Re: Another Inconvenient Truth

On Aug 22, 9:02 am, Han de Bruijn <Han.deBru...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
William Hughes wrote:
On Aug 22, 8:15 am, Han de Bruijn <Han.deBru...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

William Hughes wrote:

On Aug 22, 3:46 am, Han de Bruijn <Han.deBru...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Virgil wrote:

In article <111b1$46ca9e1a$82a1e228$25...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Han de Bruijn <Han.deBru...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

William Hughes wrote:

You have been consistent and vocal in saying that
the correct answer cannot be zero because the limiting value
of the number of balls in the vase is unbounded.

Yes. That's what I have said, more or less. Now what?

Now you must prove that that "limit" is relevant to the number of balls
at noon.

I.e., that there is some sort of "continuity" at noon implied by the
description of the gedankenexperiment.

Considering the discontinuities before noon, that is hardly justifiable.

http://hdebruijn.soo.dto.tudelft.nl/jaar2006/ballen.jpg

A picture says more than a thousand words ..

You claim that noon does not exist, but the graph has to be continuous
at noon. Have you moved to Orlovia?

No, but the universe _explodes_ near noon. And explosions are not zero.

What universe? The problem has nothing to do with
the physical universe.

That's what _you_ think. And the unlimited freedom of mathematics allows
_me_ to think differently.



Yes it allows you to think differently. And I can't say you
are wrong to think differently But you can't say
that I am wrong if I do not.

- William Hughes

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Another Inconvenient Truth
    ... the correct answer cannot be zero because the limiting value ... of the number of balls in the vase is unbounded. ...
    (sci.math)
  • Re: Another Inconvenient Truth
    ... of the number of balls in the vase is unbounded. ... but also that the answer zero cannot be correct. ... is to reject almost all mathematics. ...
    (sci.math)
  • Re: infinity
    ... > infinity balls in his vase. ... has probability zero but is possible. ... where every possibility for the cardinality at noon has nonzero ... > where n is the number of balls left in the vase. ...
    (sci.math)
  • Re: An uncountable countable set
    ... Tony Orlow wrote: ... zero and the limit as we approach zero is zero. ... As there are no other balls, ... is each ball which is inserted into the vase before noon also ...
    (sci.math)
  • Re: Another Inconvenient Truth
    ... but also that the answer zero cannot be correct. ... As far as that goes one cannot insert balls into the vase instantaneously, nor create a vase which will hold an unbounded number of balls of equal positive radius. ... To reject a problem because the problem has no exact physical equivalent is to reject almost all mathematics. ...
    (sci.math)