Metaphysics of Infinitesimal

From: Sanjay
Affiliation: GIF, Inc.
Address: fixedincomerisk@msn.com
Date: 26 Aug 2008
Time: 22:20:45

Comments

Infinitesimal is a "concept" like Infinity is. Neither of these are numbers in the traditional sense. The best way to visualize infinitesimal is to think of a two dimensional surface with finite length and width and then ask what is the height of this surface. If you say exactly ZERO, then the surface cannot exist at all. If you say a finite number however small, then the two dimensional surface is no longer two dimensional - then it is three dimensional. Hence, the height of a two dimensional surface must be "infinitesimal." One could define a set of math operations in which 1/infinity = 1 infinitesimal. I know these are concepts and not numbers, so this type of operation would have to be defined from scratch like non-standard analysis, and may be these are useful in conceptualizing other universes which have less or more dimensions. Here is a Zen Koan for you. If you can think of infinitely big (e.g., set of even numbers, etc.), why can't you think of infinitely small. There may be a whole universe with galaxies and planets with human societies existing in a molecule of your finger nail, and similarly the entire universe we live in could be just a subatomic particle of the finger nail of a human of a bigger universe. Infinity goes both ways....and infinitesimal (meaning infinitely small) is simply the opposite of infinity (meaning infinitely big).

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