It is impossible to get from point A to point B...?

Question

It's impossible to get from point A to point B because it's impossible to START. You have to get half way there first, but before you get half way there, you have to get half of half way there, and before you get half of half way there, you have to get half of half of half way there.... and so on and so on and so on... you can't start!!!

Answer 1

You would be correct however, the description of the word 'start' would seem to be inappropriate for the context of this question, consider that 'to start' suggests to change from a state of rest. I would argue that it is true that we can never start because we can never come to rest, in fact, one could say that we have never stopped getting from point A to point B, and beyond, in a dynamic sense we are always proceeding to a destination without
the intention to do so, arriving at point B is merely an observation of that which is static and dynamically ocurring.

Answer 2

The number of midpoints depends on what measurement you are using. It is true that in attempting to get the smallest measurement possible, you end up with infinite midpoints. However, if you want to consider a 'step' to be, say, 2 units, then there are a finite number of steps to get from point a to point b. So if you're applying this to reality, a step is always going to be a definite measurement. You only use the concept of approaching infinity to obtain the most accurate measurement possible when considering a limit. Edit: Okay, if you really want to understand this concept your best bet is to go take a calculus I class. The concept you are grappling with is approaching a point when the distance to that point is becoming infinitely smaller - this concept is better understood mathematically if you learn limits and derivatives, and more specifically limits approaching infinity and definite integrals (this is where I developed my greatest understanding, such as it is). This concept is difficult to cope with in reality because it is theoretical- everything regarding infinity is. If this were easy to understand, it would not be the basis for an entire branch of mathematics. However, what another answerer said about your post being "semantic nonsense" is more or less true - you are attempting to apply a theoretical concept to reality. We both know a step isn't really infinitely tiny, it's a step and it measures a few dozen centimeters. You have stumbled onto a question that any good mathematical student will ask themselves when attempting to understand this complicated theory. Good work. But it is not so easy to simply understand.

Answer 3

The previous answers are only good for finishing, after you started. They don't explain how you start in the first place.

The clue is in the word "before". There is no "before". There is no motion. There is no time. Everything happens all at once.

Answer 4

Oh, who says? You know that if it takes you 10 minutes to get to the store, it only takes you 5 minutes to get halfway there, and it only takes you 2.5 minutes to get to halfway to that halfway, and so on and so on, until it takes you NO TIME AT ALL to step out the door. The problem is that people have such a hard time getting started on anything, when they don't realize it takes them no time at all to get started on anything! What's your excuse for not getting started now, huh?

Answer 5

It is possible if you calculate from point A to point B. Calculation of motion. This may take a few test runs.

Answer 6

Sure you can start. And as the number of steps goes to infinity, you will approach point B.

Answer 7

Instead of trying to put the math here, just go to:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeno's_paradox

for a full explanation. . .

Answer 8

Isn't that Zeno's paradox? Motion is impossible. . . .

Answer 9

They're called fractions.