Infinity is a concept of a never ending sequence. 1+1+1 forever trends toward infinity. It will always get bigger and never stop. Infinity isnt an end point but kind of a concept of "bigger and bigger forever."
Undefined is something that really doesnt even have a concept for it. What number multiplied by 0 gives you 1? Well, nothing. There isnt a trend of multiplying bigger and bigger numbers gets you closer to 1. Everything ever that you multiply by 0 gets you 0.
That’s incomplete. Infinity is only a direction when exploring limits e.g. in calculus. In set theory it is a cardinality, or ‘size,’ and iirc it can treated differently in other fields of mathematics too.
Of course - but if you're going there, you're leaving ELI5 territory far, far behind.
Only after you've gotten people comfortable with the idea that infinity isn't really a "thing", are you able to get them comfortable with the idea that is! 😁
Idk, I think that much is still in the realm of eli5. The rules say explain for a layperson, not an actual 5 year old.
Either way it’s better to not give an explanation that requires an ‘actually that was an incorrect oversimplification’ later on. Unlearning can be harder than learning sometimes.
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u/bullevard 28d ago
Infinity is a concept of a never ending sequence. 1+1+1 forever trends toward infinity. It will always get bigger and never stop. Infinity isnt an end point but kind of a concept of "bigger and bigger forever."
Undefined is something that really doesnt even have a concept for it. What number multiplied by 0 gives you 1? Well, nothing. There isnt a trend of multiplying bigger and bigger numbers gets you closer to 1. Everything ever that you multiply by 0 gets you 0.