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A comment on Efficient algorithms, the Exponential Time Hypothesis, and losing the plot. Parent comment

Re:Efficient algorithms, the Exponential Time Hypothesis, an... by freehorse on Tuesday November 03, 2026 @06:24AM (#50350632)
Infinity is an abstraction. The universe cannot be "infinite" in the mathematical sense, as the mathematical infinity is an abstraction. The only meaningful question is "is mathematical infinity required to produce good models of the universe/physics?" and the answer so far is "no". We use infinity because it is convenient, but it is not really needed.

There is no reason to think that "infinity" will be essential to describing the universe any more than any other possible abstraction that we have not so far constructed.

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Re:Efficient algorithms, the Exponential Time Hypothesis, an... by pipe2devnull on Tuesday November 03, 2026 @07:11AM (#50351011)
Why can the universe not be infinite and go absolutely indefinitely in every direction?
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Re:Efficient algorithms, the Exponential Time Hypothesis, an... by adwn on Tuesday November 03, 2026 @08:01AM (#50351489)
> The universe cannot be "infinite" in the mathematical sense

Why not? An infinitely large universe goes against our intuitions, but our intuitions were formed by the experience of living on a finite planet and have no bearing on what's true on a galactic scale – just like they have no bearing on what's true at the quantum scale. There is no objective reason to assume that the universe isn't infinite.

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