, not infinite. Now, the limit of 1/x as x approaches zero positively is infinity, and the limit of 1/x as x approaches zero negatively is negative infinity. But 1/x evaluated at zero is undefined.

 

[Burningsok]

...

But, while we're on the subject of things equalling 1:
0.999... = 1

lol ooh yeah, my friend showed me a calculus equation that proved this and its simple, but at the same time you can see that the equation had to be manipulated to where you werer basically adding in a certain part to the problem which is hard to recognize... ok im not making any sense myself lol. i'll just stop talking, im probably wrong.

Possibly, probably, most likely.

It works like this:

1/3=.333...
2/3=.666...

Add both sides up and you get:

3/3=.999...

3/3=1 so .999... also equals one.

you run into the problem of seeing the nines and not realizing that you have an infinite number of them. Our decimal system is quirky like that. Like pi interesting number, but still a number and still definable. Only the decimal system makes it really interesting as the it has a non repeating pattern that is infinite. Interesting in the same way .999...=1

that makes complete sense

 

[Urgh76]

that whole thing that u just said was

(-)-1= infinity

which is entirely false, so no

 

[Lexodus]

[quote="Maze1125" post="18.174837.4936352"

But, while we're on the subject of things equalling 1:
0.999... = 1[/quote]
GRRRRRRRR... I disagree.
Goddamn decimals. A fraction sees past all this bullshit and actually divides 1 by an exact third, not by a 'infinity plus 1' style number that mathematicians just pass off as 0.999... .

 

[Jaranja]

But then isn't 1 meant to describe a whole thing, so therefore everything?

That it is, but infinity isn't one thing, it's all of everything.

It's not that either, is it? It's an infinite number of something.

 

[TheNamlessGuy]

DELETED

 

[Latinidiot]

infinity can't be imagined. you could say infinity is one, because the squareroot of infinity still kinda is infinity, etc.

 

[Indecizion]

WoW ok no sleep for like 2 weeks thanx to work and yeah so this is like prolly something id normaly understand easily but now im just wow, way too exhausted this is scary.

 

[Jaranja]

It's not that either, is it? It's an infinite number of something.

That's what I said.

"All of everything"

All of everything would come to a number. If time stopped for long enough for you to count all of everything; you'd get a ridiculous fucking number but not infinity.