Infinity is bigger than you think - Numberphile

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.ค. 2012
  • Sometimes infinity is even bigger than you think... Dr James Grime explains with a little help from Georg Cantor.
    More links & stuff in full description below ↓↓↓
    Minute Physics video on this topic • How to Count Infinity (somewhat more fast-paced... but we did film ours BEFORE his was uploaded, so similarities are coincidental... well actually, no they are not... we are all building upon Cantor's work!!)
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ความคิดเห็น • 17K

  • @FN-yf3ub
    @FN-yf3ub 5 ปีที่แล้ว +5481

    "We're going to talk about infinity..."
    0:11 Draws a fish.

    • @earomc
      @earomc 5 ปีที่แล้ว +351

      Daniel Yang wooosh

    • @secretlol69
      @secretlol69 5 ปีที่แล้ว +16

      gradle no u

    • @Anonymity55
      @Anonymity55 5 ปีที่แล้ว +113

      @@danielyang7366yes but it looks like a fish haven't you seen a fish before

    • @justinthomas7222
      @justinthomas7222 5 ปีที่แล้ว +38

      No, it's a fibsh. Sea doggos love them.

    • @nexalusdata2909
      @nexalusdata2909 5 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Yes

  • @funtikthewobblycat
    @funtikthewobblycat 5 ปีที่แล้ว +3925

    Great, now i have something to talk about on a first date...

  • @golightning291
    @golightning291 4 ปีที่แล้ว +115

    4:25 Brady's "Do it, man" is one of the coolest things I've heard in a while

  • @ivankaramasov
    @ivankaramasov 3 ปีที่แล้ว +475

    Cantor was one of the greatest geniuses of mathematics. Truly ahead of his time.

    • @slurpnderp1838
      @slurpnderp1838 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @ODIN Force I agree that infinity is not a number, however, these infinities are clearly different. In math you have to sometimes kind of "make up" numbers. I'm sure you agree with "i" as an imaginary number, and this is similar. If any of these imaginary ideas contradict, they are changed until they don't. Then, what difference is there really between imaginary concepts like this and standard math? They both have defined rules and can sometimes co exist

    • @pentachronic
      @pentachronic 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@slurpnderp1838 This is where I have a problem. If you state infinity as the set of all numbers then you can't have different versions of it. If you state that you only have even numbers then it is not infinity. It is a subset of infinity with infinity as a limit.

    • @spooderdan9127
      @spooderdan9127 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@pentachronic I think the concept of infinity isn't the set of all real numbers or real and imaginary numbers but just a set with an unending amount of elements an infinite amount of elements. If you define infinity as the way you did with it being the set of all numbers then you limit the abstraction that comes from the concept of unending amounts.

    • @pentachronic
      @pentachronic 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@spooderdan9127 I understand it as being an infinite set, however you can't just take a subset and assume it is of infinite size). That defies all logic and mathematical rigour. The subset would be a smaller size than the original.

    • @kianasheibani1708
      @kianasheibani1708 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@pentachronic "Infinity" here is a cardinality, not a set. The set of all natural numbers is isomorphic to the set of all even natural numbers, so they have the same cardinality and are thus both infinite.

  • @MortaLyt
    @MortaLyt 5 ปีที่แล้ว +4737

    He sounds and is capable of being in Harry Potter series.

    • @ayushmaanrajput9483
      @ayushmaanrajput9483 5 ปีที่แล้ว +95

      Bhai pubg khel na xD

    • @hahdhsjsjrkfn
      @hahdhsjsjrkfn 5 ปีที่แล้ว +101

      MortaL Well, he's British.

    • @nak605
      @nak605 5 ปีที่แล้ว +27

      Fir bhi iconic to legend hai🤣

    • @CheesePizza66
      @CheesePizza66 5 ปีที่แล้ว +55

      @MortaL what are you doing here 😂 oh i know....you love MATHEMATICS right??

    • @ggb786
      @ggb786 5 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      Magar tu to apna Harry Potter hai mortal 😂😂

  • @DJfractalflight
    @DJfractalflight 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1537

    “To infinity and beyond”
    -Buzz Lightyear
    See, he knew what he was talking about.

    • @budesmatpicu3992
      @budesmatpicu3992 5 ปีที่แล้ว +38

      because there is something much bigger than infinity: STUPIDITY!

    • @pkgamma
      @pkgamma 5 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      He’s referring to unconditionally infinite!

    • @DJfractalflight
      @DJfractalflight 5 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Philip Kuo deep 😳

    • @KevinKurzsartdisplay
      @KevinKurzsartdisplay 5 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      The joke is, Buzz Lightyear didn’t know that it’s by definition impossible to reach infinity so he just kept flying and flying and was never heard from again

    • @cyrusccclxix2096
      @cyrusccclxix2096 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Maybe he was referring to a flat earth

  • @zenterno-zt1pl
    @zenterno-zt1pl 4 ปีที่แล้ว +386

    Can you zoom in more plz I want to see the atoms

    • @cythism8106
      @cythism8106 3 ปีที่แล้ว +43

      I have some heart shattering news for you. The size of an atom makes it so individual atoms can't be seen. Atoms are smaller then any wavelength of visible light.

    • @_xndr7027
      @_xndr7027 3 ปีที่แล้ว +66

      @@cythism8106 you’ve ruined his dreams

    • @damntisisannoyinirl2419
      @damntisisannoyinirl2419 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@_xndr7027 lol

    • @AzureNova_Art
      @AzureNova_Art 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@cythism8106 r/whooosh

    • @AlI-xy9jx
      @AlI-xy9jx 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAH this comment made me laugh so much. Thank you hahhahahahaha

  • @dexter2392
    @dexter2392 5 ปีที่แล้ว +548

    "Guys, it's a scam, -1/12 is actually the biggest number."
    - Ramanujan

    • @peppers1587
      @peppers1587 5 ปีที่แล้ว +42

      Thyron Dexter you don’t know your limits.😀

    • @gentleman_gaming6529
      @gentleman_gaming6529 4 ปีที่แล้ว +19

      That's a scam because it's sum of all the numbers but not the biggest. -1/13 is actually bigger than that, see the difference is there between biggest number and sum of all numbers.

    • @isaacbruner65
      @isaacbruner65 4 ปีที่แล้ว +37

      @@gentleman_gaming6529 it's a Ramanujan sum, so -1/12 is not the sum of all positive integers in any way that means anything to the average person.

    • @SparkzUK.
      @SparkzUK. 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      0-800-????-???

    • @stephaniemitchell3682
      @stephaniemitchell3682 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Proove it

  • @durgle
    @durgle 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2522

    this guy is so passionate about it i love every second of this

    • @blzKrg
      @blzKrg 5 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      True

    • @joelvansickle3623
      @joelvansickle3623 4 ปีที่แล้ว +23

      I love it too!!! People won't listen and believe without passion.

    • @economixxxx
      @economixxxx 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      7:01 he seems a little frustrated...

    • @luiz4430
      @luiz4430 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @@joelvansickle3623 That's true, it makes a whole difference for us viewers.

    • @mariafe7050
      @mariafe7050 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Have you seen Cliff?

  • @xyza181
    @xyza181 7 ปีที่แล้ว +202

    I wish I had the sparks in my eyes when I talk about my life as this guy does about numbers.

    • @EDD-np3ey
      @EDD-np3ey 7 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      0:12 this is not a lemniscate this is a fish !

    • @omikronweapon
      @omikronweapon 6 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      still better than Matt's infinity sign though XD

  • @shady8045
    @shady8045 3 ปีที่แล้ว +42

    poor Cantor ;-; thats really depressing, at least his story had a happy ending though even if it was after his death

  • @jesse0398
    @jesse0398 4 ปีที่แล้ว +43

    this feels like an episode of the office

  • @ChillAtWill
    @ChillAtWill 7 ปีที่แล้ว +1952

    I love the fact that are an infinite amount of number between 0 and 1....

    • @zn4rf
      @zn4rf 7 ปีที่แล้ว +319

      Well there is a infinite number of numbers between every number :D

    • @ChillAtWill
      @ChillAtWill 7 ปีที่แล้ว +67

      really...are you sure? what about lets say 99.5
      and 100?

    • @zn4rf
      @zn4rf 7 ปีที่แล้ว +218

      sure there is

    • @ChillAtWill
      @ChillAtWill 7 ปีที่แล้ว +25

      hmmm... dont know if i trust that

    • @rexroberts7099
      @rexroberts7099 7 ปีที่แล้ว +128

      You are indeed correct. Here's my proof generalised to any two distinct real numbers a and b.
      Proof. Suppose a and b are two real number. Without loss of generality, say a

  • @yuichituba
    @yuichituba 10 ปีที่แล้ว +2437

    The camera is way too close to his face.

    • @youngmoneyfuture1663
      @youngmoneyfuture1663 10 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Zoomed in XD

    • @AcousticBruce
      @AcousticBruce 10 ปีที่แล้ว +88

      The camera is too close to your face on your google+ / youtube avatar.

    • @wojtas2524
      @wojtas2524 10 ปีที่แล้ว +19

      I want to see him closer

    • @1shot0neKill
      @1shot0neKill 10 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      JESUS IT ZOOMED IN EVEN CLOSER!

    • @qvalster2997
      @qvalster2997 10 ปีที่แล้ว +38

      IT'S NOT CLOSE ENOUGH

  • @craigruchman7007
    @craigruchman7007 3 ปีที่แล้ว +158

    Poor Cantor... It was one of my greatest moments in math when I understood many of these concepts, what a legacy.

    • @countingfloats
      @countingfloats 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      You can't understand something which does not exist. Infinity is one of them.
      You only pretend to understand which is infinity away from the truth.

    • @popsee9745
      @popsee9745 2 ปีที่แล้ว +25

      @@countingfloats muggle

    • @autumnicleaf
      @autumnicleaf ปีที่แล้ว

      You sure didn't understood a lot; like how to spell his name.
      'CANTOR'.
      George Cantor.

    • @craigruchman7007
      @craigruchman7007 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@autumnicleaf Ok, given the cardinality of N is ℵ0, state the cardinalities of Q and R.

    • @jacobjones5269
      @jacobjones5269 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      The real truth is the human brain cannot grasp the concept of infinity, which is why everyone including Cantor went stark raving mad trying to do so over the last 2500 years.. I’m not saying you can’t have some contextual knowledge, but we will never understand it.. And it’s not because it doesn’t exist..

  • @larsvanzutphen9095
    @larsvanzutphen9095 3 ปีที่แล้ว +102

    0:13 “infinity is not a number” no it’s a fish :D

    • @michaelerickson985
      @michaelerickson985 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Though admittedly at first glance what he draws looks like a fish, in fact it is the infinity symbol.

    • @photoshopguy4457
      @photoshopguy4457 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Infishity

    • @austinlincoln3414
      @austinlincoln3414 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      lol

    • @mariafe7050
      @mariafe7050 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@photoshopguy4457 Infinishy

  • @nikkiyost3386
    @nikkiyost3386 8 ปีที่แล้ว +545

    "Infinity is not a number, it is a fish." 0:15

    • @pgn42
      @pgn42 6 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      Connor Yost that’s exactly what I was thinking!

    • @charlieob1358
      @charlieob1358 6 ปีที่แล้ว

      Connor Yost I

    • @ramadavince6611
      @ramadavince6611 6 ปีที่แล้ว

      Connor Yost fish live in water not on paper(if you take it like this)

    • @ritustatus2540
      @ritustatus2540 6 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      😂😂😁

    • @AbhishekKrSingh-gp4hx
      @AbhishekKrSingh-gp4hx 6 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      But you can catch fish not infinity.

  • @pauloroberto1459
    @pauloroberto1459 5 ปีที่แล้ว +985

    10 points to Gryffindor, Mr. Weasley.

  • @mellinghedd267
    @mellinghedd267 4 ปีที่แล้ว +130

    “Numberphile channel shuts down: forests of the world saved!”

  • @andrzejkarolak3766
    @andrzejkarolak3766 4 ปีที่แล้ว +53

    "There is no infinity infinite enough to describe how infinitely many different infinities are there." Quote from my introduction to mathematics lecture.

  • @user-wu7ug4ly3v
    @user-wu7ug4ly3v 8 ปีที่แล้ว +1587

    0:33 "What's the biggest number I can think of?" Answer = -1/12

    • @mercronniel3122
      @mercronniel3122 8 ปีที่แล้ว +177

      I see what you did there.

    • @user-wu7ug4ly3v
      @user-wu7ug4ly3v 8 ปีที่แล้ว +33

      :D

    • @usfghost
      @usfghost 7 ปีที่แล้ว +64

      Clever... Very clever...

    • @tenacious645
      @tenacious645 7 ปีที่แล้ว +23

      I don't know why I found that so funny hahaha

    • @repletesphinx21
      @repletesphinx21 7 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      pi. 3.14159265358979... < that's all I know from the top of my head lol

  • @dimitrisbekiaris5543
    @dimitrisbekiaris5543 9 ปีที่แล้ว +108

    Here is a mindblowing fact for you: No one number has an exact previous number or an exact number after. For example 3 can not have a previous number because the decimals never end. 2.999... cannot be one either because you cannot put a number bettween 3 and 2.999... so 2.999... is 3 written in a different way. Also 3 does not have a number after it because 3.000... continues to infinity and as a result you can not put 1 nowhere.

    • @TimofAwsome
      @TimofAwsome 9 ปีที่แล้ว +27

      Dimitris Bekiaris To make this idea a bit more solid, assume there is a number X that comes right after 3. Then S = (3+X)/2 is also a number, but S is between 3 and X, a contradiction.

    • @Stroheim333
      @Stroheim333 9 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Dimitris Bekiaris There is something irrational in the use of numbers. After what I know, Gödel's incompleteness theorem is only valid when counting with numbers; pure logical mathematic systems can be complete, but are also very hard to do advanced maths with. In our reality we only have order, logic, relations, proportions and geometry -- numbers is a construction we use as a help, and they only confuse us when they lead us to incomprehensible things like infinity (which probably not exist in reality, either).

    • @dimitrisbekiaris5543
      @dimitrisbekiaris5543 9 ปีที่แล้ว

      If i understand right you say that infinity does not exist but the universe is infinite..

    • @Stroheim333
      @Stroheim333 9 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Dimitris Bekiaris No, the universe is probably not infinite. Probably it don't even going to expand forever, because everything that exist (matter, particles) fall apart and dissolve into vakuum.

    • @oteeec
      @oteeec 9 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Dimitris Bekiaris if you are hesitating about that 2.999... should be followed by 3, i have a nice tip (or proof as you will) for you : lets do some simple math --> 2.999...=x ---> lets make another equation like previous one, but ten times bigger ---> 29.999...=10x ---> lets substract the smaller one from the bigger one ---> 27=9x ---> x=3 ---> from the original statement we get ---> 2.999=3 Also you can do this with every infinite repeating decimals, not only with the 0.333... ones but also with difficult ones, like 0.123123123... only here, you have to multiply by 1000, so the decimals line up and substract without problems. And with this method you can convert every infinite repeating decimal into fraction

  • @negin1812
    @negin1812 4 ปีที่แล้ว +49

    Oh reeeallly liked how he came up with proving its incountable. This is a true beauty of math

    • @nilsdula7693
      @nilsdula7693 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Negin ? Me too. I just smiled for 5 minutes after that

    • @sadkritx6200
      @sadkritx6200 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@nilsdula7693 yeah I also thought it's a really beautiful proof. But the fact that no one believed him and put him in mental institutions is really sad

    • @barryallen8307
      @barryallen8307 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      This just something absurd

  • @alpheusmadsen8485
    @alpheusmadsen8485 4 ปีที่แล้ว +150

    I like the idea of calling things "listable" instead of "countable". I have spent some time trying to come up with better names for things than the original names we've given them. In particular, I've tried re-naming "real", "imaginary", and "complex" -- and I've even come to realize these aren't even "names" (we always talk about "an integer" or "a fraction" but never really "a real" or "an imaginary" or "a complex"). It's a *lot* harder than it looks!

    • @masterblaster3483
      @masterblaster3483 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Bruh

    • @LAMarshall
      @LAMarshall 2 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      Yep, they're not *names* because "real", "imaginary", and "complex" aren't nouns; they're adjectives, meaning they are *descriptions* of nouns. The noun described being "numbers". Try not to think about that too deeply, it's just how grammar works. 😅

    • @Neme112
      @Neme112 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      Something being an adjective doesn't mean it's not a name. By that logic, the Dominican Republic isn't a name because it's an adjective + a noun and we don't say the adjective on its own. Or even United States isn't a name then because we don't just say "United" on its own and it has to be with the noun. That's nonsense. Names don't have to be nouns. Names can be noun phrases as well, including adjective+noun.

    • @firstnamelastname8790
      @firstnamelastname8790 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      When he listed the integers in the video, did you notice what he was doing as he listed them? He was counting...
      They are "countable" because you can always count them forever, just like you can list them forever

    • @una-mura
      @una-mura 9 หลายเดือนก่อน

      ​@@LAMarshallthis is numberphile, not letterphile
      (sorry, couldn't miss that one)

  • @TN-pj5lk
    @TN-pj5lk 9 ปีที่แล้ว +262

    Interesting, I've heard of this before.
    There are more numbers between 1 and 10 than between 1 and 2, but they are both infinity.

    • @TimofAwsome
      @TimofAwsome 9 ปีที่แล้ว +43

      31T3 1337 N008 The set of real/rational numbers between 1 and 10 has the same number of elements as the set of real/rational numbers between 1 and 2.

    • @TN-pj5lk
      @TN-pj5lk 9 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      TimofAwsome Clearly not, as the set of reals between 1-10 encompasses every number in the set from 1-2, plus more.

    • @TimofAwsome
      @TimofAwsome 9 ปีที่แล้ว +38

      The fact that the set of reals between 1 and 2 is a proper subset of the set of reals between 1 and 10 does not mean the have different cardinalities. Any interval of real numbers has the same number of elements as the entire set of real numbers.

    • @TN-pj5lk
      @TN-pj5lk 9 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      TimofAwsome Oh turns out you're right :\
      But how would you prove that each interval on the reals is bijective?

    • @TimofAwsome
      @TimofAwsome 9 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      f: R --> (b,a+b) where f(x) = a/(1+e^x) + b is a bijection between the reals and (b,a+b) (you'd have to modify the codomain if a is negative as then a+b would be smaller than b). But this is a bijection between R and an (open) interval.

  • @MrsRen
    @MrsRen 10 ปีที่แล้ว +33

    I was talking to my intro to microeconomics professor after class and she was saying how I got a bit ahead of the class by realizing the significance of 1 in relation to elasticity of demand and then told me that next class we'll touch on trying to explain what infinity means and I was like "Yeah, and nobody understands infinity. Not even most math students really understand infinity. It's a direction, not a number." One of the accounting professors was nearby and he chimed in "Yeah, and some infinities are bigger than others so it gets even more confusing."
    And that is how I came to watch this video again.

  • @diskritis2076
    @diskritis2076 4 ปีที่แล้ว +69

    The fault in our stars:
    "Some infinities are bigger than other infinities"

    • @shalom2092
      @shalom2092 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I also thought of that

    • @loganm2924
      @loganm2924 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I’m not crying, you’re crying

    • @alphaecho3875
      @alphaecho3875 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Sorry but what do you mean?

    • @diskritis2076
      @diskritis2076 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@alphaecho3875 you have to read the book to understand

    • @666miyuru
      @666miyuru 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@alphaecho3875 Imagine the amount of decimals you could list between the numbers 1 and 2 that would be infinite right? of course. Now imagine the amount of decimals between 1 and 3 that would also be an infinite number. So the infinite decimals between 1 and 3 are greater than the ones between 1 and 2 but both are infinite numbers therefore making one infinity larger than the other.

  • @barsozuguler4744
    @barsozuguler4744 4 ปีที่แล้ว +58

    Human: *finds infinity
    Also humans: *trying to count it with every possible way

  • @byakugansharingan3571
    @byakugansharingan3571 8 ปีที่แล้ว +753

    1:51 He clearly does a mistake and cuts the video (he forgot to put the negative mark in front of the 4)! YOU CAN'T FOOL ME WITH YOUR SOFT VOICE

    • @samielsayed7445
      @samielsayed7445 8 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      Didn't see that lol

    • @fazlulhowladerbibi5377
      @fazlulhowladerbibi5377 8 ปีที่แล้ว +28

      +Byakugan Sharing you got him down

    • @DizzIlike
      @DizzIlike 8 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      +Byakugan Sharingan Yeah I noticed that too but he doesn't change it. You can see he just put the minus in front of it as it's very close to the comma compared to the other negative numbers he wrote down.

    • @robychampiondaniel9944
      @robychampiondaniel9944 8 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      Recent studies demonstrate that 99.99% of The viewers of this video just paused it at minute 1:51 To See if your affermation was right
      PS: I didn't

    • @adomce1996
      @adomce1996 8 ปีที่แล้ว +23

      nope man, he lists positives first, then negatives

  • @RivenEnjoyer6897
    @RivenEnjoyer6897 8 ปีที่แล้ว +3678

    You want to know what's also bigger than you think?
    Your belief that this was going to be sexual.

    • @novohispana
      @novohispana 8 ปีที่แล้ว +30

      Kek mate

    • @zoran.grubic
      @zoran.grubic 8 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      +steve vansteenbrugge Trump?

    • @katnos4609
      @katnos4609 8 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      What

    • @lightblade5967
      @lightblade5967 8 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      +steve vansteenbrugge i thought of a 8=D

    • @kaptankancik9816
      @kaptankancik9816 8 ปีที่แล้ว +28

      Your pepe picture didn't really help tbqh.

  • @karriliikkanen
    @karriliikkanen 3 ปีที่แล้ว +12

    His hand is almost bleeding from writing so many numbers. I love this guy!

    • @Janken_Pro
      @Janken_Pro ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I thought they were marker stains

    • @karriliikkanen
      @karriliikkanen ปีที่แล้ว

      @@Janken_Pro it is only your mind trying to protect you from reality.

  • @RabidHobbit
    @RabidHobbit 5 ปีที่แล้ว +79

    "Some infinities can't be counted" -- Georg "Count-or"

    • @SteveCarras
      @SteveCarras 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Georg Cantor, not to be confused with legendary ubber-falsetto-voiced vaudevillian Eddie Cantor (1892-1964).

    • @mysticwine
      @mysticwine 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      There's only one infinity

    • @12jswilson
      @12jswilson 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@mysticwine there's actually infinite cardinalities of infinity.

    • @mysticwine
      @mysticwine 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@12jswilson What's a cardinalitie?

    • @12jswilson
      @12jswilson 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@mysticwine cardinality is the size of a set. For finite sets, it's easy. It's the number of objects. For infinite sets, it's more tricky but we say they have the same cardinality if and only if there can exist a bijection (1 to 1 correspondence) between the set. It's in this way that mathematicians say some infinities are bigger than others. Because there isn't a 1-1 correspondence from the real numbers to the natural numbers, we say there are "more" real numbers than natural numbers.

  • @sirbillius
    @sirbillius 7 ปีที่แล้ว +249

    The first time he drew the infinity symbol I immediately thought, "That's a fish..."

  • @AnythingMachine
    @AnythingMachine 5 ปีที่แล้ว +519

    Some numbers are so big that you can't stop counting them. But others are so big that you can't START

    • @FistroMan
      @FistroMan 5 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      I have started... and I have finished TWICE. The funy thing is: it's a true history. so.. Math becomes myself into a clone of Chuck norris.

    • @willeemina
      @willeemina 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      not

    • @FistroMan
      @FistroMan 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@willeemina Wait until see my math circular kicks...

    • @hybmnzz2658
      @hybmnzz2658 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Sets of numbers*

    • @davidkonevky7372
      @davidkonevky7372 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Yes, if you want to count from betwen 0 to 1, how many digits do you need? how many infinite combinations are on an infinite digit number? it must be a lot

  • @Subpar1224
    @Subpar1224 4 ปีที่แล้ว +42

    I have always loved the concept of countable infinity. It is a math concept that truly does make sense and also is something many people don't know but can be described easily enough

    • @DrWhom
      @DrWhom 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Many crackpots have baulked at the idea of "more than" countable infinity, and many more will do so. It is not hard to see why: it is the intuitive concept of "more" that really breaks down. We mathematicians perceive that 1:1 pairing is a much more fundamental concept than is counting itself, and we are comfortable extending it to deal with the transfinite. But if one cleaves to everyday ideas of size, bigger-than-ness, and so on, this area of maths just seems very strange.

    • @Zelchinho
      @Zelchinho ปีที่แล้ว +2

      But the concept of countable infinity isnt real. Because u cant do it. Also, he said that 1 infinity can be bigger than the other. How does that make any sense? It does make sense on paper as was shown, but how does that not contradict infinity?

    • @aymericletiec-gimbert3408
      @aymericletiec-gimbert3408 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@Zelchinho The concept of countable infinity is real. The mathematical definition for a set of numbers to be countable infinite is hinted at in the video, which is that the set of numbers is in bijection with N, the set of of non negative integers. (ie there exists a function from the set to N with a one-to-one correspondence). When we say that uncountable infinite sets are "bigger" than these countable infinite sets, there is no real "proof" or mathematical sense to that (to my knowledge) but is purely based on a intuitive/logical viewpoint.

    • @leohe2594
      @leohe2594 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      ​@@Zelchinhocountable infinity means that you cna find a way to associate each natural integer (0,1,2...) to an element on the set (this association is known as surjection). If all elements of the set can be countable (using mathematical logic, there's a reason the quantificators exists), it is countable
      Rela numbers are uncountable because there exists no such association (surjection)

  • @jeancorriveau8686
    @jeancorriveau8686 4 ปีที่แล้ว +48

    The concept of infinity stimulates the imagination which is what happened to me at the age of 4. I found in my father's garage a tin can with a picture on it. Within that picture was the same picture smaller, within which was the same picture even smaller. This captured my imagination for many days. I realised that I could imagine a series of even smaller pictures. I realised that this series that does not end, yet, I did not realise that it leads to infinity. Then I studied Cantor's discoveries of infinities at the university 16 years later. I was in awe.

    • @davidwest7299
      @davidwest7299 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Sir, please don't train young minds to wander too much or too far. The human mind has nothing to do with graciousness or mercy or love.

    • @jeancorriveau8686
      @jeancorriveau8686 3 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      @@davidwest7299 Love? Are you sure your comment is in response to my comment?

    • @lawrencedoliveiro9104
      @lawrencedoliveiro9104 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Fractals seem like a very convincing illustration of infinity within a finite space.

    • @jeancorriveau8686
      @jeancorriveau8686 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@lawrencedoliveiro9104 Indeed. In our minds only. Physically, infinity doesn't exist otherwise any region of space would be of finite energy.

  • @rustyb4nana
    @rustyb4nana 8 ปีที่แล้ว +624

    Sponsored by the fault in our stars

    • @rustyb4nana
      @rustyb4nana 8 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      +Vic Pownall yeah, there is a running theme in the book about 'some infinities being larger than other infinities' relating to how an infinity of love between two people with cancer isnt as long as it would be if they didnt have cancer, but it is still an infinity. Or something like that, tbh i didnt pay much attention while watching it

    • @krn-in2tv
      @krn-in2tv 8 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      XDDDDDDDDD you won

    • @envella
      @envella 8 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      +Karim Shoaib When I heard that I was thinking TFIOS

    • @envella
      @envella 8 ปีที่แล้ว

      Kane Bell That was kind of rude...

    • @nishkaarora6343
      @nishkaarora6343 8 ปีที่แล้ว

      +Karim Shoaib best comment ever

  • @neilmcmahon
    @neilmcmahon 9 ปีที่แล้ว +111

    Why not just use a white board instead of wasting all that paper.

    • @Macgki
      @Macgki 9 ปีที่แล้ว +105

      They're sold on ebay to raise money for charity :)

    • @Numlocq
      @Numlocq 9 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      Neil McMahon Hippy.

    • @bullseyekiller8909
      @bullseyekiller8909 9 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      edadou lol

    • @neilmcmahon
      @neilmcmahon 9 ปีที่แล้ว

      Ed Gein Noticed by Ed Gein, I feel so special..

    • @neilmcmahon
      @neilmcmahon 9 ปีที่แล้ว

      Andy Merrett Maybe the best system from a bad lot.

  • @dimmingstar
    @dimmingstar ปีที่แล้ว +7

    Cantor's work on infinities is one of my favourite topics ever, where learning about them expanded my mind in a way I could never forget~ he's an absolute genius, and although this happened ages ago I'm still so angered at the discrimination and injustice he dealt with from his peers and society ..I hope he still found peace, in the end.
    thanks Numberphile, for the passionate explanation :)

    • @Carlos-bq8tk
      @Carlos-bq8tk 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Infinity is HUGE!

  • @MRATtasa
    @MRATtasa 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    You simply explain the idea of real analysis in such great way! So fun 😍

  • @Monkeystaxx
    @Monkeystaxx 10 ปีที่แล้ว +105

    I can't take it any more, subscribed.

    • @NoWhereToRun22
      @NoWhereToRun22 7 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      over the last two days, i've been going from video to video feeling the same way. I NEED MORE MATH

  • @backyard282
    @backyard282 7 ปีที่แล้ว +276

    James's voice and way of talking is so viewer-boosting

    • @sparhopper
      @sparhopper 6 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      It's demeaning.
      It's like he's talking to a 4 year old.

    • @slightlygayindianscammer2279
      @slightlygayindianscammer2279 6 ปีที่แล้ว

      Shut up

    • @Ryeubaham
      @Ryeubaham 5 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@sparhopper einstein said: if you cant explain it simply, you do not know it well enough

    • @linus6718
      @linus6718 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@sparhopper If you interpreted it that way, then perhaps you do have the mind of a 4 year old

  • @jayDClo
    @jayDClo 4 ปีที่แล้ว +17

    “How long have we got?” So quick and subtle but so hilarious.

  • @rawdog42
    @rawdog42 5 ปีที่แล้ว +246

    Chuck Norris counted to Infinity.
    Twice.

    • @loganm2924
      @loganm2924 4 ปีที่แล้ว +19

      Ordinal infinity or Cardinal infinity. Or one of the many other variants of infinity. Assuming ordinal infinity as otherwise you couldn’t count it twice. And therefore he not only counted to infinity twice, but also three times and 100 times and infinity times.
      Chuck Norris counted to Infinity.
      Infinity times.

    • @rawdog42
      @rawdog42 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@loganm2924 Awesome.

    • @icantth1nkofanam40
      @icantth1nkofanam40 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@loganm2924 twice

    • @kingsman428
      @kingsman428 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@loganm2924 *"...Chuck Norris counted to infinity...."*
      And found Bruce Lee waiting for him and he said to Chuck *"...What was that?..."*

    • @daddy_richards
      @daddy_richards 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Logan McDonald are you the maker of true infinity? Are you Reinhardt-C?

  • @AJoe-ze6go
    @AJoe-ze6go 8 ปีที่แล้ว +299

    I prefer not to use terms like "bigger" when referring to infinities, since "big" implies a size - something infinities don't have by definition, being endless.
    Rather, I think of some infinities as being "denser" than others.

    • @KaelynWillingham
      @KaelynWillingham 8 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      I agree with this wholeheartedly. Think of infinity as a measure of density rather than a measure of size.

    • @rajeshgupta1055
      @rajeshgupta1055 8 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      i also completely agree with u

    • @NoriMori1992
      @NoriMori1992 8 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      +A. Joe Technically very true. As Vsauce explains, the list of whole numbers isn't "twice as big" as the list of even numbers - it's just denser.

    • @Nukestarmaster
      @Nukestarmaster 8 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      +NoriMori The whole numbers are twice as dense as the even numbers, but they are both the same size, a countable infinity. Using density isn't really helpful, especially considering that the reals are (uncountably) infinitely more dense than the rationals which are (countably) infinitely more dense than the integers which are infinitely (still countable) more dense than the squares of integers and so on. Density means nothing in infinities, size is a much better determining factor.

    • @AJoe-ze6go
      @AJoe-ze6go 8 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Nukestarmaster But as you pointed out, if you only consider size, you wouldn't understand a key difference between - for example - the whole numbers and the even numbers.
      Perhaps both have their uses.

  • @narata1541
    @narata1541 7 ปีที่แล้ว +329

    I remember reading online that only one person (so far) counted to infinity, and that was Chuck Norris. In fact, he did it twice.

    • @aniruddhnaganur1393
      @aniruddhnaganur1393 7 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      how's that possible

    • @narata1541
      @narata1541 7 ปีที่แล้ว +42

      +Aniruddh Naganur It's an old joke where people would say that Chuck Norris could do anything. When I saw this video, I couldn't resist saying this joke.

    • @ionlyusepics
      @ionlyusepics 7 ปีที่แล้ว +17

      Narata only true TH-cam users remember the classic chuck jokes:)

    • @nielsunnerup7099
      @nielsunnerup7099 7 ปีที่แล้ว +55

      I heard he did it a third time, but this time he started from infinity and counted backwards to 1

    • @blablaca2816
      @blablaca2816 7 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      Niels Unnerup Next time he'll start from infinity to negative infinity...

  • @dollishsilverdreams
    @dollishsilverdreams 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +5

    I absolutely love this channel !! The passions of those mathematicians radiating through each video is something so inspirational; thank you for this amazing content!

  • @dasmartretard
    @dasmartretard 4 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    i learned them as countable as well, but my favorite word for them that i came across was "enumerable"

  • @jupiterlegrand4817
    @jupiterlegrand4817 5 ปีที่แล้ว +200

    Not enough tight close-ups.

    • @karmpuscookie
      @karmpuscookie 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Help me-this hurts

    • @michaelerickson985
      @michaelerickson985 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Respectfully, I disagree. I contend that there are too many close-ups and that the cinematic quality would improve if they added more medium shots to the mix.

    • @siritio3553
      @siritio3553 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@michaelerickson985 Either this channel has more than average number of trolls, or more than average number of people completely incapable of understanding the notion of a joke. I bet on the second

  • @spiderous
    @spiderous 8 ปีที่แล้ว +953

    It's easy - infinity is an eight number written horizontally.

    • @ZonkoKongo
      @ZonkoKongo 7 ปีที่แล้ว +32

      -8i

    • @MemerCat0
      @MemerCat0 7 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Interferencyjny infin8y

    • @artificialintelligence9378
      @artificialintelligence9378 7 ปีที่แล้ว +41

      you could've put it in a better way, as in infinity is a sleeping 8

    • @vorpal22
      @vorpal22 6 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Infinity is what happens when 8 drinks a bottle of tequila.

    • @ChinnuWoW
      @ChinnuWoW 6 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      How do you know it's horizontal? Why not vertical? What it actually is, is 90 degrees rotated.

  • @rabidbigdog
    @rabidbigdog 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    You may think it's a long way down to the shops, but Infinity is big, really big ...

  • @PC_Simo
    @PC_Simo 24 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    *James Grime:* ”Infinity is not a number.”
    *Hyperreals:* ”Allow us to introduce ourselves.”

  • @kallelellacevej2234
    @kallelellacevej2234 5 ปีที่แล้ว +190

    0:33 "Oooo it's 20." I laughed so hard at that probably since it's so true. 😅

    • @MarkSmith-tu9qr
      @MarkSmith-tu9qr 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      😂

    • @tsawy6
      @tsawy6 4 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      Two old men have a contest, to see who can come up with the bigger number. The first man deliberates long and hard, before he starts, and with a knowing smile proclaims: "78".
      The second man smiles and nods, defeated.

    • @Zahid__mughal682
      @Zahid__mughal682 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@tsawy6 WHAT?!?

    • @barritoothy
      @barritoothy 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@tsawy6 what dat mean?

    • @pot8os
      @pot8os 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@barritoothy i think because of age and that they feel old and it took a long time to get there.
      If you are old you will probably think of your age first.

  • @khulhucthulhu9952
    @khulhucthulhu9952 7 ปีที่แล้ว +517

    why do I feel like a 7 year old child whilst watching this video?

    • @jimbig3997
      @jimbig3997 7 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      That's funny. Me too!

    • @suwinkhamchaiwong8382
      @suwinkhamchaiwong8382 7 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      Khulhu Cthulhu same. I'm actually seven

    • @anrubis3031
      @anrubis3031 7 ปีที่แล้ว +20

      I am 5

    • @tarunkalra3495
      @tarunkalra3495 7 ปีที่แล้ว +21

      Khulhu Cthulhu yeah thn i m not evn born

    • @wellguesswhatIthink
      @wellguesswhatIthink 6 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Because he's a young, smart guy and you don't want to feel lectured by him? Old fart

  • @249pro6
    @249pro6 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    This is the first numberphile video I watched and now I love numberphile 😀

  • @Totto3
    @Totto3 4 ปีที่แล้ว +29

    The title should be.. *"To infinity and beyond"*

  • @hh8302k
    @hh8302k 9 ปีที่แล้ว +123

    So what they're saying is that there is an infinite type of infinities?

    • @Zikmarc
      @Zikmarc 9 ปีที่แล้ว +16

      Yes YoshiFace.
      Cantor, that did all that demonstration and created what is known as the set theory, demonstrated that there are infinities of infinity and that concept is really not a concept, it's the simplest part of what he did.
      Let make things clear first... it's difficult to talk about infinity when we misuse the vocabulary.
      "infinity" is the concept of infinity
      "cardinal" is the "number" of element(s) of a set
      "infinity" can also designate an "infinite number", they are called by Cantor (I think it's him) : transfinite numbers.
      Your question then being :
      "Is the cardinal of the set of transfinite number infinite ?"
      ... again, the answer is yes.
      Cantor proved that if you have a set A, infinite or not, the magnitude of the cardinal of the set P constituted of the "parts" of A, is a magnitude higher than the cardinal of A.
      Intuitively, we can write that card(A) < card(P)
      But you must understand what it means when A and P are infinite sets...
      In the case of A being an infinite set, its cardinal is a transfinite number. And Cantor proved that you cannot match all the elements of P uniquely with an element of A.
      Thus, cardinal of P is higher (bigger) than cardinal of A.
      Now, that's the beauty of math : you can continue infinitely with the P again, and construct the set constituted of parts of P. That set will then be of a cardinal bigger that the cardinal of P itself.
      You can then start with the set A0 being the set of all natural number of size aleph-zero (the first transfinite number) and build a list of transfinite numbers :
      {A0, A1, A2, A3, ...} with :
      A1 = the set of parts of A0
      A2 = the set of parts of A1
      ...
      and that construction has no end itself
      and each A* is a transfinite number different (higher) that the ones before it
      Thus, there are infinite number of "infinites" (= transfinite numbers).
      (sorry if I'm wrong about the name "transfinite number" and also about the construction of the sets using the "set of parts"... maybe it's an other construction Cantor used. But the idea is that one, roughly.)
      Have fun ^_^

    • @joshuahaber9457
      @joshuahaber9457 9 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Though true, this particular proof only shows 2 types of infinities.

    • @nielsjan9076
      @nielsjan9076 9 ปีที่แล้ว

      Actually I don't agree with this concept. For example: The infinity of integers is the same size as the infinity of decimal types. It might be slightly filosofical, but I compare it to the speed of light.
      Something that has the twice the speed of light is as fast as something that has once the speed of light, there are a couple of reasons for thing which are hard to comprehend in the accepted system we use in our society, but with infinite numbers it's the same in my opinion.
      A infinite amount of integers can go on forever, so can a infinite amount of decimals, therefor they are the same.

    • @Zikmarc
      @Zikmarc 9 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Niels Jan van de Pol> you cannot say "an infinite amount of integers can go on forever, so can an infinite amount of decimals" and the conclude that "THEY are the SAME".
      No, there is logical implication there... you have to proove what you say.
      And indeed Cantor proove that there are at least two "size" of infinities... and in fact there are an infinite size of infinities also.
      But all infinities, however "small" they can be "goes on forever" by "definition" ^_^

    • @mikeya2384
      @mikeya2384 9 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Marc Ly I think people are just getting confused by what the word "bigger" actually means in this video. Just think of the "bigger infinities" as 'encompassing' more dimension. for example: one line that looks like this - is smaller than two lines that intersect like this + but all lines go on for ever in each direction in both cases. The smaller case takes in to account left and right while the other has left and right but also up and down.

  • @Jose-Vargas
    @Jose-Vargas 10 ปีที่แล้ว +55

    0:15 that's no infinity (car) ... That's a fish

  • @haneulkim4902
    @haneulkim4902 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Simply amazing! Thanks for great content!!!

  • @bbk2802
    @bbk2802 ปีที่แล้ว +15

    I was recently watching a video explaining why the speed of light is what it is. According to some physicists this existence has a limiter. They said light could go even faster than it does but the universe prevents it so in regards to infinity there may a realistic limiter to it. I wish someone would touch on this subject! If not I’ll have to become a brainiac and do it myself 😢

    • @MuffinsAPlenty
      @MuffinsAPlenty ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I don't know too many people who believe anything infinite can exist within the universe. Nevertheless, we can do mathematics with infinite sets and various concepts of infinity.
      If you have a philosophy of mathematics where math actually exists in some metaphysical sense, then you might be concerned by this. Maybe dealing with infinity in math is wrong! There is nothing in the universe which is infinite, so how do we know we're correct about it in math? This isn't a death knell to the philosophy. One can believe that the concept of infinite things still is a valid concept and we can abstractly work with it even if nothing *physically infinite* exists.
      But there are other philosophies of mathematics. Things like antirealism, where mathematics is seen not as a thing which actually exists in a metaphysical sense, but more of as a useful fiction which we might or might not use as a tool or which we might view as beautiful like art or intellectually stimulating like philosophy. There is certainly utility to some mathematics of the "infinite" under such a philosophy - some statements about an infinite set simultaneously encode infinitely many statements about finite sets and thus reduce the amount of work we must do to express those infinite families of statements. And some may just be for beauty and a desire to speculate.

    • @anamay01
      @anamay01 ปีที่แล้ว

      ​@@MuffinsAPlenty Would space being "dense": any non-zero length can be divided into strictly smaller lengths, imply the 'physical existence' of infinite things? It kind of does to me, because then any *exact* representation of the universe would require infinite precision (countably many numbers/bits).
      At the same time, one may never need the full exact representation. We could always work with an approximation that suits our purpose (as we do with pi, e, etc.). It would be interesting to find out if it is possible to set up an experiment which determines if space is dense in the above sense; or even rule such an experiment out (which would make the question unscientific...?).

  • @taylorkintigh7170
    @taylorkintigh7170 7 ปีที่แล้ว +40

    This type of concept is called the cardinality of the set. It's something you learn in real analysis, modern/abstract algebra and other courses that deal with numerical concepts.

    • @joeyhardin5903
      @joeyhardin5903 7 ปีที่แล้ว +36

      And Vsauce

    • @tay_piss_saucer_mk.400
      @tay_piss_saucer_mk.400 6 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Its Cantor Set , cardinality = aleph-0

    • @dhkatz_
      @dhkatz_ 5 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      You learn it in any discrete mathematics class.

    • @kingarth0r
      @kingarth0r 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@tay_piss_saucer_mk.400 no no no. The cantor set is actually uncountable because it contains all binary numbers which is uncountable.

  • @CSS567
    @CSS567 10 ปีที่แล้ว +50

    That first infinity looks like a fish.

  • @Zeverinsen
    @Zeverinsen 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I'm glad Georg got recognised in the end 😢
    A video about math with the ups and downs of a great drama!

  • @sign543
    @sign543 5 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    He looks like a Weasley brother. 👍🏼

  • @xooperz
    @xooperz 9 ปีที่แล้ว +692

    There is infinity between every single decimal, e.g. 0,13209832 and 0,13209833

    • @ciCCapROSTi
      @ciCCapROSTi 9 ปีที่แล้ว +35

      xooperz FBF that's true for rational numbers as well. that's not the difference between reals and rationals.

    • @orenmaximov924
      @orenmaximov924 8 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      +xooperz that's not to say that there isn't a bijection between those two numbers and the real numbers. there's a bijection between any two real numbers and the set of all real numbers

    • @chicathechicken8546
      @chicathechicken8546 8 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      That's a comma...

    • @xooperz
      @xooperz 8 ปีที่แล้ว

      Chica the Chicken What?? What are you talking about?

    • @chicathechicken8546
      @chicathechicken8546 8 ปีที่แล้ว

      +xooperz Oh...never mind, just saw it. Sorry to cause trouble...😵

  • @CRAZYMAN-su8sg
    @CRAZYMAN-su8sg 8 ปีที่แล้ว +576

    how did i end up here i started from sneaker collections

    • @Dan-fo8ez
      @Dan-fo8ez 8 ปีที่แล้ว +59

      Sneakers are costing so much nowadays that they are raising the price to infinity

    • @keitra666
      @keitra666 8 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      I got here by a video how much you click on your keyboard and the fun was, When you click space 600, 000 peoples do that at the same time you do

    • @himegototrap4life568
      @himegototrap4life568 8 ปีที่แล้ว

      XD

    • @josuadavidsson9903
      @josuadavidsson9903 8 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      You've probably watched similar videos so it got recommended

    • @ecyor0
      @ecyor0 8 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      +Alpha XenoGenesis (TBNR) I got here from the Rogue One trailer, funnily enough.

  • @VernePhilleas
    @VernePhilleas 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Great vid! Thanks expanding the decimal distances of irrationals and rationals to infinite!

  • @adityamishra7711
    @adityamishra7711 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Finally, the great Cantor, got mentioned in numberphile, his soul must be in peace now...

    • @adityamishra7711
      @adityamishra7711 หลายเดือนก่อน

      But I am afraid both him and Godel ( incompleteness theorem ) and Turing as well, intact 90% of set theory and model theory is wrong...
      I have a mathematical proof for that... looking for the right time to publish...

  • @timewasteland
    @timewasteland 10 ปีที่แล้ว +16

    “You can divide infinity an infinite number of times, and the resulting pieces will still be infinitely large. But if you divide a non-infinite number an infinite number of times the resulting pieces are non-infinitely small. Since they are non-infinitely small, but there are an infinite number of them, if you add them back together, their sum is infinite. This implies any number is, in fact, infinite.” - Uresh, character from The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss ^^

    • @omp199
      @omp199 10 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      timewasteland Except that that's nonsense.

    • @timewasteland
      @timewasteland 10 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Bon't blame me, Blame the author of the book the quote is from. Math was never my thing, anyway.

    • @Snubbeniskrubben
      @Snubbeniskrubben 10 ปีที่แล้ว

      I haven't read that kind of nonsense since I was 6 years old.

    • @12321dantheman
      @12321dantheman 10 ปีที่แล้ว

      'If you divide a non infinite number an infinite number of times the result isn't infinitely small'- simply not true. 1/infinity =0

    • @glootech
      @glootech 10 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      That man clearly did not grasp the idea of a limit.

  • @JoshWerner1
    @JoshWerner1 8 ปีที่แล้ว +30

    at 1:23 it shows 1, 2, 3 on the paper...woahh

    • @gmann8659
      @gmann8659 6 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Josh Werner that's actually more interesting than this video

    • @blaze-pn6fk
      @blaze-pn6fk 6 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      your observation tho

    • @gianniermini5484
      @gianniermini5484 6 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Math illuminati confirmed

  • @gunner678
    @gunner678 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Infinite infinity.......absolutely superb video. A great mix of practical demonstration and historical detail presented in an interesting and engaging way! Well done infinity......................................

  • @alanarcherman7946
    @alanarcherman7946 5 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Love this video. You make everything so understandable

  • @gersang663322
    @gersang663322 5 ปีที่แล้ว +533

    Why am I watching this at 2am

    • @ramytlili419
      @ramytlili419 5 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      Why kind of videos someone watches at 2 am.... This ofc

    • @SergeantColdgirl
      @SergeantColdgirl 5 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      2:26 am for me atm, while doing calculus homework LOL

    • @rick777888
      @rick777888 5 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      do what I did, chug some NyQuil...

    • @socialist_elmo
      @socialist_elmo 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      2 week ago...

    • @StrangeScaryNewEngland
      @StrangeScaryNewEngland 5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      1:59 here 😂😂

  • @johnytest464
    @johnytest464 7 ปีที่แล้ว +75

    "It's a big topic" woh, them puns...

    • @civilegr
      @civilegr 7 ปีที่แล้ว

      johnytest464

    • @joshuatheawesome9440
      @joshuatheawesome9440 7 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      A-THE- 1ST
      Define space and define the universe. That will make your question answerable.

    • @enderallygolem
      @enderallygolem 6 ปีที่แล้ว

      They came at the same time...?

  • @asmigoyal1075
    @asmigoyal1075 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    The first thought I get after watching this channel's videos is that, if they upload a video on 1 April, they can literally be explaining something which does not even exist in the video, and then when u finally understand that they break it to u at the end of the video : IT WAS A PRANK ! 😂😂🤣🤣I mean I would literally fall for that

  • @stutch4048
    @stutch4048 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    I don’t regret watching this with French subtitles

  • @bextract0
    @bextract0 6 ปีที่แล้ว +11

    The way he said "There are different kinds of infinity" killed me 0:51

  • @WILLIEtheKOYOTE
    @WILLIEtheKOYOTE 9 ปีที่แล้ว +263

    I've always wondered how time works with this concept. If you start at 2:45, how can we possibly make it to 2:46. We have to go through the sixty seconds first, and between each of those seconds there's so many milliseconds, and between those, nanoseconds, and so on. So, in order to actually advance in time, we would have to at some point skip forward. Either that or there is a smallest possible unit of time.

    • @TheMrFloorball
      @TheMrFloorball 9 ปีที่แล้ว +86

      Actually there is a minimal unit of time, which is called the planck-time. It is the time which you need to cross the minimal unit of distance (planck-lenght) with the fastest velocity possible (lightspeed). But don't trust me too much, better google it ;)

    • @TheMrFloorball
      @TheMrFloorball 9 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Sorry didnt see your comment

    • @OhClarisse
      @OhClarisse 9 ปีที่แล้ว +23

      Willie Numbers are not the same as time.
      Time is not numbers, we created numbers and link them with this palpable time units we have in nature to measure the advancing of "time"

    • @TheMrFloorball
      @TheMrFloorball 9 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      ***** time is a dimension and how you feel it passing is not how fast time is going

    • @shikhanshu
      @shikhanshu 9 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      TheMrFloorball Planck's length and Planck's time are the defining numbers for the highest resolution physically/mathematically possible from what humans know so far. No distance or time can be smaller than those numbers.
      Which doesn't make sense really :D

  • @rangaroo6385
    @rangaroo6385 4 ปีที่แล้ว +12

    I struggled with understanding math concepts and prime/integers/rational numbers etc in high school, until today in my 30s it dawned on me that there were infinite numbers between 0 and 1. And all of a sudden my brain understood and watching these videos made so much sense. Why am I such a late learner 🤦

    • @word6344
      @word6344 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Everyone learns at their own pace, don't worry about it

    • @finnnaginnn
      @finnnaginnn 10 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

      I'm a teenager and I don't know how to socialise properly, while my peers pull it off gracefully

  • @philiplamoureux8951
    @philiplamoureux8951 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Now he’s on Numberphile, THE GREATEST ACCOLADE OF ALL! Well done!

  • @EasiLeo
    @EasiLeo 8 ปีที่แล้ว +54

    That paper looks so damn uncomfortable to write on...

  • @yoliz562
    @yoliz562 6 ปีที่แล้ว +18

    I first watched this video when I was in high school and now I'm in university studying cardinality in my math course. It feels amazing.

    • @jkgan4952
      @jkgan4952 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      And now?

    • @sparshruhela8584
      @sparshruhela8584 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Hey I want to delve deep into this. Can you suggest some textbook to get the feel of it :)

  • @sebas2001ify
    @sebas2001ify ปีที่แล้ว

    I watched this in high school for fun like 6 years ago now I'm in uni having to learn this and its very intuitive thank you Dr James Grime

    • @matthewphilip1977
      @matthewphilip1977 ปีที่แล้ว

      For every natural number there are two related integers. The set of integers seems therefore twice as large as the set of natural numbers. But if there is an infinite number of natural numbers, and you can't have more than an infinite number of something, then there can't be more integers than there are natural numbers. There can only be more integers than natural numbers when we're talking about the finite. For example, if we have a trillion natural numbers, there are 2 trillion related integers ( for 1 there is 1 and -1, for 2 there is 2 and -2, etc). What does this tell us? That we pay too much respect to the idea of infinity? That it is a mere idea, a mere concept, that it's not real?

  • @DrinkingmadnessMadnessstil-o2l
    @DrinkingmadnessMadnessstil-o2l 12 วันที่ผ่านมา

    That was pretty fun to watch so a new subscriber is coming to the list👍

  • @alexandreman8601
    @alexandreman8601 7 ปีที่แล้ว +100

    0:12 Is it a fish?

    • @budesmatpicu3992
      @budesmatpicu3992 5 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      because there is something fishy with the very concept of infinity (not the potential one, but the REAL one)

  • @ShubhamSuneja
    @ShubhamSuneja 7 ปีที่แล้ว +415

    Great Video, but what kind of drugs is he on.

  • @arulkws
    @arulkws 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    damn you explained it really well, i'm not doing well on math but your explanation can be understood so easily

  • @crazypenguinbob
    @crazypenguinbob 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    I love how all these videos start

  • @reezechepniz7058
    @reezechepniz7058 8 ปีที่แล้ว +41

    0:12 "infinity is not a number" ...it is a fish.

  • @bulasking14
    @bulasking14 10 ปีที่แล้ว +31

    Just like the idea of zero. How nothing can something be?

  • @leeyenherngcalebpeircess6121
    @leeyenherngcalebpeircess6121 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    "Like I said, Infinity is not a number"
    *Draws fish*

  • @elopster2676
    @elopster2676 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    thanks almost had my head cracked in my math class trying to understand cantors diagonal argument

  • @greenwool4460
    @greenwool4460 8 ปีที่แล้ว +177

    I'm 5 years old and I'm offended. I can almost count to 30 not 20

    • @benjohnson8256
      @benjohnson8256 8 ปีที่แล้ว +27

      Are you sure? it's past your bed time

    • @kharv0013
      @kharv0013 8 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      +Ben J hold this L

    • @benjohnson8256
      @benjohnson8256 8 ปีที่แล้ว

      Keegster Z L

    • @nygeriunprence
      @nygeriunprence 8 ปีที่แล้ว

      +Keegster Z hold this L too bruh

    • @Nick-qj6fb
      @Nick-qj6fb 8 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      +Ben J *Tosses L*

  • @jyeunplugged1
    @jyeunplugged1 8 ปีที่แล้ว +198

    I am not a number...I am a free man

    • @glorytheman
      @glorytheman 8 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      Nothing to do with the vid but okay.

    • @confusedguy404
      @confusedguy404 7 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      +JYE - all hail Lelouch

    • @Walter-Montalvo
      @Walter-Montalvo 7 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Now now, number six...

    • @hellogoodbye7365
      @hellogoodbye7365 6 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      That is what every number thinks

    • @hellogoodbye7365
      @hellogoodbye7365 6 ปีที่แล้ว

      Its not about the number standing alone numbers are only value when they come together. Same with humans. One human is weak. Alot of humans are strong. We need eachother like numbers do

  • @deekshas3936
    @deekshas3936 4 ปีที่แล้ว +13

    0:56 "Some infinities are bigger than other infinities." TFIOS reference!!!!

    • @MikeRosoftJH
      @MikeRosoftJH 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      I thought it was an Animal Farm reference. All infinities are infinite, but some are more infinite than other infinities.

    • @JacksonBockus
      @JacksonBockus 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      It’s a reference to math

  • @yazajag
    @yazajag 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    "You can't list... a bigger infinity..."
    Me: Brain explodes. 🤔💣💥😅

  • @okuhara
    @okuhara 10 ปีที่แล้ว +10

    0:12 - "Infinity is not a number".
    No it's not... it's a fish.

  • @cosmicpaudel9430
    @cosmicpaudel9430 10 ปีที่แล้ว +16

    What about complex/imaginary numbers aren't they a whole new infinity?

  • @jackroutledge352
    @jackroutledge352 4 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    It’s funny that this was so widely rejected at the time. To me, this is one of the most intuitive things I’ve seen in this channel, and so clearly true.

  • @throughthestorm3852
    @throughthestorm3852 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I actually like math and science, but I just discovered a video I can watch the next time I’m rolling in bed unable to sleep.