Monday 4 October 2021

Casual Boggling

On August 28 I read something in the Saturday Review section of the Times and ever since I have been mind-boggled. This is the passage that did the damage:



I'm sure the writer meant no harm, but casually introducing the idea that there are other universes outside this one - what happened to infinity and infinite space; how can we be banging up against another universe if the universe is infinite? - or the concept of "a random fluctuation in the fabric of reality" - what? - is one sure way to frighten the horses, which, incidentally, seems to be the context in which the word "boggle" was first used, if the Oxford English Dictionary is to be believed (and, if it isn't, what is?)




2 comments:

  1. If that seems bad what about Hilbert's Hotel? https://plus.maths.org/content/hilberts-hotel
    Thank God (pun intended) that eternity is not infinity.

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    Replies
    1. A proof for three layers of infinity - thank you! You have made my admittedly finite day.

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