Saturday, April 25, 2009

Things That Make Me Go "Huh?"

Is it possible for something to be infinitely small?

Obviously the potential for infinite bigness exists (though certainly nothing infinitely big now exists since if it did, none of us would be here to enjoy it, having been crowded off the planet.)

A long time ago, a girl told me that if you suck a peppermint down to nothing, it doesn't really disappear, it just keeps getting smaller and smaller and smaller...

BUT. If something keeps getting smaller, won't it eventually be negative? As in a black hole, sucking all matter into it's nothingness?

Things that make my head hurt.

So, anybody know? Is this true? Philip, I'm looking at you. Philip, dear readers, is my genius older brother. The one I had to follow in school. The one that caused math teachers the world around to look at me, heads cocked and stutter, "Sarah. Kennedy? Philip's sister? But, but you're dumb as a bag of hammers! How can this be so?" I'm the one who inspired Mr. Jackson to Tourette's like exclamations of "Judas' Priest!"

14 comments:

Sandi McBride said...

Hmmmm...I don't think it's exactly like the old nail driven into wood, pull the nail out and the hole is still there as proof that the nail existed to begin with...my experience tells me that when the peppermint is gone, have another one!
hugs
Sandi

Snowbrush said...

Sarah, I remember reading about an ancient Greek philosopher who "proved" that a person could never move from one place to another. His argument was as follows: To get from X to Y, you first have to cover all of the fractional distances along the way. Because there is no limit to how many times a given distance can be divided, yet you have to move across every last one of those divisions to get from X to Y, it is therefore impossible to get from X to Y.

Woman in a Window said...

The peppermint doesn't disappear. IT goes in your belly, silly, coats your mouth, just as we all change and become something else. Energy can not be created or destroyed. Neither can peppermints.

Eddie Bluelights said...

Here's one for you.
As I was walking along the road I saw an older version of myself who explained he was a time traveller and had gone into the past. He said as he was walking down the road he met an older bersion of himself who explained he was a time traveller who had talled into the past. As he was walking down the road he met an older bersion of himself who said he was a time traveller who explained . . . . etc!
Spooky isn't it?

Yes my daughter made the CD and it was played nearly every night on Radio Bristol a few years ago. She sing's Bach's version of Ave Maria as well - should I put that one on as well, perhaps with a few more like Evergreen?

www.retiredandcrazy.com said...

Come on over to my place
I've cooked you a chicken

Becky Frame said...

I think God creates infinite smallness to boggle our minds. Like DNA strands.

mom said...

Try going the opposite direction. Nobody knows how big the universe is, but God's Spirit fills the universe, then, what's on the other side??????

Phil said...

Here is the best response:

" Retiredandcrazy said...
Come on over to my place
I've cooked you a chicken"

imbeingheldhostage said...

You want me to think? Oh, wait, it's just Philip that has to think. Whew!


LOVE the blog look. I could stare at that header all day.

Suldog said...

First, things become smaller, then they become bigger, and then they become smaller again, and bigger again, and so on and on.

Example: You eat the peppermint, so it becomes smaller and smaller. In reality, though, it becomes part of your being, thus it is actually bigger. Then, a big nasty bear eats you. You become smaller. However, you become part of the bear, which means you become bigger - at least until the bear goes to the woods, at which point the bear becomes smaller, but you become bigger because you fertilize some trees. Then the trees get cut down, which makes them smaller, but somebody builds a house, which makes you bigger, unless they turn you into a hutch, instead, in which case you're actually a bit smaller, but you don't care because you're still pissed off at the bear.

It all makes perfect sense.

Barry said...

The ancient Greek Philosopher Snowbrush was referring to was Parmenides.

You'd know him if you saw him because Parmenides was an infinitely small man.

Although, if he was infinitely small, I guess you would see him after all! lol

Anonymous said...

I keep coming back everyday looking for a new post. :) This one has me stumped.
I had a teacher say something to me about my older brother too. A teacher should absolutely NOT do that. I'm sure my no care attitude for the rest of the year in that class was because of his comment.

Janet said...

Given that it was Suldog making the comment, that wasn't quite the explanation I anticipated.
And I agree with Joan. Those teachers should have been smacked around.

Tillybud said...

How was the chicken?