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I'm not terribly educated either, but if you don't mind a minor possible correction, I suppose GP would have meant x = 0, which is the only point where the func

I'm not terribly educated either, but if you don't mind a minor possible correction, I suppose GP would have meant x = 0, which is the only point where the function would be typically undefined, and the closer x gets to 0, the more f(x) approaches infinity. Conversely, the more x approaches infinity, the more f(x) approaches 0. Also, because of the way these things are usually defined, it doesn't make sense to say x = infinity, it only makes sense to say x approaches infinity (but it might make sense in nonstandard calculus, where infinitesimals are defined - here my ignorance already shows). I really appreciate your comments! If you're interested in hypothesizing about physics, I think it would do you a lot of good to learn at least a bit of math to go with it.

dumpsterdiver 6y ago
> "I really appreciate your comments! If you're interested in hypothesizing about physics, I think it would do you a lot of good to learn at least a bit of math to go with it." Not disagreeing, I just wanted to suggest that the ideas come first, right? The math simply frames the ideas in a way that we can quantify and discuss, while also providing a "line in the sand" that other ideas must be compatibile with in order to be accepted among other the ideas that have already crossed that line. Those are very important things, but I would suggest that they are merely supporting an original idea that does not require math to intuit.
ryani 6y ago
Although there is projective space where it does make sense to say x = infinity (and also that f(0) is defined). In projective space all of the conic sections (lines, hyperbolas, ellipses, parabolas) are connected loops.
meowface 6y ago
Thanks, I knew it had to be either zero or infinity. A singularity would indeed be like dividing by zero, which is why, if they exist, physicists would have a lot of trouble describing them mathematically. I almost never really think or talk about physics in general. This thread just caught my eye.

dumpsterdiver 6y ago

> "I really appreciate your comments! If you're interested in hypothesizing about physics, I think it would do you a lot of good to learn at least a bit of math to go with it." Not disagreeing, I just wanted to suggest that the ideas come first, right? The math simply frames the ideas in a way that we can quantify and discuss, while also providing a "line in the sand" that other ideas must be compatibile with in order to be accepted among other the ideas that have already crossed that line. Those are very important things, but I would suggest that they are merely supporting an original idea that does not require math to intuit.

ryani 6y ago

Although there is projective space where it does make sense to say x = infinity (and also that f(0) is defined). In projective space all of the conic sections (lines, hyperbolas, ellipses, parabolas) are connected loops.

meowface 6y ago

Thanks, I knew it had to be either zero or infinity. A singularity would indeed be like dividing by zero, which is why, if they exist, physicists would have a lot of trouble describing them mathematically. I almost never really think or talk about physics in general. This thread just caught my eye.