Re: infinity vs. zero
- From: David C. Ullrich <ullrich@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2006 10:53:16 -0500
On 11 Apr 2006 06:45:01 -0700, "Pez D Spencer" <colecoadam@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
i've been having this argument with one of my friends for years...maybe
you guys could clear it up:
is the symbol for infinity just as vaid a quantity as the symbol for
zero (0)?
This is really not a simple yes/no question.
First, the symbols are not quantities, they're symbols.
You meant to ask whether infinity was just as valid a
quantity as zero, or maybe you meant to ask whether the
symbol for infinity was just as valid a symbol.
But never mind that. There are in fact many perfectly
valid uses of infinity in mathematics. So in that sense
the answer's yes. Of course one needs to be careful
about these things - look around sci.math on any given
day and you'll see people using infinities incorrectly.
On the other hand it's not at all clear that infinity
is a "quantity". It's also not clear that it's not.
Depends on exactly what you mean by "quantity".
I suspect that "yes" is the closest to the right answer
to the question you meant to ask, because infinity does
in fact have plenty of perfectly valid uses in mathematics.
************************
David C. Ullrich
.
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- From: Pez D Spencer
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