What’s a solution to Zeno’s Paradox that proves math/physics is a viable tool for determining the laws of reality.

Question

I got into an argument with a friend who says logic and reason alone cannot determine the truth, and that we need emotions too. He says that Zeno’s Paradox is proof of the shortcomings of math/physics in determining the nature of reality. Is he right about this? I thought math/physics are the holy grails for understanding the nature of the universe.

In: Physics

Answer 1

From a purely mathematical perspective, Zeno’s paradox is solvable. We know that the sum of the distances (so 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8 + 1/16…) converges to 1. This means that from a mathematical perspective, the distance between me and the wall in Zeno’s paradox is a finite value.

From a physics perspective, we can say that the person is moving at a constant velocity. This means that, provided the distance to the wall is finite, we will arrive there.