Does infinity have a beginning?

Question

I always understood infinity as forever. But how can something be forever if it has a beginning?

Answer 1

If your infinity refers to time, it had a beginning.

Time is a measure of motion. The earth moves around the sun (year). The moon moves around the earth (month). The earth spins (day). Atomic time is measured by the movement of atomic particles in an atom, such as cesium.

Before there was any movement, there was no time. Prior to the big bang, there was no movement and thus no time.

If all movement ceases to exist in the far future, time will end.

Answer 2

Infinity is a complicated idea and many people don't understand it well. I can also mean different things in different contexts. It can mean 'forever' but it doesn't have to. I don't know how much detail you want, or how much I could give. But you can start somewhere and go forever in one direction. In geometry this could be represented by a ray. Infinity could be a line, which goes forever in two directions. There are other ways to think about infinity, too.

Answer 3

Yes, infinity can have a beginning. For example, take the set of positive integers: 1, 2, 3, ... This sequence has a beginning at 1. But it is infinite, because it never stops. On the other hand, the sequence of all integers has no beginning, since it goes from negative infinity to positive infinity.

Another example, consider an infinite amount of time, starting today. It begins now, but is still infinite, because it goes on forever.

Answer 4

I assmue that you are talking about time, since you speak about beginning ....

If some phenomea starts and never stops the phenomea lasts forever, that is an infinit long time., this kind of infinity has a start.

If some phenomea "IS" and always "WAS" and always "WILL BE", then it is also forever, that is an infinit long time again, but this infinity has no start.

So the answer to your question is YES and NO

Capito ?

Answer 5

It depends on what size infinity you are talking about. There are an infinite number of infinities, each one larger than the previous. I believe someone earlier talked about the difference between integers and counting numbers, however, these are actually the same size infinity, because you can count to any given number in the sets in a finite amount of time. They are of the size of infinity called aleph0. The set of all irrational numbers, however, is of a larger size infinity, 2^aleph0, because no matter how long you count irrational numbers you can never reach any certain one. So the answer is sometimes.

Answer 6

The beginning is relative to the origin or starting point of the problem to be solved. If back in cave man days they had 3 rocks to count with then infinity to them was 4 and beyond. A yard stick has an infinite number of points between 36 and the edge to the left of 1. And the mouse behind our kitchen cabinet apparently has inifite power (and stealth and strength) because my wife can't stop talking about it.

Answer 7

Everything measured must have a starting place for measuring purposes, however infinity still goes any direction. For example time, you know there is not a beginning of time, because it goes on infinately, in BOTH directions, to the past and the future. But we reside in time at a certain point at any moment. And it is that place in infinity we use as our starting point.

Answer 8

Technically speaking infinity has no start or end.

For example, in mathematics you have a number line, which includes negative numbers and positive numbers, blah blah blah.

In terms of decimals it can go on forever (infinite) in the case of 1/3 turned into decimal form.

And physcally speaking scientists barely know anything about the universe since it is so big and there are so many things to learn about it both here on Earth and on other bodies in orbit.

Answer 9

Infinity isn't "forever" - perhaps this is where the confusion lies?


And Mr. Buffet below is incorrect. The positive integers (otherwise known as the naturals), or any infinite set - either countable or uncountable- may have a begining itself, but that has no bearing on the question at hand.

Answer 10

Infinity is the name we give to a concept we do not understand. Literally it means "without end". However, it could just as well mean "without beginning".

People first applied this concept to time. Later it found many more applications such as numbers, logic, philosophy, etc.

What's important to remember is that we can deduce properties about infinity even though we can't fully comprehend it.