Mathematics starts with the concept of nothing, expressed as
a zero, and continues to infinity, shown as a lazy eight laying on its side.
Since explanations are my stock in trade, I have come up
with simple understandable demonstrations of these two concepts, which I am happy
to share.
Zero is easy, learned as a toddler. You have a nice piece of halloween candy in
your hand, and you put it in your mouth.
Pleasure ensues, leaving a sticky residue on your fingers and face. So you go to Mom and ask for more. First thing she does is drag you to the sink
and wash off your hands, along with your snotty nose. The sticky residue is gone. All gone, just like the candy. So zero means no more, and there is no
tantrum or plea that will make it come back.
A bitter lesson to be learned from something so sweet.
The hardest lessons are learned early. I remember my son one time, he was about
three, maybe. We were at the store, and
he wanted a treat. I said, “No, put that
back. Payday is Thursday, and we can’t
afford any treats till then.” “But Daddy,”
he said, “Can’t we just go to the Cash Machine and get more money?” That was when I realized his understanding
was that when you grew up, they gave you a magic card and you went to a machine
and made it spit money out any time you wanted.
Ah, if only that were true! The
funny thing is, he’s a lawyer now, and it is.
Infinity, however, is a bit harder to grasp. I found it in my bathroom.
Back when my illustrious wife retired the first time, before
they called her up and said nice things to get her to come back as a temp, she
looked around and decided the upstairs needed a bit of sprucing up. Thirty thousand or so dollars later, one of
the changes was a nice new medicine cabinet in the bathroom, which featured mirrored
glass panels on all surfaces. Behind the
shelves, glass. On either outside
vertical panel, glass. Inside both
doors, more mirror. There is no place in
that room where you can’t look at the cabinet and see yourself looking back if
the angle is right. I understand what
Lewis Carroll was thinking. And here’s
where infinity comes in, and you can try this at home with no danger other than
to your mind if your bathroom cabinet is similarly equipped. The doors open to the side, meaning you can
stand in front over the sink and open both, then lean in to a point where you
can look to either side.
You quickly realize that both doors can be gently positioned
to show the reflection of the one on the opposite side, with your head in the
middle, and, when you do, you are looking directly (out of the corner of your
eye) at infinity. As far as the eye can
see, followed by as far as the mind can think, there it is, laid out for you to
contemplate, your smiling face, and your hair, too, if any. I’d say it was mind boggling, but I don’t
know what that means. If you could
somehow magnify your vision you could theoretically look far enough down the
line past all your noses to where the image would be lost in the Brownian
Motion of the particles of glass, itself an extremely viscous liquid, like hair
gel.
So infinity is related to hair gel, and that’s as far down
that path that any sane person wants to go.
If any of you are so intrigued with this notion, but not equipped to
experience it in person, give me a call.
For a small fee I can arrange a personal visit to infinity, one at a
time. :-{)}
