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The infinity is a fascinating concept, but be careful it can drive you insane and into madness [1]. At least that happend to Georg Cantor and Kurt Goedel and so
by Bjoern 16y ago
The infinity is a fascinating concept, but be careful it can drive you insane and into madness [1]. At least that happend to Georg Cantor and Kurt Goedel and some other famous minds.
[1] See "BBC: Dangerous Knowledge"
e.g. http://www.abdn.ac.uk/modern/node/164 http://www.abdn.ac.uk/modern/node/164
- RiderOfGiraffes 16y agoMuch discussion about that programme here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=797723 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=797723 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=121063 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=121063 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=101255 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=101255 Frankly, it's a load of crap, and shame on the BBC for having produced it. Contemplating the mathematics of infinity didn't drive them insane, they were already troubled. Hundreds of thousands of mathematicians happily deal with infinity on a daily basis. What a crock.
- jgrahamc 16y agoTotally agree. That was an awful, awful program. As was the similarly awful thing that "Infinity and Beyond" (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00qszch http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00qszch). The truth is that since Cantor we know that infinity is something we can work with in an algebraic pattern and there's really no need for all these BS BBC programs trying to make it look like something totally weird.
- Bjoern 16y agoThank you for pointing that out to me. I think my opinion of BBC was too high. Have to be more careful.
- tokenadult 16y agoDavid Hilbert's response: "No one shall expel us from the Paradise that Cantor has created." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Cantor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Cantor