I’d just close my eyes and believe the bodies I’m trampling are imaginary.
IT'S A TRAP
Submitted 3 months ago by fossilesque@mander.xyz to science_memes@mander.xyz
https://mander.xyz/pictrs/image/dd931720-08dc-4eea-9268-74fc635a1e79.png
Comments
wildncrazyguy138@fedia.io 3 months ago
CommissarVulpin@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Okay, so what’s the point of “proving” that there some “infinities” are “bigger” than others? What’s the practical application here? Because an infinite hotel with an infinite number of guests is physically impossible, so I don’t see the point.
carmo55@lemmy.zip 3 months ago
A practical application is for example in probability theory (or anywhere that deals with measures) such as this question:
If we generate a random real number from 0 to 1, what is the probability that it is rational?
Because we know that the continuum is so much larger in a sense than the set of rationals, we can answer this confidently and say the probability is zero, even though it is theoretically possible for us to get a rational number.
Statistics deals with similar scenarios quite frequently, and without it we wouldn’t have the modern scientific method.
NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 3 months ago
Practical application in math tends to be like three degrees of separation and half a century removed from the math at play. In this case, all of modern mathematics is based on set theory, so it's more that this stuff allows us to do other, more practically useful math while knowing what we're talking about.
MBM@lemmings.world 3 months ago
I’ve never been a fan of just saying “some infinities are bigger than others,” to be honest. Way too easy to misunderstand and it’s also kind of meaningless by itself.
bstix@feddit.dk 3 months ago
The real numbers also includes the integers.
The practical consequence of this example is that the integers die regardless of what you choose.
However infinitely many people will survive if you choose the first option.
CommissarVulpin@lemmy.world 3 months ago
And yet there can never, and will never, be a situation where an infinite number of people are tied to a railroad track. So this thought experiment is meaningless.
nairui@piefed.social 3 months ago
fossilesque you’re one of my fav posters
fossilesque@mander.xyz 3 months ago
ilu2 :)
_AutumnMoon_@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 months ago
either way infinite people die, just not getting involved
Bronstein_Tardigrade@lemmygrad.ml 3 months ago
This is why it is important to only hire union trolley operators. They are trained to stop the trolley.
p3n@lemmy.world 3 months ago
I do what I always do: run to the trolley, then jump up and pull the emergency stop because I hate false dilemmas.
hakunawazo@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Correct, because if we ignore some important facts you could also have infinite time to stop the trolley. Checkmate, false dilemma creators.
Randelung@lemmy.world 3 months ago
What about a time loop where only one person dies, but infinite times?
OddMinus1@sh.itjust.works 3 months ago
Can I group the people into groups of 1, then 2, then 3 and so forth? When the trolley is done with the killing, it will have killed -1/12 people.
AkatsukiLevi@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Hold the lever halfway so the trolley picks both rails at the same time, to ensure highest possible kill comboq
davidgro@lemmy.world 3 months ago
That’s effectively just the bottom track, where an uncountable number of people (literally) will die as soon as the train reaches position (0.
AkatsukiLevi@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Not with that attitude :3
madjo@feddit.nl 3 months ago
Multilane drifting!
answersplease77@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Actually… this means there are infinite people so:
Let X be the number of people killed = (-infinity)
As infity is defined :
infinity + X = infinity
infinity + (-infinity) =
infinity - infinity = infinty
So no people would have died black guy pointing at his head meme
sem@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 months ago
Desnt work when they’re different classes of infinity.
_stranger_@lemmy.world 3 months ago
It’ll make it through maybe 3 infinities before derailing. Go bottom, end it faster.
PhAzE@lemmy.ca 3 months ago
Geez, disconnect the trains so you can hit both lines at the same time, obviously.
Zerush@lemmy.ml 3 months ago
I use the lever to kill the train driver.
zqwzzle@lemmy.ca 3 months ago
I take the square root of all the negative real numbers and kill in an entirely new dimension.
halvar@lemy.lol 3 months ago
there are more real numbers than integers though
ThermonuclearEgg@hexbear.net 3 months ago
The image actually says this
TomMasz@piefed.social 3 months ago
I remember seeing a science show on PBS where the presenter explained how there are different infinities by using set theory and the integers/reals. That was mind-blowing at the time.
narr1@lemmygrad.ml 3 months ago
i asked myself: wwjd? and now i ask you because i have no idea
ryedaft@sh.itjust.works 3 months ago
I reject the premise since there will only ever exist a finite number of people. They will all die. One day the last human will die.
bizarroland@lemmy.world 3 months ago
I would pull the lever and then steal a bus and knock the trolley off of the track, killing the least amount of people possible.
IAmNorRealTakeYourMeds@lemmy.world 3 months ago
sort them so you kill one person first, then 2, then 3, then 4…
kometes@lemmy.world 3 months ago
“smallest”?
nathanjent@programming.dev 3 months ago
An infinite amount of people on the track implies that the track is infinitely long. If that is not the case and the track is a normal length then the sudden addition of all that bio-mass in a finite space will cause a gravitational collapse. But will the collapse start on the first track or the second? Either way I hope you saved your game because you might lose your progress.
buttnugget@lemmy.world 3 months ago
The mass of dead bodies is what replenishes the new living ones on the finite track.
answersplease77@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Yes. The infamious theory of infinitly-expanding train track porportionally with train-travelled distence sequared by prof. buttnugget