cantor's nightmare

let's talk about 0 and 1. we've talked about chaos and patterns being a complimentary pair that balances the universe. but what i've been grooving about lately are zeros and ones--in case you were wondering why i've changed my blog title to binary code (1.1.2.3).

envision this: the universe STARTS with zero. the universe ENDS with one.

and we exist in a section of time and space between 0 and 1.

breathe.

actually our PARTICLES "exist" the whole span of the universe, but our bodies and consciousness and PARTICULAR ARRANGEMENT OF PARTICLES exist somewhere in the infinity between 0 and 1.

BUT... why 0? and why 1? what's the deal with this "start" and HOLY MARY MOTHER OF JESUS, don't talk about the "end"!!! didn't time extend back to infinity and isn't time going to continue to infinity? and aren't there an infinity of PARTICLES out there all over the universe RIGHT NOW???

my tentative answer has to do with talking about "all of infinity" as THE SET OF ALL INFINITIES (which i may or may not be allowed to do).

this is what i'm getting at: there is this thing known as the DICHOTOMY. (not LOBOTOMY, although you may feel like you're having one right now.)

the dichotomy is that there are TWO kinds of infinity: LITTLE infinity and BIG infinity. large-scale, small-scale: a continuum.

for small-scale, let this vision help you: using a ruler, measure a paper map of the coastline to find the distance between the tip of florida and the corner of maine. you won't get a very accurate measurement. but why? well, because your map sucks. the "real" coastline has all those little bays and jetties that the map didn't take into account! and those DEFINITELY add some distance to your measurement! and what if we add all the rocks and grains of sand? and what if we add the distance between atoms and electrons and quarks and god only knows what? mayhem, that's what. and the stunner: try PACING OFF this coastline, toe to heel! make sure you don't get lost, or else you'll be spinning and turning to INFINITY, which is exactly how long it would take you to hop from quark to quark, without taking a single detour, all the way up the atlantic. Zeno's paradox! like the man who, setting off on his 1000 mile journey, takes half a step, spins himself dizzy, and collapses. be advised that in this equation, we were only measuring one [1] COMPLETE SEGMENT of coastline.

for a large-scale illustration, just start adding. then, when you get bored, do some multiplying. then add some exponents. never stop. you're not concerned with divisions of quarks and atoms, you're focused on LIGHTYEARS and GOOGLEPLEXES, and even--gasp--INFINITIES!!! in this example, when you start counting, you start from zero. [0] your counting is always going away from zero, you cannot go back ...unless infinity turns back on itself and you simply loop around the universe and POW--land right where you started (unlikely). more likely, the segment can never be finished and so we have zero [0] COMPLETE SEGMENTS!!!

envision positive and negative direction.

(-) <--------------> (+)

or

(+) <--------------> (-)

yikes! binoculurs and microscope intertwined.

now, we humans can focus in two directions when considering our place in this mess: up (-) at the stars, or we can look down (+) at the ground. and as individuals, we can look outside (-) our bodies, or inside (+) our bodies. we can consider the dull ache in our lower back (-), or we can dream up deep imaginings from inside our brain (+).

inside
-------> (+) <-------- [1]

outside
<------- (-) --------> [0]

behold: magnetism! now consider that EVERY PARTICLE in the universe is either positively or negatively charged, just like the WHOLE UNIVERSE ITSELF!!!

and that, ladies and gentlemen, is where we live. somewhere in infinity, moving away from one thing and towards something else, getting bigger and smaller, faster and slower: falling--plop-- straight down the rabbit-hole.