That was an excellent post and qualifies as a treasure to be found on this site!
Thanks for the link and I would have showcased it all on its own had I seen it first
I see what you mean, but as Max pointed out when describing air as seeming continuous while actually being discrete, it’s easier to model a continuum than a bazillion molecules, each with functional probabilistic movements of their own. Essentially, it’s taking an average and it turns out that it’s pretty accurate.
But what I was saying previously is that we work with the presumed ramifications of infinity, “as if” this or that were infinite, without actually ever using infinity itself. For instance, y = 1/x as x approaches infinity, then y approaches 0, but we don’t actually USE infinity in any calculations, but we extrapolate.
Hilbert pointed out there is a difference between boundless and infinite. For instance space is boundless as far as we can tell, but it isn’t infinite in size and never will be until eternity arrives. Why can’t we use the boundless assumption instead of full-blown infinity?
I didn’t know he developed calculus specifically to investigate gravity. Cool! It does make sense now that you mention it.
I’m going to need some help with this one. If dx = 0, then it contains no information about the change in x, so how can anything result from it? I’ve always taken dx to mean a differential that is smaller than can be discerned, but still able to convey information. It seems to me that calculus couldn’t work if it were based on division by zero, and that if it works, it must not be. What is it I am failing to see? I mean, it’s not an issue of 0/0 making no mathematical sense, it’s a philosophical issue of the nonexistence of significance because there is nothing in zero to be significant.
Isn’t this the same problem as previous? dx=0?
I can’t make sense of it WITH infinitary math lol! What’s the cosine of infinity? What’s the infnite-th ‘a’?
Well, thanks to Hilbert, I’ve already conceded that the boundless is not the same as the infinite and if it were true that QM required infinity, then no machine nor human mind could model it. It simply must be true that open-ended finites are actually employed and underpin QM rather than true infinite spaces.
Like Max said, “Not only do we lack evidence for the infinite but we don’t need the infinite to do physics. Our best computer simulations, accurately describing everything from the formation of galaxies to tomorrow’s weather to the masses of elementary particles, use only finite computer resources by treating everything as finite. So if we can do without infinity to figure out what happens next, surely nature can, too—in a way that’s more deep and elegant than the hacks we use for our computer simulations.”
We can claim physics is based on infinity, but I think it’s more accurate to say pretend or fool ourselves into thinking such.
Max continued with, “Our challenge as physicists is to discover this elegant way and the infinity-free equations describing it—the true laws of physics. To start this search in earnest, we need to question infinity. I’m betting that we also need to let go of it.”
He said, “let go of it” like we’re clinging to it for some reason external to what is true. I think the reason is to be rid of god, but that’s my personal opinion. Because if we can’t have infinite time, then there must be a creator and yada yada. So if we cling to infinity, then we don’t need the creator. Hence why Craig quotes Hilbert because his first order of business is to dispel infinity and substitute god.
I applaud your effort, I really do, and I’ve learned a lot of history because of it, but I still cannot concede that infinity underpins anything and I’d be lying if I said I could see it. I’m not being stubborn and feel like I’m walking on eggshells being as amicable and conciliatory as possible in trying not to offend and I’m certainly ready to say “Ooooohhh… I see now”, but I just don’t see it.
Craig is no friend of mine and I was simply listening to a debate on youtube (I often let youtube autoplay like a radio) when I heard him quote Hilbert, so I dug into it and posted what I found. I’m not endorsing Craig lol
I still can’t understand how one infinity can be bigger than another since, to be so, the smaller infinity would need to have limits which would then make it not infinity.
Right, because of what Max said about the continuum model vs the actual discrete. Heat flow is actually IR light flow which is radiation from one molecule to another: a charged particle vibrates and vibrations include accelerations which cause EM radiation that emanates out in all directions; then the EM wave encounters another charged particle which causes vibration and the cycle continues until all the energy is radiated out. It’s a discrete process from molecule to molecule, but is modeled as continuous for simplicity’s sake.
I’ve long taken issue with the 3 modes of heat transmission (conduction, convention, radiation) because there is only radiation. Atoms do not touch, so they can’t conduct, but the van der waals force simply transfers the vibrations more quickly when atoms are sufficiently close. Convection is simply vibrating atoms in linear motion that are radiating IR light. I have many issues with physics and have often described it as more of an art than a science (hence why it’s so difficult). I mean, there are pages and pages on the internet devoted to simply trying to define heat.
quora.com/What-is-heat-1
quora.com/What-is-meant-by-heat
quora.com/What-is-heat-in-physics
quora.com/What-is-the-definition-of-heat
quora.com/What-distinguishes-work-and-heat
Physics is a mess. What gamma rays are, depends who you ask. They could be high-frequency light or any radiation of any frequency that originated from a nucleus. But I’m digressing…
It just means we’re using averages rather than discrete actualities and it’s close enough.
I think it means there are really no separate things and when an aspect of the universe attempts to inspect itself in order to find its fundamentals or universal truths, it will find infinity like a camera looking at its own monitor. Infinity is evidence of the continuity of the singular universe rather than an existing truly boundless thing. Infinity simply means you’re looking at yourself.
Anyway, great post! Please don’t be mad. Everyone here values your presence and are intimidated by your obvious mathematical prowess Don’t take my pushback too seriously I’d prefer if we could collaborate as colleagues rather than competing.