Jarhyn
Wizard
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2010
- Messages
- 14,691
- Gender
- Androgyne; they/them
- Basic Beliefs
- Natural Philosophy, Game Theoretic Ethicist
So, a recent bit of discussion here lit a spark in my mind to investigate and ponder on the nature of calculability. Of course, I have read next to nothing on the topic, just scratched perhaps at a wiki article? I'm not even sure I went that far.
I'm a lazy sod, after all.
But on that subject, it stuck me that for something to be a number, to be real perhaps not in the "math" jargon but actually *real*,, it must be able to be expressed in some way. It's declaration must be possible by some means even if not through "calculation".
So, off the top of my head, I can only come up with one type of way a number may be actually real, and not be calculated; it must be measured. But measured numbers have a limit to their meaningfulness, insofar as quantum numbers go: there is a maximum specific meaningful precision to the speed of light. And even of G.
So, is there a set that can be described, but not calculated, that is not merely "measured" and thus finite in complexity given a finite reference frame?
I'm a lazy sod, after all.
But on that subject, it stuck me that for something to be a number, to be real perhaps not in the "math" jargon but actually *real*,, it must be able to be expressed in some way. It's declaration must be possible by some means even if not through "calculation".
So, off the top of my head, I can only come up with one type of way a number may be actually real, and not be calculated; it must be measured. But measured numbers have a limit to their meaningfulness, insofar as quantum numbers go: there is a maximum specific meaningful precision to the speed of light. And even of G.
So, is there a set that can be described, but not calculated, that is not merely "measured" and thus finite in complexity given a finite reference frame?