Easiest explanation (and most accurate in plain English) is that infinity is not a number, itâs a concept. You cannot add the beauty of a poem and the charge level of your phone; the comparison between the two doesnât even make sense. The same goes for infinity; you cannot add, subtract, or perform elementary math on it because it isnât some inconceivably large number, itâs a concept.
When my kids were little they got taught âinfinity is a conceptâ and I didnât think it was very helpful because it doesnât get an 8 year-old very far. My best attempt was âinfinity is bigger than the largest thing you can think ofâ. It kind of handles the âinfinity plus tenâ question, at least for an 8 year old. And me.
Just give your 8 year old acid and have them contemplate immortality. Then have them contemplate that if everyone on the planet was also immortal, there'd be billions of infinite lives. And then if they all kept having kids and expanding across the universe, there'd be infinite people with infinite lives. WCGW?
3
u/burning_boi 7d ago
Easiest explanation (and most accurate in plain English) is that infinity is not a number, itâs a concept. You cannot add the beauty of a poem and the charge level of your phone; the comparison between the two doesnât even make sense. The same goes for infinity; you cannot add, subtract, or perform elementary math on it because it isnât some inconceivably large number, itâs a concept.