> Eric Boyd wrote:
>
> > Hi,
> >
> > Marie Foster <mfos@ieway.com> wrote:
> > > It is the unknown that grows. The known only gets smaller.
> >
> > What? Surly you got it backwards by mistake. The known is getting bigger,
> > and getting bigger ever faster even! The unknown, of course, is
> > *infinite*, and so I'm not sure it even make sense to say that it's
> > "getting smaller" or "is growing". How much is infinity plus 2?
> >
> > ERiC
>
> It is true that only finitely many things are known and infinitely
> many things are unknown. On the other hand, every time some
> new truth is discovered, it immediately suggests many new questions.
> If we restrict ourselves to questions that we understand, then it
> seems to me that the unknown is growing much faster than the
> known.
>
> This is true for the whole of human knowledge and for
> an individual--at least it is true for me. At 18, I thought I knew
> a great deal. By the time I had a BS, I began to see that there
> was a lot out there that I didn't know. After the PhD (I hope
> no one is foolish enough to be impressed by that....), I realized
> that I don't know diddley squat compared to the real geniuses.
> At least now I understand some of the Big Questions.
> So for me, the unknown has increased much faster than the
> known. Maybe that's what Marie was getting at.
>
It is also true that there are some questions which are fundamentially
unanswerable, though logically they should have an answer. Here are some
examples, if anyone can think of more I'd be interested. If anyone can give me a
rational, justifiable answer to any, I'd be even more interested!:
1. What is at the edge of the universe?
2. Do the last 4 words of the perceeding question have meaning?
3. What is the digit (or 2 digits if there are an even number) in the exact
middle of the base 10 number 2^10^100 (this number has more digits by far than
twice the number of atoms in the universe; by using the middle digit neither
iterrated rounding nor the cycle of last digits 1-2-4-6-1 can be used)
4. How many atoms are in the sun (exactly, at a given time and date)?
5. Is your answer to question #5 false? (true or false)
6. What was the last thought of any deceased person you care to name?
7. Any question relating to the afterlife, if any.
8. Objectively, was Shakespeare a better writer than Isaac Asimov?
9. Is Tangent 90 Degrees equal to 1/0?
I am sure there are many more such questions, there may even be an infinite
number.
-Nathan Russell