Im studying calculus this year and one of the lectures included undefined values (*forbidden and unwanted* not my words btw). These included:
1. 0/0
2. oo – oo
3. oo/oo
4. 0*oo
5. 0^0
6. oo^0
7. 1^oo
All of these are extremely weird to me and I don’t really understand them, but the one that strikes me the most is the last one. As a former math competitor and regarded as “gifted” in math, I feel stupid not being able to comprehend this, but most importantly it shatters my belief that math can explain everything and that is has all the answers.
I don’t see infinity as a really big number, I understand it as a concept, and what confuses me the most is seeing infinity treated as number. 1^oo for me doesn’t make any sense. It seems mathematically absurd. Infinity isn’t number, it’s a quantity that can’t be measured. And if it is treated as a number shouldn’t 1^oo = 1?
How come these are “undefined”? Someone please answer, Im losing my mind over this. All explanations are welcome, shallow or deep.
edit: to clarify oo = infinity
In: Mathematics
Sidetrack: if you say “it shatters my belief that math can explain everything and that is has all the answers” then you should take a look at Godel’s incompleteness theorem. No formal system can both be complete and consistent. Math isn’t as all-encompassing as you might think.
Latest Answers