Is there a real infinity?

Question: Is there a real infinity!?

can anything truly be infinite!? or is that just a label that we create and slap on things we can't fathom!? i mean, it may SEEM like there is an infinite amount of stars in the universe, but the quantity of stars is indeed finite!. just like when people dig deep into metaphysical issues, and anything they can't explain any further, they label as "god"!. are these concepts simply labels we create!? or is there really such a thing as the eternal!?

please save your spiritual/meditation/religious b!.s!. for other questions in other categories!. this is philosophy, so answer in philosophical terms!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

Infinity does not mean a really, really large number, although when we try to imagine infinity, we can only imagine it in terms of numbers!. Infinity is not a number!. It's the absence of limits!. Same with eternity!.

So yes, there is such a thing as the infinite!. A human being is the infinite made finite through freely chosen limits!. This is revealed through the process of phenomenology!.

To put it in different terms, there is no such thing as only one of a pair of opposites existing!. If one of the pair exists, the other must also exist!. So you can't have finite without infinite!.

It is not true that "everything has a beginning", if you're talking about infinity!. It's very obvious that, if you're talking about the ground of being, there could be no beginning to that, and there will be no end!. How could there be--there would always be at least potential before any starting point and after any end point, and potential is "something", or rather, is what the ground of being is all about!. Total emptiness is still "something"!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

To try and wrap your head(s) around the concept of infinity is a tricky problem, and there are several suggested methods, although no one has actually succeeded!. The risks involved are so great that we cannot even begin to contemplate describing the methods here; but if you're interested, have a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster and then walk into a brick wall!. You'll begin to get an idea of infinity!.
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Infinity is not a number persay, and is therefore worthless!.

You don't know for a fact that the universe is finite [meaning the stars in it as well]!. Did you go out a test it!? See how far you could go, until you hit a invisible sheild or something!? Geez!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Infinity is a human concept, not a fixed amount of anything or distance or time you imagine beyond which nothing exists!. There are such real logical questions whose answer God has not provided within the limit of human imagiation of top order & so, that is NOT understandable to any human being!. For example what is a soul or why a human being can not make even smalllest bookworm even or why has no planet any life at all, etc!.!.!. That's why a person has to believe in God & his supremacy too!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

You bring up a really good point indeed!. Nobody truly knows how many stars there are, but there's common scientific theories stating that the universe is infinite in size!. I've even heard a theory that there may be an infinite number of universes!. Infinite isn't really a figure though, it's more of a basis for conceptual thinking!. Mathematically speaking, there is an infinite amount of numbers from 1 on up!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Well, what is the difference between a finite quantity and a finite quantity with the potential to be infinite!?

ie!., our universe is about 13 billion light years long!. It is, from our 4-dimensional perspective, finite!.

However, assuming the universe continues to expand without end - is it still fair to call it finite!? Is it a finite quantity expanding over an infinite potential!?

And, are you sure your mind is even capable of grasping the concept of 'infinite' !?Www@QuestionHome@Com

GOD is real and Him and his creation, on earth and in outer space are infinite!.
If you think God is a concept and a label we create; wait until a catastrophe happens to you, who would you turn to you!? !.!.!.you thankless miserable creature!. Www@QuestionHome@Com

I believe that the world goes on no matter what happens, whether it be in a different state is another thing, I think the stars in the sky are infinite, like waters wet, some things change whilst others always stay the same! :) Good Question!Www@QuestionHome@Com

I think the universe resembles the human mind, there is an infinite amount of possibilities and also a constant amount of flaws that go along with it!.

I'm just a kid so thats all I can manage at the moment!.!.
^_^Www@QuestionHome@Com

There's no such thing as infinite; it's not an actual number!. We just call things infinite when we can't see an end to it!.

And kudos for telling off the religious guy!. Www@QuestionHome@Com

nothing lasts foreverWww@QuestionHome@Com

infinity is beyond space and time!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

It's just a worrd to say never ending!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Of course there is a place where time is round so to speak !. It just is and it always has been and it always will be because Earths and infinite ones like planet Earth have been going forever IT just keeps on going and the plan and the equation never changes because it cannot be changed by anything no aberration no cosmic hiccup or lack of bang or bang what is infinite is the order of how such systems work and it has always been!. Eternity is hard to fathom because mortality is the big player in our(human life-times) existence, and our brains cannot reconcile the idea of a 'forever'!. We think in strict terms of a beginning and an ending ,starting and stopping,so to facilitate the thought of infinity, a forever place ,one has to turn to the thought process in and of a higher consciousness !. We must look to a place or prepare to process in our head ,mind, and human understanding, what we cannot even begin to have an understanding of !.It's principals or laws we have no reference for or to it!. We could not survive a visit to the eternities or even peek a look at it with some telescope because we don't know what it would look like, and the whole cosmos exists in the finite in one form or another!. What would it look like anyway!? For instance , sub atomically does energy ever just die or completely be nothing at all !? And, have you ever noticed that one form of any thing breaks down to a lesser manifestation of it and so on!? Energy probably goes from one realm that encompasses all (yet with but without circumference ) to there being a nothing at all yet minuscule element we have yet to discover or interpret!. Like two mirrors facing directly at each other!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

I try to understand infinity in real terms through a continuum, one that just goes on and on without any end!. For example, the line that has been curved to join itself like a circle!.!.!.!.!.!. on this line one can move infinitely without coming to any end!.

An interesting feature of continuum is that it is infinite on one dimension but can be finite on a higher dimension!. Take the case of the circle!.!.!.!.!.!. the line is infinite but the two dimensional space it encloses is finite!. Similarly I believe that in the three dimensional measure, our universe is infinite!.!.!.!.!. it can just go on and on and that fits in with the latest theory of continuous expansion forever with new stars and other stellar objects being added regularly!. However, once we bring in the time dimension, it is most certainly finite in size!.!.!.!.!.!. at a given point in time the space occupied by it is finite and the number and size of objects within it is also finite at any given point in time!.

Indeed the concepts of infinity and eternity are mind boggling, but they are perhaps not unreal entirely,,,,,, they may have a real existence when viewed within limited dimensions, although it appears to me that anything unlimited in one dimension may well turn out to be limited or finite when viewed from a higher dimension!.!.!.!.!.!.!. and in that sense, one may argue that infinity is merely an illusion created by a lower dimension's own limitation to view it in its entirety!.

Well, that's the way I try to understand the concept of infinity and of course, that is a considerably limited understanding!!Www@QuestionHome@Com

You got some useless answers(some of them are "overly complicated"), infinity is about POTENTIAL, NOT NUMBERS!.

First, lets define "time" as a "chain reaction"; simple cause and effect chain!. Forget about our fourth dimension for a little bit!.

Logically, the ultimate starting point by definition is uncaused!. For example, in order for A to exist, B which created A, must exist before A and C which created B, must exist before and ad infinitum!.

A->B->C->D!.!.!.!.A2->B2->C2->D2!.!.!.!.and so on!.

Now, lets consider A as now, and B, C, D!.!.!.and so on as past!. If you apply the reasoning above, logically, if there was a "starting point" to everything, we cant be here now!.

I cant be wrong here!.

Infinity is real!. Believe me!.Www@QuestionHome@Com