>>12775668Prof was based, shoulda listened to him.
>"nothing in the universe is infinite"infinity is not a thing or a number, it is an abstraction identifying an open-ended process. A completed infinity, ala Cantor, is a self-contradiction. It would be an open-ended process that has ended.
>"there are no actual infinitesimals"the "ghost of departed quantities" are buried in limits and integrals. Pi, e, etc. are not actually numbers per se but symbols that stand for these methods that can generate a number to whatever precision is required. Infinity is necessary in math so we can advance beyond counting things, it is all about the measurement of continuous quantities. Any valid, real measurement results in a rational number but infinity allows mathematicians to abstract from the process of getting actual numbers, i.e. "infinite" precision, and identify relationships by treating Pi, e,
et.al. as if they were numbers.
Nobody uses Pi to infinite decimals, it is indefinite by definition. To buy enough tile to cover your circular patio Pi is 3.14 but to get to Mars you need to use more decimals but not an "infinity" of them. Gotta stop counting at some point or you'll never leave the planet.
