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Mac comments on Open thread, Jul. 18 - Jul. 24, 2016 - Less Wrong Discussion

3 Post author: MrMind 18 July 2016 07:17AM

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Comment author: Gunnar_Zarncke 19 July 2016 10:47:41PM 1 point [-]

Depends on what you mean by infinite precisely. Consider for example that the in some sense finite (0-1) interval can be transformed into the interval (0-inf) via e.g x -> 1/(1-x)-1. Or whether the infinite in some sense size of the universe can be described by some finite process (like here writing a finite representation 'inf' for something infinite..

Comment author: Mac 20 July 2016 02:08:16PM 0 points [-]

Given an infinite universe, an infinite number of Mac's are stubbing their toes. Is it possible to alter/transform the universe such that only a finite number of Mac's are stubbing their toes? If so, how?

Comment author: Gunnar_Zarncke 20 July 2016 08:22:28PM 1 point [-]

I'm not sufficiently well versed in physics but it might be the case that there aren't necessarily infinitely many Macs. There might only be one (for a suitable definition of what makes a person). There could be infinite variety. In that case there might still be a way to reduce that somehow but it might be more complicated than talking about merging all same elements.

Comment author: ChristianKl 20 July 2016 07:07:01PM 0 points [-]

Ignore all but one Mac?

Comment author: Gunnar_Zarncke 20 July 2016 08:23:37PM 1 point [-]

Yes. But please how do you bound these elements? Or asked differently: What makes Mac Mac?

Comment author: ChristianKl 21 July 2016 09:35:20AM 1 point [-]

You could also simply transform everything into "mu".

Comment author: Gunnar_Zarncke 21 July 2016 08:16:49PM *  0 points [-]

But that isn't bijective. You can't recover the original structure.

Comment author: ChristianKl 21 July 2016 08:30:25PM 0 points [-]

He didn't ask for it being bijective.

Comment author: Gunnar_Zarncke 21 July 2016 09:02:18PM 0 points [-]

Well. I kind assume that the set of answers he intended with his question didn't contain your answer either ;-)

Comment author: ChristianKl 22 July 2016 09:32:56AM 0 points [-]

Answering the question that's asked instead of giving the answer that someone seeks can increase the clarity about the nature of the question that's asked.

Comment author: Gunnar_Zarncke 22 July 2016 05:31:30PM 0 points [-]

Granted.