mat123thew Posted September 21, 2011 Posted September 21, 2011 So, I am a freshman in highschool, and I have this theory. But I need someone WHO KNOWS WHAT THEY ARE DOING, to test this for me, or find flaws. Please have an open mind. Okay, so take a pencil. Place it in front of you. Now, divide the pencil in half, divide one of the half's by half, and so on and so on. Do that about 8000mil times. You just keep dividing and dividing. There is NO end to the dividing. You can divide the lines forever. This is (what I believe) the meaning of "Infinity". There is no end, and we can not even began to comprehend it. So take this infinity, and take the odds THAT ARE POSSIBLE. For instance, the odds that you will grow a giant bird wing and fly, is 0/0. Humans can not do that, odds are impossible. Now, take the odds that a bird will dive and hit you on the head. The odds are about 1/100000000000000. But, there IS an odd. If infinity, is forever, than it has all the outcomes of all POSSIBLE odds. So is it possible that, if you keep on dividing the line, (or pencil), sense all the odds get opened up, there could be universes. Is that what our universe is? Just something tiny in something else. And it keeps going, it does not have an end, it does not have a beguining, it is infinity. Forever. All of the possible outcomes come true. Or, if this is also already a theory, (which if it is, I am not aware), please give me the name of it so i can began to study it. Thank you! -Matt (sry for any misspells,i dont have alot of time!)
Mrs Zeta Posted September 21, 2011 Posted September 21, 2011 I think you are talking about the Many-worlds interpretation of parallel universe/multiverse.
lifertexan Posted October 2, 2011 Posted October 2, 2011 Superstringtheory.com www.popsci.com/category/tags/multiverses
timo Posted October 2, 2011 Posted October 2, 2011 I had to abort the experiment after six divides. No comprehension of infinity set in. You owe me a pencil. 2
Genius13 Posted October 18, 2011 Posted October 18, 2011 i think u will find the answer by studing string thory
JustinW Posted October 18, 2011 Posted October 18, 2011 Dividing something that has mass will always have an end. Just like possibilities are limited to the situation. I don't think a duck can grow a rocket on its hind end no matter how long you give it.
Genius13 Posted October 18, 2011 Posted October 18, 2011 no u will never hit the end u will get to molekules then atoms the quarks the string then whatever is smaller than that when u divide by half u will never hit 0
swansont Posted October 18, 2011 Posted October 18, 2011 no u will never hit the end u will get to molekules then atoms the quarks the string then whatever is smaller than that when u divide by half u will never hit 0 ! Moderator Note We assume you are not texting when participating, so please follow etiquette and type in "you" when you mean "you" (as an example, rather than a comprehensive listing) Thanks
tomgwyther Posted October 18, 2011 Posted October 18, 2011 here's a video you may find interesting Matthew. It's a BBC documentary which looks at some of the postulates you have posted. The link below is part 2, I've posted that because it starts with the 'infinitely divided pencil', (In this case it's a ruler) theory which you have. It would be a good starting point for research into the mathematical ideas you're interested in. Enjoy http://youtu.be/wpWXT9yMBnw
phasevelocity Posted November 17, 2011 Posted November 17, 2011 So, I am a freshman in highschool, and I have this theory. But I need someone WHO KNOWS WHAT THEY ARE DOING, to test this for me, or find flaws. Please have an open mind. Okay, so take a pencil. Place it in front of you. Now, divide the pencil in half, divide one of the half's by half, and so on and so on. Do that about 8000mil times. You just keep dividing and dividing. There is NO end to the dividing. You can divide the lines forever. This is (what I believe) the meaning of "Infinity". There is no end, and we can not even began to comprehend it. So take this infinity, and take the odds THAT ARE POSSIBLE. For instance, the odds that you will grow a giant bird wing and fly, is 0/0. Humans can not do that, odds are impossible. Now, take the odds that a bird will dive and hit you on the head. The odds are about 1/100000000000000. But, there IS an odd. If infinity, is forever, than it has all the outcomes of all POSSIBLE odds. So is it possible that, if you keep on dividing the line, (or pencil), sense all the odds get opened up, there could be universes. Is that what our universe is? Just something tiny in something else. And it keeps going, it does not have an end, it does not have a beguining, it is infinity. Forever. All of the possible outcomes come true. Or, if this is also already a theory, (which if it is, I am not aware), please give me the name of it so i can began to study it. Thank you! -Matt (sry for any misspells,i dont have alot of time!) Your problem is a very old idea and already known since at least ancient Greece. Please take a look at this wiki page on Zeno's Paradoxes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeno%27s_paradoxes The problem has physical limitations in that you will have to stop dividing when you come to the scale of atoms or molecules. If you disregard that you will be limited by what can be observed which is at least 10 magnitudes larger than the smallest scale. Ultimately you will be limited by the smallest scale science currently thinks exists fundamentally, the Planck scale or 1.616252×10−35 m. More info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planck_scale If you go even further and disregard all practical and physical limits you will encounter logical problems. At present the majority of logicians, philosophers and mathematicians regard infinities outside of concepts in math like for example in set theory as impossible. The distinction needs to be made between conceptual infinities and real infinities. Real infinities are officially termed actual infinities: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actual_infinity All this would not stop you from considering the future as an infinity. Such infinities however are not actualized yet so they are called a potential infinity. Some people consider God an actual infinity (also called the absolute infinity) while others consider the infinity related attributes of God proof for His non-existence. Some links related to infinity that may be of interest that might keep you busy for a while: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilbert%27s_paradox_of_the_Grand_Hotel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supertask http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balls_and_vase_problem http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finitism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinitesimal http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperreal_number http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surreal_number http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transfinite http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo%27s_paradox http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantor%27s_paradox http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burali-Forti_paradox http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/0.999... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleph_number http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axiom_of_limitation_of_size http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dedekind-infinite_set http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euclid%27s_theorem http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell%27s_paradox http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skolem%27s_paradox Note that nature is considered fully consistent. That is the basis of all knowledge. If a paradox exists it has to be caused by problems in man-made concepts (or axioms in mathematics). This means paradoxes must be analyzed by trying to find the problem in the definitions or concepts. The chicken and the egg problem for example is caused by the concept chicken. The concept chicken is something practical for humans but in nature lifeforms exist in a constantly changing form. Through many steps of gradual change transitions are made so there never is an exact point where the first chicken appears, the bird just became more and more chicken like. The paradox appears when we create a concept that sets an artificial boundary called chicken. 1
Tres Juicy Posted December 8, 2011 Posted December 8, 2011 Your problem is a very old idea and already known since at least ancient Greece. Please take a look at this wiki page on Zeno's Paradoxes: http://en.wikipedia....o%27s_paradoxes The problem has physical limitations in that you will have to stop dividing when you come to the scale of atoms or molecules. If you disregard that you will be limited by what can be observed which is at least 10 magnitudes larger than the smallest scale. Ultimately you will be limited by the smallest scale science currently thinks exists fundamentally, the Planck scale or 1.616252×10−35 m. More info here: http://en.wikipedia....ki/Planck_scale If you go even further and disregard all practical and physical limits you will encounter logical problems. At present the majority of logicians, philosophers and mathematicians regard infinities outside of concepts in math like for example in set theory as impossible. The distinction needs to be made between conceptual infinities and real infinities. Real infinities are officially termed actual infinities: http://en.wikipedia....Actual_infinity All this would not stop you from considering the future as an infinity. Such infinities however are not actualized yet so they are called a potential infinity. Some people consider God an actual infinity (also called the absolute infinity) while others consider the infinity related attributes of God proof for His non-existence. Some links related to infinity that may be of interest that might keep you busy for a while: http://en.wikipedia....the_Grand_Hotel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supertask http://en.wikipedia....nd_vase_problem http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finitism http://en.wikipedia....i/Infinitesimal http://en.wikipedia....yperreal_number http://en.wikipedia..../Surreal_number http://en.wikipedia....iki/Transfinite http://en.wikipedia....leo%27s_paradox http://en.wikipedia....tor%27s_paradox http://en.wikipedia....i-Forti_paradox http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/0.999... http://en.wikipedia....ki/Aleph_number http://en.wikipedia....itation_of_size http://en.wikipedia....nd-infinite_set http://en.wikipedia....lid%27s_theorem http://en.wikipedia....ell%27s_paradox http://en.wikipedia....lem%27s_paradox Note that nature is considered fully consistent. That is the basis of all knowledge. If a paradox exists it has to be caused by problems in man-made concepts (or axioms in mathematics). This means paradoxes must be analyzed by trying to find the problem in the definitions or concepts. The chicken and the egg problem for example is caused by the concept chicken. The concept chicken is something practical for humans but in nature lifeforms exist in a constantly changing form. Through many steps of gradual change transitions are made so there never is an exact point where the first chicken appears, the bird just became more and more chicken like. The paradox appears when we create a concept that sets an artificial boundary called chicken. some interesting reading there
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