6 July

I remember being fascinated by the idea of infinity as a kid. Many kids are, the idea of something that goes on forever. For example kids often ask, what’s the biggest number in the world? Or they ask, if there’s an end to the universe, what’s on the other side of that end? Using numbers as an example, we assume there’s an infinite number of numbers. But is there? In maths they sometimes distinguish between actual infinity and potential infinity. We assume there are an actual infinity of numbers, somewhere - but where would they be? Hidden in a cupboard somewhere? In reality I think there are only potentially infinite numbers, we could potentially keep counting forever. But there’s the rub, we don’t live forever, so it’s an abstraction. Infinity is one of those sleeper ideas that points to something profound about our world that we maybe don’t fully think through. I think the answer lies in understanding the possible or potential, as a full part of reality. We’re too focused on the actual, and forget the potential. Both infinity and eternity are about the potential, not the actual, whereas we try to understand them as actual things.