Point A to Point B?

Question

Can I ever get from point A to Point B?

Thank you for the compliment. Yes it was intended, I wanted to see how many people would answer in this certain way and who would name it.

Answer 1

Yes. Depending on what Point A and Point B are.

Answer 2

Isn't mathematics fascinating?

This will sound inexusably elementary, I'm sure, but for some reason this is how this issue has always presented itself in my head:

I see a number line, and between 1 and 2 are all the fractions in between, and the ones in between those, etc. But if you actually took a physical number line on a piece of paper and tried to write all the fractions in, your writing would have to progress down the page because you'd run out of space on the number line to write. So I picture the infinite succession of numbers moving downward, in a different dimensional direction from the line. This way the infinity of the progression doesn't interfere with your reaching point B, because you're moving horizonally on the line, and this infinite mess of fractions moves downward vertically into an abyss on a different dimension.

This visual is, of course, not accurately representative of the mathematics involved. The real answer is that you can get to point B because the paradox doesn't apply to spacio-temporal situations, only abstract figures. Any physical entity, no matter how small, if it acted in accordance with the paradox, would eventually touch the other side.

Answer 3

That's the old Greek thought experiment (to quote Einstein) about a warrior running in front of an arrow at half the speed of the arrow. It would seem that he would never be hit by the arrow, but in fact, we know this is not true. You will reach point B, and the arrow will kill the poor soul who is to stubborn just to step off to the right, because the velocity is not decreasing by half. This idea that you would never reach point B would only be valid if you were decelerating so that you were at half the original velocity at the midpoint between A and B, then 1/4 at the 3/4 mark, etc. Whatever percentage of the distance you have left to go, that's the percentage of your original velocity you must be traveling in order for the scenario to be true, because you would become infinitely slow before you reach point B (it's the speed of light phenomena that keeps massive objects from moving light-speed because they gain effective mass exponentially, slowing them down until they become infinitely massive as they get infinitely close to the speed of light). At a constant velocity, you'll get to and past point B.

Answer 4

First of all you have to leave point A moving towards point B, and then concentrate on the job forgetting all your maths for the time being!!

Answer 5

The answer above from IQ is correct. It's called Zeno's Paradox (or one of them) - see link below.

And I'm guessing that you already knew that; otherwise, that's not exactly the kind of question any "normal" person would ask. (That's a compliment.)

Answer 6

yes. How do I overcome the paradox? Simple, I trick myself into thinking I am going to point C, which is further than point B, and once I get to point B, I just stop there.

Answer 7

Yes, by being saluted and crossing it!

Answer 8

since you define what is A and what is B as well as deciding if you really have arrived, you must tell us if you can

Answer 9

einstine said once logic can take u from a to b and from b to c,,but imaginination can take u everywhere

Answer 10

depends if you want to