english,
Don't you think this world is pretty much one big math equation? I mean, think about it, a lot of the things we enjoy today and have been enjoying for thousands of years can now be calculated in some way, shape, or form. So many things in the universe we live in today can be translated into a kind of math equation or number. You can see various statistics estimating the number of people who died back in World War II, you can use basic subtraction to determine how much change the cashier will give you when you pay money beyond the price of their product or service, you can even use the magic of combinations and permutations to find out the probabilities of events that have yet to come. In this day and age, it's pretty hard to prove anything without using some kind of pre-existing math equation and/or concept to back it up, just look at all the proving we need to do in Geometry class. It's like our reality and very existence can be summed up by numbers that define us in one way or another. It's kind of crazy, but at the same time fascinating how these numbers basically run our entire reality and how it can even be linked to the past, the present, and even the future.
Now, I'm not a mathematician. I just failed a recent math test, so I'm not the most reliable person when it comes to numbers, but I did my research... to a certain extent, and now I'm going to present to you what I call my Theory of Infinity and its Relation to the Relationships between Living Beings or the Theory of Infinity, for short.
First of all, let's look at infinity itself. What is infinity? Based on the definition I found in Britannica.com, infinity is the concept of something being endless or having no bounds, like it could go on forever. Infinity is a concept, not a number in and on of itself. Think of it this way, Pi or 3.14... has an infinite amount of numbers (this can be said since we haven't found an actual end to pi) and there are infinite amounts of number combinations between the numbers 1 and 2. Now, just because pi is infinite and the numbers between 1 and 2 are infinite, doesn't mean pi and the numbers between 1 and 2 are the same thing. There are different kinds of infinities in the world, and infinity will simply be infinity unless you give it more substance or meaning like if you say, "I see infinity.” It’s not the same as saying, "I see an infinite amount of stars in the sky." Infinity is just a concept until you apply it to something that gives it more purpose. Now, let's connect that to humans.
As I said in the beginning, our world can seemingly be summed up by an equation or numbers and such. So right now, think of two people. It doesn't matter who they are, what they look like, how close they are, whether or not they know each other. Just think of two people. Most likely, there are different things that separate these two beings from each other, right? From their height, to their ideals, to what they look like, they're two separate beings with their own lives. To give you an easy to grasp version of my point, let's say these two people are 3 meters apart in terms of distance. In terms of math, we all know that between those cardinal numbers is an infinity. In between 1 and 3 could be 1.5, or 2.67, or even, 2.783564. Between the 1s, 2s, and 3s are infinities. These two people are separated by infinity or infinities. Even if they go closer, making that distance 0.5 meters or they go further away from each other, making the distance 5 meters, there will always be an infinity between them. Even going beyond the numbers, these people will always be separated by something internal. It’s something no amount of movement can change.
Some people might see that as a sad thing. No matter what you do, infinity will always be between you two, but how I see it, the fact that infinity will always be a constant in our lives and our relationships with other people is amazing. You will always have this endless boundlessness that connects you in unimaginable ways. Like I said before, infinity will simply be infinity unless you give it something more. How that infinity is defined is ultimately up to us. The infinity, as defined by the number of numbers in a number; infinity, as defined by the number of stars in the sky; infinity, as defined by the number of possibilities and choices we can make in our lives; and there is also the infinity, the constant in the lives of two people. The infinity between one and another, the infinity as defined by two people.
Why is this important to note? You might ask. Other than interpersonal relationships, how will this knowledge help? To that, I say, look at the world around us today. The world is so divided because they think everyone is so different from them, and they're right. But between everyone is the same constant infinity that will always bind us together. How each of them reacts to one another is dependent on the meaning they give to the infinity between them, whether they see it as something that separates them, or links them together. I guess in some sense it reminds me of the Labelling Theory, with all the putting labels on things. And I guess in a lot of ways it is. The main difference though is if the world likes numbers and equations so much, here's a math-y way to explain a very subjective matter. So really, this is just a mathematical Labelling Theory.
Now, beyond all of this, I want to say something to someone close to me who's scared of leaving his friends for college. You see, I didn't just write this without purpose. I have a duty to those who have a special place in my heart, and here’s my message to a special person I hold dear. So, to my best friend, after reading my so-called theory, I want to say that no matter what, there will always be an infinity between us, but it's not so bad. I want you to know we have this infinity together. No matter how far apart we are, we will always have this connection that links us.
You might be wondering what makes it different from my relationship with others? I also have an infinity with them, but that's what's so great about this concept. No two infinities are alike. The meaning we give to the space between the two of us will never be the same as with other people. Everyone has infinity together, but no one will have the same kind of infinity as we do. It's like saying the infinite number of particles in the universe is the same as the infinite number of guests in Hilbert's Hotel (you should check this concept out by the way. It's fascinating). Our infinity is unique and special because we say it is, and the fact that it will always be the constant between us is amazing to me, and I hope it is for you.
And yes, I know you enjoy arguing with me sometimes (or rather, I'm the one who enjoys arguing with you haha), and you can say that some infinities are greater than others but think about it more, our infinity will always be changing no matter what. Our infinity could be greater or smaller with each passing day. With something as simple as our distance to each other changing over time, to even the tiniest interactions we have that changes our perception of each other, this endlessness within the different distances we have about each other will always keep changing, however, it will still be infinity. You once said the only thing constant is change, well, now you can add infinity to that list of constants. It will still be special, I will still hold it dear, and it will still be important to me. If ever there comes a time our infinity will simply be a bunch of numbers as we lead on our separate lives (I hope this won't happen), we'll at least have the infinity we shared, and somewhere and sometime, we know it exists, no matter how far we try to get away from it, it will always have existed, that is the constant in our infinity, that's what's in the space between us. You can't erase its significance, just like how you can't simply erase the stars in our universe. No matter what happens, you will always be in this infinity of mine and I hope you define this limitless, endless space between us together with me till the very end.
Just as John Green wrote in his book, The Fault in Our Stars, "Between these numbered days we have together are infinities," and though our lives together in high school will one day come to a close, we will always have this infinity together. Thank you for existing in my life, and thank you for these tiny, yet life changing moments of forever. If I don't get Alzheimer's or amnesia, I will never forget you. I love you.
Literary: Our Infinity Together
Don't you think this world is pretty much one big math equation? I mean, think about it, a lot of the things we enjoy today and have been enjoying for thousands of years can now be calculated in some way, shape, or form. So many things in the universe we live in today can be translated into a kind of math equation or number. You can see various statistics estimating the number of people who died back in World War II, you can use basic subtraction to determine how much change the cashier will give you when you pay money beyond the price of their product or service, you can even use the magic of combinations and permutations to find out the probabilities of events that have yet to come. In this day and age, it's pretty hard to prove anything without using some kind of pre-existing math equation and/or concept to back it up, just look at all the proving we need to do in Geometry class. It's like our reality and very existence can be summed up by numbers that define us in one way or another. It's kind of crazy, but at the same time fascinating how these numbers basically run our entire reality and how it can even be linked to the past, the present, and even the future.
Now, I'm not a mathematician. I just failed a recent math test, so I'm not the most reliable person when it comes to numbers, but I did my research... to a certain extent, and now I'm going to present to you what I call my Theory of Infinity and its Relation to the Relationships between Living Beings or the Theory of Infinity, for short.
First of all, let's look at infinity itself. What is infinity? Based on the definition I found in Britannica.com, infinity is the concept of something being endless or having no bounds, like it could go on forever. Infinity is a concept, not a number in and on of itself. Think of it this way, Pi or 3.14... has an infinite amount of numbers (this can be said since we haven't found an actual end to pi) and there are infinite amounts of number combinations between the numbers 1 and 2. Now, just because pi is infinite and the numbers between 1 and 2 are infinite, doesn't mean pi and the numbers between 1 and 2 are the same thing. There are different kinds of infinities in the world, and infinity will simply be infinity unless you give it more substance or meaning like if you say, "I see infinity.” It’s not the same as saying, "I see an infinite amount of stars in the sky." Infinity is just a concept until you apply it to something that gives it more purpose. Now, let's connect that to humans.
As I said in the beginning, our world can seemingly be summed up by an equation or numbers and such. So right now, think of two people. It doesn't matter who they are, what they look like, how close they are, whether or not they know each other. Just think of two people. Most likely, there are different things that separate these two beings from each other, right? From their height, to their ideals, to what they look like, they're two separate beings with their own lives. To give you an easy to grasp version of my point, let's say these two people are 3 meters apart in terms of distance. In terms of math, we all know that between those cardinal numbers is an infinity. In between 1 and 3 could be 1.5, or 2.67, or even, 2.783564. Between the 1s, 2s, and 3s are infinities. These two people are separated by infinity or infinities. Even if they go closer, making that distance 0.5 meters or they go further away from each other, making the distance 5 meters, there will always be an infinity between them. Even going beyond the numbers, these people will always be separated by something internal. It’s something no amount of movement can change.
Some people might see that as a sad thing. No matter what you do, infinity will always be between you two, but how I see it, the fact that infinity will always be a constant in our lives and our relationships with other people is amazing. You will always have this endless boundlessness that connects you in unimaginable ways. Like I said before, infinity will simply be infinity unless you give it something more. How that infinity is defined is ultimately up to us. The infinity, as defined by the number of numbers in a number; infinity, as defined by the number of stars in the sky; infinity, as defined by the number of possibilities and choices we can make in our lives; and there is also the infinity, the constant in the lives of two people. The infinity between one and another, the infinity as defined by two people.
Why is this important to note? You might ask. Other than interpersonal relationships, how will this knowledge help? To that, I say, look at the world around us today. The world is so divided because they think everyone is so different from them, and they're right. But between everyone is the same constant infinity that will always bind us together. How each of them reacts to one another is dependent on the meaning they give to the infinity between them, whether they see it as something that separates them, or links them together. I guess in some sense it reminds me of the Labelling Theory, with all the putting labels on things. And I guess in a lot of ways it is. The main difference though is if the world likes numbers and equations so much, here's a math-y way to explain a very subjective matter. So really, this is just a mathematical Labelling Theory.
...
You might be wondering what makes it different from my relationship with others? I also have an infinity with them, but that's what's so great about this concept. No two infinities are alike. The meaning we give to the space between the two of us will never be the same as with other people. Everyone has infinity together, but no one will have the same kind of infinity as we do. It's like saying the infinite number of particles in the universe is the same as the infinite number of guests in Hilbert's Hotel (you should check this concept out by the way. It's fascinating). Our infinity is unique and special because we say it is, and the fact that it will always be the constant between us is amazing to me, and I hope it is for you.
And yes, I know you enjoy arguing with me sometimes (or rather, I'm the one who enjoys arguing with you haha), and you can say that some infinities are greater than others but think about it more, our infinity will always be changing no matter what. Our infinity could be greater or smaller with each passing day. With something as simple as our distance to each other changing over time, to even the tiniest interactions we have that changes our perception of each other, this endlessness within the different distances we have about each other will always keep changing, however, it will still be infinity. You once said the only thing constant is change, well, now you can add infinity to that list of constants. It will still be special, I will still hold it dear, and it will still be important to me. If ever there comes a time our infinity will simply be a bunch of numbers as we lead on our separate lives (I hope this won't happen), we'll at least have the infinity we shared, and somewhere and sometime, we know it exists, no matter how far we try to get away from it, it will always have existed, that is the constant in our infinity, that's what's in the space between us. You can't erase its significance, just like how you can't simply erase the stars in our universe. No matter what happens, you will always be in this infinity of mine and I hope you define this limitless, endless space between us together with me till the very end.
Just as John Green wrote in his book, The Fault in Our Stars, "Between these numbered days we have together are infinities," and though our lives together in high school will one day come to a close, we will always have this infinity together. Thank you for existing in my life, and thank you for these tiny, yet life changing moments of forever. If I don't get Alzheimer's or amnesia, I will never forget you. I love you.
0 comments: