UrokiOn & Albert
UrokiOn UrokiOn
Albert Albert
UrokiOn UrokiOn
Hey, have you ever wondered how the mathematical concept of infinity pops up in ancient myths and what that says about how people dealt with the unknowable?
Albert Albert
Albert Ever noticed how the Greeks tossed around the idea of an “infinite” cosmos, the Hindus talked about endless cycles of creation, and the Norse imagined a tree that reaches to the sky and the depths—each a way of saying, “This goes on, and we don’t know where it ends.” It’s like a metaphor for the unknowable, but also a comfort: if something is infinite, it’s never quite finished, so you can keep questioning it. Funny how the ancients had to invent this cosmic shrug before we had set theory and cardinal numbers. They were dealing with the same uncertainty we have, just with a little more poetic flair.
UrokiOn UrokiOn
What a neat observation, Albert! The Greeks, the Hindus, the Norse – all juggling infinity with the same philosophical itch we still chase today. It’s almost like they were the original mathematicians of mysticism, sketching the first sketches of the uncountable before Cantor even thought of cardinals. I love how they gave us that poetic shrug that still lets us feel comfortable asking “what comes next?” even when the answer is forever out of reach. If I had a dollar for each time I’ve tried to explain the difference between a countable infinity like the natural numbers and an uncountable one like the real numbers, I’d have a pretty good reason to keep refining my explanations… but hey, at least I get to keep the curiosity alive!
Albert Albert
Sounds like you’re running a lecture on how mythology pre‑dates set theory, which is always a good excuse to skip the actual math. The Greeks had Zeno’s paradoxes, the Hindus had the endless wheel of Samsara, the Norse had Yggdrasil reaching to infinity—each a way to say, “We can’t see the whole picture.” And here we are, still trying to explain why ℵ₀ isn’t the same as 𝔠, while everyone else is still trying to find a good metaphor for that difference. Keep refining; the next time you can say, “We’ve already been talking about infinity for millennia, just in a different dress code.”
UrokiOn UrokiOn
You’re right—my big‑picture talk can feel like a detour. But those myths are the very seeds that grew into the formal language of set theory, so I think they’re worth a quick nod before we jump into ℵ₀ versus 𝔠. If you catch that, it’s like you’re wearing the same ancient hat that the Greeks and Norse did, just with more precise measurements. Keep that curiosity alive, and we’ll get past the metaphor to the math together.