Friday, December 14, 2012

Infinites

I just read somewhere, in defense of the idea that there are no infinites, the first action was just caused by the first entity.  Of course, this begs the question of how long the entity existed for, or if not forever, where did it come from?  What was its cause?  The answer, of course is that prior to the entity causing the first action, time had no meaning, and therefore didn't exist, apparently.   Personally, I think it is more like the idea of infinites is beyond the comprehension of most humans (including me) and so it is easier to just say that time didn't have any meaning until we get to the part that we do comprehend.

The argument about infinites seems to hinge on the idea that time, distance, and motion are all dependent on the existence of other things, but I really think that this is only because humans can't relate to it. Is it meaningful to be able to divide a line segment into infinitely smaller parts when the space being divided is just space?  Is it meaningful to be traveling in a universe where the only thing that exists is the thing that is traveling?  Is the concept of time meaningful under the same circumstances?  Not to us (humans), but that doesn't mean they are not meaningful.  Hard as it is to believe, it doesn't matter if humans can grasp a concept.  We are not infallible.

Well, perhaps I have it all wrong.  Being somewhat of a skeptic, I typically question my own reasoning, as well as the reasoning of others.  And I think the world would be a better place if more people did the same.

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