Reposted from the Infinity & Nonphysicalism thread
There are no actual infinities; there are no physical infinities. In other words, our minds, having developed the idea of infinity, nonphysical, itself must be, either in part or in whole, nonphysical. — Agent Smith
When you say "there are no
actual infinities" I assume you mean that we space-time humans have no sensory experience of
unboundedness. Everything in our evolving world is finite & temporary. That's why the notion of
spacelessness &
timelessness seemed absurd to early philosophers. However, as a useful mathematical concept, we no longer have a problem with the idea of Infinity, or of Zero :
nothingness.
Similar absurd, but serviceable, ideas are also encountered in Quantum Theory. For example,
a Virtual Particle can be substituted for a Real Particle in calculations. So, some physicists will confidently assert that a VP is just as "real" as an ordinary particle. I guess they mean that a
non-physical bit of mind-stuff is mathematically interchangeable with a physical speck of matter. Yet, they may not accept some non-mathematical philosophical notions (e.g. metaphors) as equivalent, in a thought experiment, to a physical object.
"Infinity" and "Virtual Particle" are both abstract non-physical mental metaphors serving as a stand-in for Real Things. Likewise, Plato's notion of "Forms", somehow existing in an Ideal Realm, is metaphorical. It's useful as a philosophical tool for understanding the difference between Potential Perfection and Actual Imperfection. But, in what sense does an Idea exist? It's like Potential Voltage of a battery, impotent until put into circulation, i.e. a circuit from Possible to Actual.
The notion of "Eternal Forms" may seem non-sensical, unless you take the concept of Potential seriously.
That's why Materialists think, "
if it's not physical, it's literally inconsequential". But they seem to forget the power of Potential.
An idea locked in a mind, may be useless. But once in circulation, as a Meme, an idea (whose time has come) may be more powerful than Putin's armies. Am I correct, in assuming that you had something like that in mind by labeling the "idea of infinity" as "non-physical"?
"Infinity" is an unrealized Platonic Form, which serves as a repository of Potential for "Time", which has not always existed.
PS___Sorry, because of the on-going "Non-Physical" thread, I may have gone-off your un-bounded map in a different direction.
“
Nothing else in the world…not all the armies…is so powerful as an idea whose time has come.” – Victor Hugo,
The Absurdity of Infinity :
don’t let anyone tell you that mathematics models the real world exactly, or is an empirical science, or, at its core, is an “applied” subject. It simply isn’t, and never will be.
https://wanderingmathematician.wordpres ... -infinity/
THE CASE AGAINST INFINITY :
mathematicians should abandon the use of infinity in making calculations in favor of a
more logically consistent alternative. . . . Fortunately, such a concept is available to us—a concept called indefiniteness.
https://philpapers.org/archive/SEWTCA
CYCLIC TIME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BEGININGLESS & ENDLESS INFINITY
https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.yogia ... oboros.jpg
