Wasting time with philosophical subjects

[Hellefire]

Is an idea still an idea if nobody thinks of it?


Aaron

 

[Jdvn1]

Is an idea still an idea if nobody thinks of it?


Aaron

Why wouldn't it be?

 

[Hellefire]

I guess it depends on your definition of an idea. I would guess that many people would define an idea as a concept created or solidified in your mind. Which means it is born when it is thought of, and therefore is not an idea until it is born (thought of). Thus, an idea is NOT an idea if nobody thinks of it. Which could also raise the question of temporal state, since we are speaking of infinities - maybe it isn't an idea yet today, but it will be tomorrow as soon as the first person/being/entity thinks of it. Or, one could argue, it is always an idea, just not a realized idea until someone thinks of it, if it will EVER be thought of. But my question was leaning more toward: if NO ONE EVER thought of it, would it still be an idea?


Aaron

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

if NO ONE EVER thought of it, would it still be an idea?

I have no idea...

 

[Jdvn1]

Well, if an idea has to be thought, and if an infinite number of ideas are possible and the universe is infinitely large, then there are an infinite number of ideas due to an infinite number of people.

Also, every idea has been thought.

 

[Hellefire]

Also, every idea has been thought.

Really?
So there will be no new ideas ever again?
Just curious, when was the last idea thought?
I was hoping I could still find some new ones!

Aaron

 

[NexH]

Not sure it's worth mentioning and making a thread out of it, but as it's time to procrastinate:

So, Clark Ashton Smith once wrote: "In an infinite, eternal universe, there is nothing imaginable?or unimaginable?which might not happen, might not be true, somewhere or sometime."

To which I answer: "As such, even a creature that may imagine what absolutely cannot exist, could happen in such an universe".

Opinions?

This reminds me of the Russell's paradox.

Clearly the statment is not true, since if it is then:
1)A creature that may imagine what absolutely cannot exist could happen in such an universe.
Then there is something that cannot exist. Contradiction.

2)Not 1, again a contradiction.

Therefore the statment is false.

Here's one a friend of mine came up with:

If it takes a finite number of words to express every idea in the realm of possible ideas, then there are a finite number of ideas in the known universe.

Why?
Every natural number can be expressed as a finite product of primes, but there are infinite natural numbers.

 

[Harmon]

Speed of light- not the fastest thing, just the fastest thing we can perceive.

Accept that the speed of light can be exceeded and you realize that black holes don’t break the laws of physics, just our understanding of physics.

All science in theoretical, and all theories are unprovable.

All mysteries will be solved except one- why do women think we understand them?

 

[Bront]

Not sure it's worth mentioning and making a thread out of it, but as it's time to procrastinate:

So, Clark Ashton Smith once wrote: "In an infinite, eternal universe, there is nothing imaginable—or unimaginable—which might not happen, might not be true, somewhere or sometime."

To which I answer: "As such, even a creature that may imagine what absolutely cannot exist, could happen in such an universe".

Opinions?

I feel that the best answer for your question is....

Yes

 

[MavrickWeirdo]

That's an interesting concept, but I have a hard time thinking about it.

For one thing, infinite number of stars is obviously in an infinite space. Now, stars are of finite size/duration/etc., so the finite amount of light they produce cannot fill an infinite space. As such, only a number of stars' light reaches the Earth, and the sky doesn't look like a bright sky.

I think it's better for my soon to be born headache, that the universe is finite.

Infinities are not all the same size, some infinities are larger than others.

For example an irrational infinity is larger than a rational one, but smaller than a rational one times itself.