# Do you comprehend Infinity/Nothingness \[started by a SOCK\] **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 2, 2021, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-comprehend-infinity-nothingness-started-by-a-sock/951784 "2021-10-02T17:22:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2021, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-comprehend-infinity-nothingness-started-by-a-sock/951784/41 "2021-10-03T11:32:16Z")
Of course, but that has nothing to do with being able to imagine a physical infinity, which is what I meant when I said “infinities are pretty much incomprehensible…”. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2021, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-comprehend-infinity-nothingness-started-by-a-sock/951784/42 "2021-10-03T11:33:22Z")
They have committed a cardinal sin. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2021, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-comprehend-infinity-nothingness-started-by-a-sock/951784/43 "2021-10-03T11:33:24Z")
In case that’s not clear, here’s an analogy: a metaphor is a bit like a simile. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2021, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-comprehend-infinity-nothingness-started-by-a-sock/951784/44 "2021-10-03T11:57:59Z")
That seems comparatively easy to understand, thanks a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2021, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-comprehend-infinity-nothingness-started-by-a-sock/951784/45 "2021-10-03T19:51:47Z")
I’m not sure it really counts as being able to properly imagine physical infinity, but I don’t have any trouble accepting that a direction extends endlessly. Obviously the only way that is pictured in my head is ‘no matter how far you went, there is more, without end’ - I can picture that in my mind’s eye as a sort of recursive rule - so I suppose visualisation of infinity by an indefinite number of samples that characterise the whole - I can’t envisage what the whole of infinity might look like gathered together, because ‘gathered’ implies bounds of some sort. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2021, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-comprehend-infinity-nothingness-started-by-a-sock/951784/46 "2021-10-03T21:26:17Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > so I suppose visualisation of infinity by an indefinite number of samples that characterise the whole - I can’t envisage what the whole of infinity might look like gathered together, because ‘gathered’ implies bounds of some sort. Yes. I can do something similar to visualise the vastness of the universe. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-comprehend-infinity-nothingness-started-by-a-sock/951784.md?page=2)