I considered deleting the post, but this seems more cowardly than just admitting I was wrong. But TIL something!

  • highenergyphysics@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    Alternatively for small brains like me:

    Imagine you have an infinite amount of $1 bills are laid out in a line. Right next to it is a line of $100 bills.

    As you go down the line, count how much money you have at any given point.

    Which total is worth more?

    • shastaxc@lemm.ee
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      10 months ago

      Your example introduces the axis of time which is not in consideration when discussing infinity. You’re literally removing infinity from the equation by doing that because “at any given point” by definition is not infinity. Let’s say that point is 1 million bills down the line. Now you’re comparing 1,000,000 x 100 vs 1,000,000 x 1, nothing to do with infinity

    • IzzyScissor@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      Imagine the line of 1s is stacked like pages in books on a shelf, but the line of 100s is placed in a row so they’re only touching on the sides. You could probably fit a few hundred 1s in the space of one 100. Both lines still have infinite bills in them, but now as you go along, you’re seeing a lot more 1s at a time.

      That’s the thing about infinities, you can squish and stretch them, and they’re still infinite.