MG: The Shenanigans of Infinity
The Shenanigans of Infinity
For those of you who didn’t know, Monday, March 14 was National Pi Day. The one day of the year set aside to celebrate the most awesome of irrational numbers, the number that runs on Energizer batteries and keeps going and going and going… Oh, Pi, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways: 3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751058209749445923078164062862089986280348253421170679…
(Yeah, you probably saw that one coming, didn’t you?)
But seriously, how does one celebrate National Pi Day? What behavior is apropos for an infinitely large, non-repeating irrational number? The first idea that comes to mind involves baked confectionary treats, perhaps of the apple, pumpkin or pecan variety. But that has the tendency to lead one to an infinitely large, non-repeating waistline. Don’t get me wrong, I love Pi and pie, but have a bit of an addiction to both so I have to take them in moderation.
Controlling my addiction to pie is actually easier than controlling my addiction to Pi. Steering clear of pie is simply a matter of not buying it. Don’t invite the devil into your home and he has no power over you. Know what I mean? But Pi, that’s a whole different kind of devil. Pi seeps in through the cracks and, like the mighty scent of BRUT, it goes all the way.
My fascination with Pi has something to do with the non-repeating numbers. That and the idea that they stretch on and on and on. I see it there some nights, Pi, that infinitely long string rolling off into the darkness of my mind’s vanishing point. Maybe it’s my English degree that leaves me so fascinated by the idea of Pi. Perhaps if I were a math major, the idea would be more grounded in my mind, less prone to fanciful imaginings.
In my world, poetry and fiction are the definable, knowable entities that others sometimes gaze upon with wonder and awe. But to me, most of the time, it’s just a poem. The mystique of the craft of writing long ago gave way to the reality of things. And while I still love the craft and art of the written word, I see it for what it is. In short: I see the puppeteer’s strings.
But mathematics is something different for me. For me, math is the mysterious femme fatale come to add a little chaos to a life grown too stale. And never is this more evident than when I ponder the infinitum of Pi.
How does one try to understand a number that goes on forever? I dare say the idea of infinity is something so complex that three-quarters of the human population will never be able to understand it—and that’s a conservative estimate. As humans—bound by our limited range of perception—we have a difficult enough time conceiving that other people exist beyond the range of our senses. (Yes, Solipsism is still alive and well, I’ve found.) So what is a mind to do when it encounters a number—which is already a very abstract thing—that has no end?
To have no end. To go on forever.
What does it mean?
Now, in spite of what you may be thinking, I haven’t been hitting the ol’ “Bob Marley incense.” I never touch the stuff. But I do believe that the implications of Pi—the idea of infinity—are something that gets tossed around and glossed over far too much in our world of non-geeks and Modern Geeks alike.
Really, when’s the last time you stopped to seriously ponder the idea of infinity, the idea that a thing can continue on, to no end, much like Shaft’s moustache?
As a Modern Geek, I want to give you all a homework assignment for this week: consider the idea that a thing cannot end.
Truly consider it.
Sit alone in your most comfortable, quiet place. Then imagine a string of numbers, beginning at 1 and continuing on in normal order. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,…and so on. Imagine the numbers standing perfectly in line before you, a line that stretches out a little further as each new number falls into formation. Then, as the numbers pile up, one behind the other, imagine that you are floating up, gaining more perspective on the line of digits as they race into the distance. 132,824…132,825…132,826…132,827… Higher and higher you rise, and the numbers continue on.
Then keep going.
Keep going until the largest number you can imagine stands before you, then remember that infinity, like the best of shenanigans, continues on.
Keep going until you break.
Welcome to Pi…makes your head hurt, don’t it?
End Transmission.
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