INFINITE | MATH | POETRY | LOGIC | BEAUTY

Define “Infinite”

Unlock your mathematical superpowers

Can you tell me what infinite is, and a sure way to tell whether something is infinite or not?

Easy, you might say. Like 1,2,3,… just go on forever.

But this would be just an example, not a definition. And, most of all, you can’t go on forever. I asked you to tell me what infinite is. Not what it would be, if only you could go on forever.

The Italian poet Giacomo Leopardi succeeds at evoking the feeling of awe that comes with our attempt to face infinity. He uses a suggestive comparison between the reality surrounding himself while in a state of contemplation, and the unknown space beyond a hedge.

Always to me beloved was this lonely hillside
And the hedgerow creeping over and always hiding
The distances, the horizon’s furthest reaches.

Photo by qimono on Pixabay

But as I sit and gaze, there is an endless
Space still beyond, there is a more than mortal
Silence spread out to the last depth of peace,
Which in my thought I shape until my heart
Scarcely can…