Can anyone grasp the concept of infinity?

Question

Truly, I mean, not just the definition of it

Lorenzo - you're hurting my brain 8-)

Answer 1

i cant i live in my house on my street in my town by my city in my province in a country in a world that hangs in space surrounded by other chunks of rock and balls of gas i see stars and then i think about it infinity i mean and . . . iam lible to get a panic attack

Answer 2

Infinity goes on forever. Can we grasp forever? Well, we can be dead forever. And what's the difference between infinity and eternity? Science never speaks of eternity. And if the universe is not infinite, then what is beyond the edge of it? If the universe started with the Big Bang, then it must have finite boundaries.
If there was no Big Bang, just continuous creation, well, didn't it have to start sometime? How could it have just always been?
Either way, it is a difficult concept to grasp.

Answer 3

In mathematics, infinity is relevant to, or the subject matter of, limits, aleph numbers, classes in set theory, Dedekind-infinite sets, large cardinals, Russell's paradox, hyperreal numbers, projective geometry, extended real numbers and the absolute Infinite.

In axiomatic set theory and the branches of logic, mathematics, and computer science that use it, the axiom of infinity is one of the axioms of Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory.

In the formal language of the Zermelo-Fraenkel axioms, the axiom reads (in words): There is a set N, such that the empty set is in N and such that whenever x is a member of N, the set formed by taking the union of x with its singleton {x} is also a member of N. Such a set is sometimes called an inductive set.

To understand this axiom, first we define the successor of x as x ∪ {x}. Note that the axiom of pairing allows us to form the singleton {x}, and also to form the pair. Successors are used to define the usual set theory encoding of the natural numbers. In this encoding, zero is the empty set (0 = {}), and 1 is the successor of 0:

1 = 0 ∪ {0} = {} ∪ {0} = {0}.

Likewise, 2 is the successor of 1:

2 = 1 ∪ {1} = {0} ∪ {1} = {0,1},

and so on. A consequence of this definition is that every natural number is equal to the set of all preceding natural numbers.

We might wish to form the set of all natural numbers, but it turns out that, using only the other axioms, this is impossible. The axiom of infinity thus assumes the existence of this set. It does this by a method similar to mathematical induction, by first assuming there is a set S that contains zero, and then enforcing that for every element of S, the successor of that element is also in S.

This set S may contain more than just the natural numbers, forming a subset of it, but we may apply the axiom schema of specification to remove unwanted elements, leaving the set N of all natural numbers. This set is unique by the axiom of extensionality. The result of applying the axiom of separation is
(In words), the set of all natural numbers exists; where a natural number is either zero or a successor and each of its elements is either zero or a successor of another of its elements.

Thus the essence of the axiom is:

There is a set containing all the natural numbers.

The axiom of infinity is also one of the von Neumann-Bernays-Gödel axioms.

Infinity in and of itself has no meaning without intelect.

one must have intelect to observe even the possibility of infinity.

Answer 4

There are three types of infinity: mathematical, physical, and absolute. I think we can understand the definition of all those infinities but we cannot grab hold of it. I don't believe we can truly make it complete in ourselves to understand it. Many things in life we can take and feel complete with its structure and complexity, but infinity is one of those things we can never feel complete. In order to grasp the whole concept of infinity, we must live infinitely long.

Answer 5

sure

try this think the bigest number you can put into a calculator (normally 999999999) then times it by the same number and then by same number again, now keep doing this without a break every second of everyday till you die, your final number will still represent a figure that this is no where near any number which represents infinity.

the whole concept of infinity is it is infinite- and hence can not be defined by figures written down or calculated, the same with distance, volume and space it simply put is something that extends for ever and can not be measured in any form.

Answer 6

Yes, the concept is understandable.

It just takes some practice.

You can't just throw infinitys around.

Answer 7

Infinity may exist only in terms of definition.

Answer 8

How can our finite minds fully grasp such an infinite concept? I know mine can't.

Answer 9

The concept, yes.
The reality, no

Answer 10

i can.

send me a question about it.
i love theoretical questions.