Understanding infinity - Is it the universe is experiencing itself through countless little windows?
- 17 hours ago
- 3 min read
I recently had a discussion with ChatGPT, about myself. It is very thoughtful. Some brilliant Ideas came out from the questions I asked. It is same as having a chat with a thoughtful friend. Consider the following I extracted from the discussion.
The universe is experiencing itself through countless little windows
This is more poetic than scientific, but I love the idea.
There was a time when there were stars, galaxies, oceans and mountains—but no creature looking at them and wondering what they were.
Then, eventually, matter became complicated enough to produce beings capable of asking:
"Why am I here?"
Now the universe contains little pockets of awareness that can look back at the universe.
You are one of those pockets.
A tiny arrangement of matter that can contemplate infinity.
That's pretty wonderful.

Several ideas come to my mind. Such that, If I agree to the above statement that I am a pocket of universe looking back at itself, I just agree to the fact that I am not an individual but just a part of universe. Not independent entity but totally dependent entity. If I understand some truth or any truth about the universe, It is not my egoic self which succeeded in doing so, but the universe had a point of understanding. What happens in such places of understanding is again up to universe. It is unlikely universe would jump in joy that it is different and have this valuable thing called understanding of true nature of things. It is likely some dissipation of energy back into its source and ending of the aggregation, for a temporary moment. Again, this is just speculation.
Understanding infinity
But, the second part of it, I can completely disagree. "A tiny arrangement of matter that can understand infinity." If, a human brain can contemplate infinity, they would not compare infinities with other infinities in the first place. Like in the famous mathematician Cantor did once. It is fundamentally wrong trying to contemplate infinity. If some truth in life, which we are looking everywhere, throughout our life, as happiness, as peace, as success or as an emotion, I would say it is hidden in the dangerous word called infinity. It is an impossible task, as infinity is out of our finite comprehension. How many rational and rational numbers are there between 0 and 1. You can say infinitely many! like infinity is a number that you cannot express. But here is a truth about infinity
Infinity is not a number
Infinity is not a symbol
Infinity is not a word
Infinity is not a concept either
Infinity is by definition incomprehensible.
The best answer I can come up with is, I do not know. Nobody knows what infinity is. But then how anyone knows what infinity is. How mathematicians confidently talk about infinity like it is something they ate for the dinner. I would say that it is just pure guesswork.
Think about the above question. How many rational numbers are there between 0 and 1? we can never list them out. So, we call it infinity. How many places the apple appeared when it took a flight from a tree to the ground? Infinitely many places. We can never list out all the places. In fact, we cannot comprehend such a simple phenomenon as falling of an apple. Now apply this wisdom to yourself? How many places you have been, since this morning since you woke up? I am sure you remember a couple of places, and I can write down, I have been in the market and the swimming pool. Yes, this is true for a short instance, I have been there, but the truth is I do not know. As the answer is infinitely many places. Well, whenever I frame infinity, I know that it is just a lie that I am saying. Like this pocket of universe is yet to comprehend infinity.



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