What is your best personal "method" of trying to comprehend infinity?

Question

....the concept of the Universe with no ending or beginning; the resultant fact of time being the same? How does the infinitely small (beyond sub-atomic string resonances) tie in with the infinitely large(individual and/or parallel Universal Membranes, each with infinite space-time, within a Mega Universe(s) of, again, infinite numbers of "SuperMembranes")? How can one come even close to grasping such concepts as reality? What is infinity?

Answer 1

My best method is to think of the symbol for infinity , the number 8 will suffice,where the lines intersect is the here and now but it to will be replaced by another and another as the universe will be replaced by another and another, never the same moment, never the same time, never the same universe -forever, mind boggling? You bet.

Answer 2

Infinity is a mathematical concept. Many math concepts do apply to the non-math world, but not all - and infinity is one that doesn't.

Consider this scenario. Achilles and a tortoise decide to have a foot-race over a distance of 100 yards. Achilles gives the tortoise 50 yards head start, because he is confident he can easily catch and overtake the tortoise. However, when he starts running, he realizes that before he can catch the tortoise he will have to get to the 50 yard mark and when he does get there the tortoise will have moved on. And then, by the time he has covered that second distance (the distance it has moved on) the tortoise will have moved on again, and so on infinitely. The distance the tortoise moves on will be shorter each time, but he will never be able to catch it, because each time he gets to where the tortoise moved on to it will have moved on again.

What is wrong with Achilles' reasoning? Why does reason tell him he can't beat the tortoise when experience tells him he can?

The answer is, because the concept of infinity does not apply to non-math reality. In math, every distance can be infinitely divided - you can never reach a smallest possible distance because the math 'distance' is always 1/n+1, where n is a number of indefinite size. In reality distance is not infinite but limited - in fact, that's what a distance is: a limited length.

To put it another way, in math every number has a successor, but in reality every distance has a limit.

Another thing to consider is that there is not just one infinity, there is, in math fact, an indefinite number of infinities. For example, there's the infinity of even numbers and the infinity of odd numbers.

Answer 3

For me the only way to comprehend infinity is to know yourself. Whether it's through meditation or a flash of insight you can be graced with knowing that there is a part of us that is infinite. Beyond all appearances and impermanent phenomena there is something that has no beginning and no end. I don't think that thinking about infinity can ever bring any conclusive answer. It's like trying to pull yourself up by your own shoestrings. the concept of space is amazing though. Never ending space. A universe so vast to not be comprehended. Great question!

Answer 4

the only way to do that is by transcending your mind...

when you look deeper and deeper into the space.....its the same like looking deeper and deeper into an atom!

you are doing the same thing!

hypothetically....if you look deeper and deeper into space ...you will end up seeing the back of your own head! when you look deep enough into an atom you'll see yourself looking into the atom! you find an atom in the universe....you find the universe in an atom!



when you are looking out of your self....you are actually looking into your self!

our external experiences are a reflection of our internal nature in a cosmic perspective...

thats the relationship between :

an atom and the universe

the self and the SELF

the finite and the infinite

the physical and the formless....

infinity is nothing but a field of infinite potential...

the symbol yin yang is about contradictions...which completes the other!

its a symbol of a snake swallowing its own tail....its a sign of physical transcendence.... if you were to tear apart physical matter it would just fade away into atoms and empty space where you'll reach a point where the physical matter wont exist..

can you prove the existence of anything else other than yourself?..... afterall, its your mind thats perceiving it!

the human mind is a reflection of the cosmic mind....

life is a mirror...and the reflection is life itself!

the cosmic existence is the mirror....and the human existence is the reflection...

what is finite is an illusion....what is infinite is the truth...

the experience is an illusion...the intentions are the truth...

Answer 5

Looking at pre calc ideas... i would have to say it is both cyclical and linear. That is to say, the limit as a person approaches infinity depends on your perspective.
there is both an infinite amount of distance, and an infinite amount of space between to finite distances.
there is an infinite amount of particles as well as an infinite amount of space for these particles to exist in.
However Hawking beleives this to not be true.
The edges of the Universe are defined by the photons that were released during the very first instances of the Big Bang. So to reach/measure these photons is completely impossible.
and since there is a finite amount of space, and a finite amount of particles, then there must be a finite unit of measure to define space into sections.
perhaps the volume of one photon?

Answer 6

i imagine our difficulty is that individuals can purely interpret issues in 3 dimensions rather of the 4 from Einstein or the ten-13 for string theory. Infinitely small upload up and artwork at the same time in infinite scale to grant an unlimited universe. As for a unifying theory Einstein couldn't make certain that one out so i will let it bypass. in my opinion even as i imagine of infinity i imagine of a vertical or horizontal asymptote on a Cartesian airplane depicting a hyperbola. convinced the closer you get to the asymptote the exponentially larger the decision turns into. even if once you attain it math collapses in a experience. So you in all likelihood can say it really is a theory to describe what's at the moment previous our attain or always will be.

Answer 7

The best method I've found is through meditation. That's certainly not to say I've grasped reality or completely understand time or can fathom infinity. Meditation can take you closer and closer to these concepts until they begin to be unveiled and you taste the fringes of what is. Then you savor the vastness and complexity in awe and wonder and see it reflected in the minutest particle of existence. Then you begin to hear the song of the universe and try to join in the harmony of the stars.

Answer 8

I have tried to comprehend infinity, but just can't do it! It seems there must always be something beyond...how can there not be? We cannot comprehend it because we will never in our lifetime get to the end.....that's why we cannot assume we are the only living beings in the Universe. This question gives me a headache too!

Answer 9

Imagine the largest expanse of the universe you can encompass inside your head and then realize how pathetic your efforts of comprehending infinity are. Exactly how pathetic they are can be measured as infinite, and because the feeling is contained within you, you have become one with infinity (even if you can't comprehend it)

Answer 10

I go in exactly the opposite direction. Try imagining everything stopping. This is often much harder than grasping infinity. All you have to do is ask the the classic question, "Then what's behind THAT wall?"
Hope this helps...