Re: Surviving Einstein.

From: Stonelock (crypto_stonelock_at_hotmail.com)
Date: 07/17/03


Date: 17 Jul 2003 11:04:24 -0700

Simon G Best <s.g.best@btopenworld.com> wrote in message news:<3F15B24D.60408@btopenworld.com>...
> Stonelock wrote:
> [...]
> > There is no
> > such thing as an 'infinite' entity of any kind.
>
> What's the biggest natural number?
>
> How many natural numbers are there?
>
> What's the size of the set of all natural numbers?

Those questions are nonsense in the context of natural numbers as they
are produced at will (indefinately) through a process of succession.

The process by which they are produced can be carried on indefinately
but there is no such thing as 'a biggest natural number'. Asking 'how
many natural numbers there are' borders semantic noise as the question
has no meaning.
What can be said about numbers is that they can be produced
indefinately.

'the size of the set of all natural numbers' is semantic noise as
there is no answer to this question.

Stonelock



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