Originally Posted By: Bill S.
Originally Posted By: Kallog
Sure I agree
.

Good. (2): Do you accept that a mathematical infinity is not necessarily the same thing as a physical infinity?


I don't think there can be such a thing as a physical infinity. There might be a quantity which can be measured to have the value infinity, but that's only a mathematical representation of something else. For example how much time does it take for a stationary object to move 1m? Answer is infinity, is that a physical infinity? Another example. If the universe was infinite in extent, we could simply define its size as 1/extent. So it's size becomes 0 in our new units. The apparent physical infinity has just evaporated.

Would you say there's such a thing as a physical "3"? A physical "-3"? A physical pi? A physical complex number?

I would say certainly not to all of the above, with the possible exception of "3", but even then it's tenuous.

Last edited by kallog; 09/11/10 02:59 AM.