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I’ve officially counted to infinity! [closed]
Mysterious Murder Mystery 3Man’s Best FriendThe Infinite CreekLet's help Sherlock, shall we?The Djinni, the Marid and the Oracle (working title) :PHow was the math test?A death at a restaurantEveryone knows bullets are magnetically pulled to anyone who's about to retireThe shrink and his patient (Part 1)A locked room puzzle
$begingroup$
Sarah called me today and explained that she had counted to infinity. I shrugged and said it was impossible. She said that since I didn’t believe her, she would do it again, and this time in only ten minutes. I thought it was impossible but she did it right before my eyes!
How did Sarah count to infinity in only ten minutes?
Hints
Sarah started slow, but as time went on she got incredibly fast!
Clarifications
Sarah indeed counted all the way to infinity. She provided mathematical proof that she could count any infinite set, to include $א_0$, in any finite time span.
mathematics knowledge story situation
asked Apr 29 at 23:25
PerpetualJPerpetualJ
4,320649
$endgroup$
closed as off-topic by Rand al'Thor, w l, athin, Glorfindel, noedne Apr 30 at 14:58
This question appears to be off-topic. The users who voted to close gave this specific reason:
- "This question may invite speculative answers, as the question is not fully defined. The validity of some answers may be based upon opinion. Good questions for this site have a limited number of objectively correct answers. See also: Why are questions off-topic if they invite answers which are not demonstrably correct, or are otherwise speculative?" – Rand al'Thor, w l, athin, Glorfindel, noedne
|
show 14 more comments
$begingroup$
Sarah called me today and explained that she had counted to infinity. I shrugged and said it was impossible. She said that since I didn’t believe her, she would do it again, and this time in only ten minutes. I thought it was impossible but she did it right before my eyes!
How did Sarah count to infinity in only ten minutes?
Hints
Sarah started slow, but as time went on she got incredibly fast!
Clarifications
Sarah indeed counted all the way to infinity. She provided mathematical proof that she could count any infinite set, to include $א_0$, in any finite time span.
mathematics knowledge story situation
asked Apr 29 at 23:25
PerpetualJPerpetualJ
4,320649
$endgroup$
closed as off-topic by Rand al'Thor, w l, athin, Glorfindel, noedne Apr 30 at 14:58
This question appears to be off-topic. The users who voted to close gave this specific reason:
- "This question may invite speculative answers, as the question is not fully defined. The validity of some answers may be based upon opinion. Good questions for this site have a limited number of objectively correct answers. See also: Why are questions off-topic if they invite answers which are not demonstrably correct, or are otherwise speculative?" – Rand al'Thor, w l, athin, Glorfindel, noedne
1
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@MrPie All the way to infinity!
$endgroup$
– PerpetualJ
Apr 29 at 23:40
9
$begingroup$
This question feels a bit too broad. Are you sure there's one demonstrably correct answer to this one?
$endgroup$
– PiIsNot3
Apr 30 at 0:29
4
$begingroup$
An appropriate question for your username, @PerpetualJ.
$endgroup$
– Gareth McCaughan♦
Apr 30 at 0:59
13
$begingroup$
My concern is that there may be more than one valid answer, and without specifying further restrictions, the “correct” one becomes an arbitrary choice. There’s already many good answers that could potentially be correct, which feeds into my concern
$endgroup$
– PiIsNot3
Apr 30 at 4:06
5
$begingroup$
@PerpetualJ Several different answers already do so. As it stands, this seems to be too broad.
$endgroup$
– Deusovi♦
Apr 30 at 10:49
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show 14 more comments
$begingroup$
Sarah called me today and explained that she had counted to infinity. I shrugged and said it was impossible. She said that since I didn’t believe her, she would do it again, and this time in only ten minutes. I thought it was impossible but she did it right before my eyes!
How did Sarah count to infinity in only ten minutes?
Hints
Sarah started slow, but as time went on she got incredibly fast!
Clarifications
Sarah indeed counted all the way to infinity. She provided mathematical proof that she could count any infinite set, to include $א_0$, in any finite time span.
mathematics knowledge story situation
asked Apr 29 at 23:25
PerpetualJPerpetualJ
4,320649
$endgroup$
Sarah called me today and explained that she had counted to infinity. I shrugged and said it was impossible. She said that since I didn’t believe her, she would do it again, and this time in only ten minutes. I thought it was impossible but she did it right before my eyes!
How did Sarah count to infinity in only ten minutes?
Hints
Sarah started slow, but as time went on she got incredibly fast!
Clarifications
Sarah indeed counted all the way to infinity. She provided mathematical proof that she could count any infinite set, to include $א_0$, in any finite time span.
mathematics knowledge story situation
mathematics knowledge story situation
asked Apr 29 at 23:25
PerpetualJPerpetualJ
4,320649
asked Apr 29 at 23:25
PerpetualJPerpetualJ
4,320649
edited Apr 30 at 19:37
PerpetualJ
asked Apr 29 at 23:25
PerpetualJPerpetualJ
4,320649
asked Apr 29 at 23:25
PerpetualJPerpetualJ
4,320649
asked Apr 29 at 23:25
PerpetualJPerpetualJ
4,320649
4,320649
closed as off-topic by Rand al'Thor, w l, athin, Glorfindel, noedne Apr 30 at 14:58
This question appears to be off-topic. The users who voted to close gave this specific reason:
- "This question may invite speculative answers, as the question is not fully defined. The validity of some answers may be based upon opinion. Good questions for this site have a limited number of objectively correct answers. See also: Why are questions off-topic if they invite answers which are not demonstrably correct, or are otherwise speculative?" – Rand al'Thor, w l, athin, Glorfindel, noedne
closed as off-topic by Rand al'Thor, w l, athin, Glorfindel, noedne Apr 30 at 14:58
This question appears to be off-topic. The users who voted to close gave this specific reason:
- "This question may invite speculative answers, as the question is not fully defined. The validity of some answers may be based upon opinion. Good questions for this site have a limited number of objectively correct answers. See also: Why are questions off-topic if they invite answers which are not demonstrably correct, or are otherwise speculative?" – Rand al'Thor, w l, athin, Glorfindel, noedne
1
$begingroup$
@MrPie All the way to infinity!
$endgroup$
– PerpetualJ
Apr 29 at 23:40
9
$begingroup$
This question feels a bit too broad. Are you sure there's one demonstrably correct answer to this one?
$endgroup$
– PiIsNot3
Apr 30 at 0:29
4
$begingroup$
An appropriate question for your username, @PerpetualJ.
$endgroup$
– Gareth McCaughan♦
Apr 30 at 0:59
13
$begingroup$
My concern is that there may be more than one valid answer, and without specifying further restrictions, the “correct” one becomes an arbitrary choice. There’s already many good answers that could potentially be correct, which feeds into my concern
$endgroup$
– PiIsNot3
Apr 30 at 4:06
5
$begingroup$
@PerpetualJ Several different answers already do so. As it stands, this seems to be too broad.
$endgroup$
– Deusovi♦
Apr 30 at 10:49
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show 14 more comments
1
$begingroup$
@MrPie All the way to infinity!
$endgroup$
– PerpetualJ
Apr 29 at 23:40
9
$begingroup$
This question feels a bit too broad. Are you sure there's one demonstrably correct answer to this one?
$endgroup$
– PiIsNot3
Apr 30 at 0:29
4
$begingroup$
An appropriate question for your username, @PerpetualJ.
$endgroup$
– Gareth McCaughan♦
Apr 30 at 0:59
13
$begingroup$
My concern is that there may be more than one valid answer, and without specifying further restrictions, the “correct” one becomes an arbitrary choice. There’s already many good answers that could potentially be correct, which feeds into my concern
$endgroup$
– PiIsNot3
Apr 30 at 4:06
5
$begingroup$
@PerpetualJ Several different answers already do so. As it stands, this seems to be too broad.
$endgroup$
– Deusovi♦
Apr 30 at 10:49
1
1
$begingroup$
@MrPie All the way to infinity!
$endgroup$
– PerpetualJ
Apr 29 at 23:40
$begingroup$
@MrPie All the way to infinity!
$endgroup$
– PerpetualJ
Apr 29 at 23:40
9
9
$begingroup$
This question feels a bit too broad. Are you sure there's one demonstrably correct answer to this one?
$endgroup$
– PiIsNot3
Apr 30 at 0:29
$begingroup$
This question feels a bit too broad. Are you sure there's one demonstrably correct answer to this one?
$endgroup$
– PiIsNot3
Apr 30 at 0:29
4
4
$begingroup$
An appropriate question for your username, @PerpetualJ.
$endgroup$
– Gareth McCaughan♦
Apr 30 at 0:59
$begingroup$
An appropriate question for your username, @PerpetualJ.
$endgroup$
– Gareth McCaughan♦
Apr 30 at 0:59
13
13
$begingroup$
My concern is that there may be more than one valid answer, and without specifying further restrictions, the “correct” one becomes an arbitrary choice. There’s already many good answers that could potentially be correct, which feeds into my concern
$endgroup$
– PiIsNot3
Apr 30 at 4:06
$begingroup$
My concern is that there may be more than one valid answer, and without specifying further restrictions, the “correct” one becomes an arbitrary choice. There’s already many good answers that could potentially be correct, which feeds into my concern
$endgroup$
– PiIsNot3
Apr 30 at 4:06
5
5
$begingroup$
@PerpetualJ Several different answers already do so. As it stands, this seems to be too broad.
$endgroup$
– Deusovi♦
Apr 30 at 10:49
$begingroup$
@PerpetualJ Several different answers already do so. As it stands, this seems to be too broad.
$endgroup$
– Deusovi♦
Apr 30 at 10:49
|
show 14 more comments
17 Answers
17
active
oldest
votes
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This feels underspecified:
clearly Sarah is not counting 1, 2, 3, ... (infinitely many numbers go here), infinity; so she's doing something else; but there are quite a lot of something-elses that she could do, and all of them are kinda cheaty, and the question here is what specific kinda-cheaty thing she did.
Here are a few possibilities. One:
She wrote numbers down on their sides, starting at 1 and proceeding as far as 8. An 8 on its side looks very much like the usual mathematical symbol for infinity.
Two:
She started from, let's say, "infinity minus 100" and counted up. (There are in fact number systems in which something a bit like "infinity minus 100" is an actual number.)
Three:
She counted down from, let's say, "infinity plus 100". (You can do something like that in the surreal numbers, mentioned above, but also in other simpler systems such as the ordinal numbers.)
Four:
She started counting normally, and at some point went "... and so on; infinity." I personally wouldn't (ahahaha) count that as counting to infinity, but then I don't think I'd count anything as counting to infinity other than the thing she obviously didn't do.
Five:
Sarah is able to count arbitrarily fast (maybe she's an archangel or something, not a human) and she said each number twice as quickly as its predecessor; after twice the time it took her to say "one", she had named all the positive integers and then said "infinity".
Apparently that last one is what the OP had in mind. Here are some more details.
Suppose it takes her two seconds to say "one", and then each new number is said 0.5% faster than the previous one -- so the next number takes 1.99 seconds, the next just over 1.98 seconds, etc. Then counting all the positive integers takes $2left(1+frac199200+left(frac199200right)^2+left(frac199200right)^3+cdotsright)$ seconds, which equals $frac21-frac199200$ or 400 seconds. This gives Sarah plenty of time to take a big breath and add "infinity", all within ten minutes.
answered Apr 29 at 23:51
Gareth McCaughan♦Gareth McCaughan
70.4k3179275
$endgroup$
5
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I think you're missing an option: she counted to five -- she counted "All" "the" "way" "to" "infinity" as five words, which is a valid interpretation of what she said
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– postmortes
Apr 30 at 6:31
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@postmortes must be a very slow counter then if it takes her ten minutes ;)
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– Mark
Apr 30 at 9:23
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@Mark I agree :)
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– postmortes
Apr 30 at 9:23
1
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Gareth, your last one is the closest explanation! We all know there is no final number, but you can count an infinite set in a finite time span for sure!
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– PerpetualJ
Apr 30 at 10:37
1
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OK, done. I decided to make her speed up more slowly. 10 minutes is plenty of time :-).
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– Gareth McCaughan♦
Apr 30 at 11:36
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show 3 more comments
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I find it hard to believe she managed this in only 10 minutes, but all she needs to do is count to 1,461,559,270,678...
she just needs to do it in base 36, in which case the digits of the number are
INFINITY.
answered Apr 30 at 3:06
jasonharperjasonharper
670613
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6
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She could count 200+ billion digits less if she used base 35
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– b a
Apr 30 at 7:33
4
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Arguably this is the only answer yet that actually describes a finite process that could in any way be described correctly as "counting to infinity". (Arguably.)
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– Gareth McCaughan♦
Apr 30 at 10:02
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maybe she rot13(pbhagrq ol 7OW2OG (442628489 onfr gra) yrnivat bayl 3302 vgrengvbaf, rnfvyl qbar va 10 zvahgrf!). on a side note, who knew rot13(gur cevzr snpgbef bs VASVAVGL jrer (onfr 10) 2, 13, 127, 149, 18923, naq 2970661?)
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– SteveV
Apr 30 at 17:08
add a comment |
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There goes one Infiniti G35! And there goes another!
There. I've counted two Infiniti. ;)
answered Apr 30 at 1:39
ikegamiikegami
30126
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7
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Hahaha this was awesome lol
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– PerpetualJ
Apr 30 at 2:19
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Ah, the punch buggy no punch back answer :)
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– Captain Man
Apr 30 at 14:56
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Perhaps
clever Sarah went the appropriate "I" page in the dictionary and counted word entries until she reached "infinity"
answered Apr 30 at 0:17
SteveVSteveV
7,0832635
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8
$begingroup$
If so, she didn't count to infinity, she (at best) counted to "infinity". (Personally I don't think even that is a correct description of what she did.) But I don't expect whatever answer OP has in mind to be much more convincing than this.
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– Gareth McCaughan♦
Apr 30 at 1:00
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I don't see how this fits with the "Sarah started slow, but as time went on she got incredibly fast!" hint.
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– Simon Baars
Apr 30 at 11:12
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It was posted before that hint was added. (As were almost all the answers, including one of mine that already does the slow-then-faster thing. I suppose the hint was added more to make the question less too-broad than because it was needed as a hint :-).)
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– Gareth McCaughan♦
Apr 30 at 11:37
1
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But that's only to "infinity" - far too low. If you instead listed Disney catch-phrases, then you could count "To Infinity, and Beyond"
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– Chronocidal
Apr 30 at 14:09
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Did Sarah count
All of the avengers movies up to and including infinity war?
answered Apr 30 at 4:31
DunhamDunham
2714
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add a comment |
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She counted "to infinity", 10 letters, 1 space.
answered Apr 30 at 5:26
TatranskymedvedTatranskymedved
2464
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1
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Ah, that explains the timing as well, unlike some of the other answers! (+1) Good first post! :P
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– Mr Pie
Apr 30 at 5:34
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That explains ten minutes?
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– Peregrine Rook
Apr 30 at 22:26
add a comment |
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How about counting:
$frac11000, frac1999, frac1998, cdots, frac12, frac11, frac10$
answered Apr 30 at 4:40
athinathin
9,40723284
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2
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Your final term is not defined... but.... meh ;)
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– Mr Pie
Apr 30 at 4:48
add a comment |
$begingroup$
I can do it in 15 minutes. Duh.
answered Apr 30 at 8:45
GOTO 0GOTO 0
9,95054089
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Do you actually mean 40 minutes?
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– Arnaud Mortier
Apr 30 at 9:28
3
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@ArnaudMortier 15 minutes because he rotated it 90 degrees (desperately trying not to spoil)
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– Steve-O
Apr 30 at 13:09
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@Steve-O Thanks, I see it now.
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– Arnaud Mortier
Apr 30 at 13:10
add a comment |
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Possible mathematical answer
I think this is linked to
Zeno's paradoxes
Possible approach
Sarah defines for you a new number system. The number $1$ is represent by saying the letter "a" for a duration of $10$ seconds, the number $2$ is represented by saying the letter "a" for $5$ seconds, the number $3$ is represented by saying the letter "a" for a duration of $2.5$ seconds and, in general, the number $n$ is represented by saying the letter "a" for a duration of $frac102^n-1$ seconds.
She then says "a" for a duration of $20$ seconds to count to infinity.
answered Apr 30 at 10:22
hexominohexomino
49k4146231
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There’s a name for this phenomenon!
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– PerpetualJ
Apr 30 at 10:54
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@PerpetualJ I've added an extra line. Is this the phenomenon you're talking about?
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– hexomino
Apr 30 at 10:57
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Surely that is counting to 0, not to ∞? (sincen = 1+ln(10/t)/ln(2))
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– Chronocidal
Apr 30 at 13:30
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The 20 seconds, is counting 1,2,3,4,5,... consecutively. I understand there is ambiguity here (1 is the same as 2 2s etc) but I decided it was not important to address in the context of the problem.
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– hexomino
Apr 30 at 13:41
add a comment |
$begingroup$
The definition of infinity in some circles is
the highest conceivable number.
Therefore, all Sarah needs to do is count to
the highest number she knows of, be that a hundred, a thousand, whatever. Because she cannot think of any number higher than that, that is her "infinity".
answered Apr 30 at 0:00
BewildererBewilderer
3245
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1
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Finitism much (it seems that Sarah is accepting the highest number she can count to as infinity)?
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– MilkyWay90
Apr 30 at 1:17
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Sarah is also known as
Chuck Norris
Indeed:
"Chuck Norris counted to infinity. Twice."
And since
"Chuck Norris has his own Gender.", Sarah is a suitable second name for them.
answered Apr 30 at 12:07
user60001user60001
411
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add a comment |
$begingroup$
Sarah isn't great at counting but she is great at improving anything she does while she is doing it.
Therefore, every time she counts a number she can count it faster than the previous one. The improvement it's not that spectacular, and to count one number still takes her 99.8% of the time it took to count the previous one.
This way, if counting to 1 took Sarah 1 second, the time it will take Sarah to count to n is: $1+1cdot 0.998 + 1cdot 0.998^2 + .... + 1cdot 0.998^n$
Since that's just a geometric series, it's sum to infinite is $frac11-0.998=500$ seconds.
That is, just thanks to keeping improving continuously, Sarah can count to infinite in 8 minutes and 20 seconds.
answered Apr 30 at 10:41
PerePere
27316
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1
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I like this one! I actually didn’t expect another answer to come in with good mathematical arguments! +1
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– PerpetualJ
Apr 30 at 10:45
add a comment |
$begingroup$
The answer is:
She starts counting and for each number she takes half the time to count to the next number, through this method you can count to infinity in a finite time.
edited Apr 30 at 11:35
Tahel
75012
answered Apr 30 at 10:55
JamesttukJamesttuk
211
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add a comment |
$begingroup$
Could this be the right approach (even if it is not the correct answer)?
Time is finite, yes, but continuous, so it contains an infinite number of individual positions. If we apply, for example, the function f: x -> 1/(10-x) to the interval of minutes [0,10] belonging to the Real Numbers, just before the 10 minutes we will have reached infinity.
answered Apr 30 at 11:43
HermesHermes
5459
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add a comment |
$begingroup$
Did Sarah perhaps say once:
$limlimits_xtoinfty x = infty$
edited Apr 30 at 8:19
trolley813
1,535412
answered Apr 30 at 7:51
HamstirlyHamstirly
111
$endgroup$
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Sarah would have to say this very slowly to reach ten minutes, which would be impractical if @PerpetualJ was paying for every minute during the phone call!
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– Mr Pie
Apr 30 at 8:23
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Despite the puzzle being already solved, I have another take on this.
All she needs to do is
use a diverging function.
For instance, she could say
-log(3), -log(2), -log(1), -log(0)
Which is in agreement with the hint that she goes incredibly fast in the end.
answered Apr 30 at 13:00
legrojanlegrojan
1814
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
My answer is:
As Sarah got really fast, time stopped...according to Einstein's relativity..hence she did it....I know this sounds absurd but ...meh!
edited Apr 30 at 13:41
Glorfindel
15k45788
answered Apr 30 at 12:31
user669545user669545
1
$endgroup$
add a comment |
17 Answers
17
active
oldest
votes
17 Answers
17
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
$begingroup$
This feels underspecified:
clearly Sarah is not counting 1, 2, 3, ... (infinitely many numbers go here), infinity; so she's doing something else; but there are quite a lot of something-elses that she could do, and all of them are kinda cheaty, and the question here is what specific kinda-cheaty thing she did.
Here are a few possibilities. One:
She wrote numbers down on their sides, starting at 1 and proceeding as far as 8. An 8 on its side looks very much like the usual mathematical symbol for infinity.
Two:
She started from, let's say, "infinity minus 100" and counted up. (There are in fact number systems in which something a bit like "infinity minus 100" is an actual number.)
Three:
She counted down from, let's say, "infinity plus 100". (You can do something like that in the surreal numbers, mentioned above, but also in other simpler systems such as the ordinal numbers.)
Four:
She started counting normally, and at some point went "... and so on; infinity." I personally wouldn't (ahahaha) count that as counting to infinity, but then I don't think I'd count anything as counting to infinity other than the thing she obviously didn't do.
Five:
Sarah is able to count arbitrarily fast (maybe she's an archangel or something, not a human) and she said each number twice as quickly as its predecessor; after twice the time it took her to say "one", she had named all the positive integers and then said "infinity".
Apparently that last one is what the OP had in mind. Here are some more details.
Suppose it takes her two seconds to say "one", and then each new number is said 0.5% faster than the previous one -- so the next number takes 1.99 seconds, the next just over 1.98 seconds, etc. Then counting all the positive integers takes $2left(1+frac199200+left(frac199200right)^2+left(frac199200right)^3+cdotsright)$ seconds, which equals $frac21-frac199200$ or 400 seconds. This gives Sarah plenty of time to take a big breath and add "infinity", all within ten minutes.
answered Apr 29 at 23:51
Gareth McCaughan♦Gareth McCaughan
70.4k3179275
$endgroup$
5
$begingroup$
I think you're missing an option: she counted to five -- she counted "All" "the" "way" "to" "infinity" as five words, which is a valid interpretation of what she said
$endgroup$
– postmortes
Apr 30 at 6:31
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@postmortes must be a very slow counter then if it takes her ten minutes ;)
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– Mark
Apr 30 at 9:23
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@Mark I agree :)
$endgroup$
– postmortes
Apr 30 at 9:23
1
$begingroup$
Gareth, your last one is the closest explanation! We all know there is no final number, but you can count an infinite set in a finite time span for sure!
$endgroup$
– PerpetualJ
Apr 30 at 10:37
1
$begingroup$
OK, done. I decided to make her speed up more slowly. 10 minutes is plenty of time :-).
$endgroup$
– Gareth McCaughan♦
Apr 30 at 11:36
|
show 3 more comments
$begingroup$
This feels underspecified:
clearly Sarah is not counting 1, 2, 3, ... (infinitely many numbers go here), infinity; so she's doing something else; but there are quite a lot of something-elses that she could do, and all of them are kinda cheaty, and the question here is what specific kinda-cheaty thing she did.
Here are a few possibilities. One:
She wrote numbers down on their sides, starting at 1 and proceeding as far as 8. An 8 on its side looks very much like the usual mathematical symbol for infinity.
Two:
She started from, let's say, "infinity minus 100" and counted up. (There are in fact number systems in which something a bit like "infinity minus 100" is an actual number.)
Three:
She counted down from, let's say, "infinity plus 100". (You can do something like that in the surreal numbers, mentioned above, but also in other simpler systems such as the ordinal numbers.)
Four:
She started counting normally, and at some point went "... and so on; infinity." I personally wouldn't (ahahaha) count that as counting to infinity, but then I don't think I'd count anything as counting to infinity other than the thing she obviously didn't do.
Five:
Sarah is able to count arbitrarily fast (maybe she's an archangel or something, not a human) and she said each number twice as quickly as its predecessor; after twice the time it took her to say "one", she had named all the positive integers and then said "infinity".
Apparently that last one is what the OP had in mind. Here are some more details.
Suppose it takes her two seconds to say "one", and then each new number is said 0.5% faster than the previous one -- so the next number takes 1.99 seconds, the next just over 1.98 seconds, etc. Then counting all the positive integers takes $2left(1+frac199200+left(frac199200right)^2+left(frac199200right)^3+cdotsright)$ seconds, which equals $frac21-frac199200$ or 400 seconds. This gives Sarah plenty of time to take a big breath and add "infinity", all within ten minutes.
answered Apr 29 at 23:51
Gareth McCaughan♦Gareth McCaughan
70.4k3179275
$endgroup$
5
$begingroup$
I think you're missing an option: she counted to five -- she counted "All" "the" "way" "to" "infinity" as five words, which is a valid interpretation of what she said
$endgroup$
– postmortes
Apr 30 at 6:31
$begingroup$
@postmortes must be a very slow counter then if it takes her ten minutes ;)
$endgroup$
– Mark
Apr 30 at 9:23
$begingroup$
@Mark I agree :)
$endgroup$
– postmortes
Apr 30 at 9:23
1
$begingroup$
Gareth, your last one is the closest explanation! We all know there is no final number, but you can count an infinite set in a finite time span for sure!
$endgroup$
– PerpetualJ
Apr 30 at 10:37
1
$begingroup$
OK, done. I decided to make her speed up more slowly. 10 minutes is plenty of time :-).
$endgroup$
– Gareth McCaughan♦
Apr 30 at 11:36
|
show 3 more comments
$begingroup$
This feels underspecified:
clearly Sarah is not counting 1, 2, 3, ... (infinitely many numbers go here), infinity; so she's doing something else; but there are quite a lot of something-elses that she could do, and all of them are kinda cheaty, and the question here is what specific kinda-cheaty thing she did.
Here are a few possibilities. One:
She wrote numbers down on their sides, starting at 1 and proceeding as far as 8. An 8 on its side looks very much like the usual mathematical symbol for infinity.
Two:
She started from, let's say, "infinity minus 100" and counted up. (There are in fact number systems in which something a bit like "infinity minus 100" is an actual number.)
Three:
She counted down from, let's say, "infinity plus 100". (You can do something like that in the surreal numbers, mentioned above, but also in other simpler systems such as the ordinal numbers.)
Four:
She started counting normally, and at some point went "... and so on; infinity." I personally wouldn't (ahahaha) count that as counting to infinity, but then I don't think I'd count anything as counting to infinity other than the thing she obviously didn't do.
Five:
Sarah is able to count arbitrarily fast (maybe she's an archangel or something, not a human) and she said each number twice as quickly as its predecessor; after twice the time it took her to say "one", she had named all the positive integers and then said "infinity".
Apparently that last one is what the OP had in mind. Here are some more details.
Suppose it takes her two seconds to say "one", and then each new number is said 0.5% faster than the previous one -- so the next number takes 1.99 seconds, the next just over 1.98 seconds, etc. Then counting all the positive integers takes $2left(1+frac199200+left(frac199200right)^2+left(frac199200right)^3+cdotsright)$ seconds, which equals $frac21-frac199200$ or 400 seconds. This gives Sarah plenty of time to take a big breath and add "infinity", all within ten minutes.
answered Apr 29 at 23:51
Gareth McCaughan♦Gareth McCaughan
70.4k3179275
$endgroup$
This feels underspecified:
clearly Sarah is not counting 1, 2, 3, ... (infinitely many numbers go here), infinity; so she's doing something else; but there are quite a lot of something-elses that she could do, and all of them are kinda cheaty, and the question here is what specific kinda-cheaty thing she did.
Here are a few possibilities. One:
She wrote numbers down on their sides, starting at 1 and proceeding as far as 8. An 8 on its side looks very much like the usual mathematical symbol for infinity.
Two:
She started from, let's say, "infinity minus 100" and counted up. (There are in fact number systems in which something a bit like "infinity minus 100" is an actual number.)
Three:
She counted down from, let's say, "infinity plus 100". (You can do something like that in the surreal numbers, mentioned above, but also in other simpler systems such as the ordinal numbers.)
Four:
She started counting normally, and at some point went "... and so on; infinity." I personally wouldn't (ahahaha) count that as counting to infinity, but then I don't think I'd count anything as counting to infinity other than the thing she obviously didn't do.
Five:
Sarah is able to count arbitrarily fast (maybe she's an archangel or something, not a human) and she said each number twice as quickly as its predecessor; after twice the time it took her to say "one", she had named all the positive integers and then said "infinity".
Apparently that last one is what the OP had in mind. Here are some more details.
Suppose it takes her two seconds to say "one", and then each new number is said 0.5% faster than the previous one -- so the next number takes 1.99 seconds, the next just over 1.98 seconds, etc. Then counting all the positive integers takes $2left(1+frac199200+left(frac199200right)^2+left(frac199200right)^3+cdotsright)$ seconds, which equals $frac21-frac199200$ or 400 seconds. This gives Sarah plenty of time to take a big breath and add "infinity", all within ten minutes.
answered Apr 29 at 23:51
Gareth McCaughan♦Gareth McCaughan
70.4k3179275
edited Apr 30 at 11:35
answered Apr 29 at 23:51
Gareth McCaughan♦Gareth McCaughan
70.4k3179275
answered Apr 29 at 23:51
Gareth McCaughan♦Gareth McCaughan
70.4k3179275
answered Apr 29 at 23:51
Gareth McCaughan♦Gareth McCaughan
70.4k3179275
70.4k3179275
5
$begingroup$
I think you're missing an option: she counted to five -- she counted "All" "the" "way" "to" "infinity" as five words, which is a valid interpretation of what she said
$endgroup$
– postmortes
Apr 30 at 6:31
$begingroup$
@postmortes must be a very slow counter then if it takes her ten minutes ;)
$endgroup$
– Mark
Apr 30 at 9:23
$begingroup$
@Mark I agree :)
$endgroup$
– postmortes
Apr 30 at 9:23
1
$begingroup$
Gareth, your last one is the closest explanation! We all know there is no final number, but you can count an infinite set in a finite time span for sure!
$endgroup$
– PerpetualJ
Apr 30 at 10:37
1
$begingroup$
OK, done. I decided to make her speed up more slowly. 10 minutes is plenty of time :-).
$endgroup$
– Gareth McCaughan♦
Apr 30 at 11:36
|
show 3 more comments
5
$begingroup$
I think you're missing an option: she counted to five -- she counted "All" "the" "way" "to" "infinity" as five words, which is a valid interpretation of what she said
$endgroup$
– postmortes
Apr 30 at 6:31
$begingroup$
@postmortes must be a very slow counter then if it takes her ten minutes ;)
$endgroup$
– Mark
Apr 30 at 9:23
$begingroup$
@Mark I agree :)
$endgroup$
– postmortes
Apr 30 at 9:23
1
$begingroup$
Gareth, your last one is the closest explanation! We all know there is no final number, but you can count an infinite set in a finite time span for sure!
$endgroup$
– PerpetualJ
Apr 30 at 10:37
1
$begingroup$
OK, done. I decided to make her speed up more slowly. 10 minutes is plenty of time :-).
$endgroup$
– Gareth McCaughan♦
Apr 30 at 11:36
5
5
$begingroup$
I think you're missing an option: she counted to five -- she counted "All" "the" "way" "to" "infinity" as five words, which is a valid interpretation of what she said
$endgroup$
– postmortes
Apr 30 at 6:31
$begingroup$
I think you're missing an option: she counted to five -- she counted "All" "the" "way" "to" "infinity" as five words, which is a valid interpretation of what she said
$endgroup$
– postmortes
Apr 30 at 6:31
$begingroup$
@postmortes must be a very slow counter then if it takes her ten minutes ;)
$endgroup$
– Mark
Apr 30 at 9:23
$begingroup$
@postmortes must be a very slow counter then if it takes her ten minutes ;)
$endgroup$
– Mark
Apr 30 at 9:23
$begingroup$
@Mark I agree :)
$endgroup$
– postmortes
Apr 30 at 9:23
$begingroup$
@Mark I agree :)
$endgroup$
– postmortes
Apr 30 at 9:23
1
1
$begingroup$
Gareth, your last one is the closest explanation! We all know there is no final number, but you can count an infinite set in a finite time span for sure!
$endgroup$
– PerpetualJ
Apr 30 at 10:37
$begingroup$
Gareth, your last one is the closest explanation! We all know there is no final number, but you can count an infinite set in a finite time span for sure!
$endgroup$
– PerpetualJ
Apr 30 at 10:37
1
1
$begingroup$
OK, done. I decided to make her speed up more slowly. 10 minutes is plenty of time :-).
$endgroup$
– Gareth McCaughan♦
Apr 30 at 11:36
$begingroup$
OK, done. I decided to make her speed up more slowly. 10 minutes is plenty of time :-).
$endgroup$
– Gareth McCaughan♦
Apr 30 at 11:36
|
show 3 more comments
$begingroup$
I find it hard to believe she managed this in only 10 minutes, but all she needs to do is count to 1,461,559,270,678...
she just needs to do it in base 36, in which case the digits of the number are
INFINITY.
answered Apr 30 at 3:06
jasonharperjasonharper
670613
$endgroup$
6
$begingroup$
She could count 200+ billion digits less if she used base 35
$endgroup$
– b a
Apr 30 at 7:33
4
$begingroup$
Arguably this is the only answer yet that actually describes a finite process that could in any way be described correctly as "counting to infinity". (Arguably.)
$endgroup$
– Gareth McCaughan♦
Apr 30 at 10:02
$begingroup$
maybe she rot13(pbhagrq ol 7OW2OG (442628489 onfr gra) yrnivat bayl 3302 vgrengvbaf, rnfvyl qbar va 10 zvahgrf!). on a side note, who knew rot13(gur cevzr snpgbef bs VASVAVGL jrer (onfr 10) 2, 13, 127, 149, 18923, naq 2970661?)
$endgroup$
– SteveV
Apr 30 at 17:08
add a comment |
$begingroup$
I find it hard to believe she managed this in only 10 minutes, but all she needs to do is count to 1,461,559,270,678...
she just needs to do it in base 36, in which case the digits of the number are
INFINITY.
answered Apr 30 at 3:06
jasonharperjasonharper
670613
$endgroup$
6
$begingroup$
She could count 200+ billion digits less if she used base 35
$endgroup$
– b a
Apr 30 at 7:33
4
$begingroup$
Arguably this is the only answer yet that actually describes a finite process that could in any way be described correctly as "counting to infinity". (Arguably.)
$endgroup$
– Gareth McCaughan♦
Apr 30 at 10:02
$begingroup$
maybe she rot13(pbhagrq ol 7OW2OG (442628489 onfr gra) yrnivat bayl 3302 vgrengvbaf, rnfvyl qbar va 10 zvahgrf!). on a side note, who knew rot13(gur cevzr snpgbef bs VASVAVGL jrer (onfr 10) 2, 13, 127, 149, 18923, naq 2970661?)
$endgroup$
– SteveV
Apr 30 at 17:08
add a comment |
$begingroup$
I find it hard to believe she managed this in only 10 minutes, but all she needs to do is count to 1,461,559,270,678...
she just needs to do it in base 36, in which case the digits of the number are
INFINITY.
answered Apr 30 at 3:06
jasonharperjasonharper
670613
$endgroup$
I find it hard to believe she managed this in only 10 minutes, but all she needs to do is count to 1,461,559,270,678...
she just needs to do it in base 36, in which case the digits of the number are
INFINITY.
answered Apr 30 at 3:06
jasonharperjasonharper
670613
answered Apr 30 at 3:06
jasonharperjasonharper
670613
answered Apr 30 at 3:06
jasonharperjasonharper
670613
answered Apr 30 at 3:06
jasonharperjasonharper
670613
670613
6
$begingroup$
She could count 200+ billion digits less if she used base 35
$endgroup$
– b a
Apr 30 at 7:33
4
$begingroup$
Arguably this is the only answer yet that actually describes a finite process that could in any way be described correctly as "counting to infinity". (Arguably.)
$endgroup$
– Gareth McCaughan♦
Apr 30 at 10:02
$begingroup$
maybe she rot13(pbhagrq ol 7OW2OG (442628489 onfr gra) yrnivat bayl 3302 vgrengvbaf, rnfvyl qbar va 10 zvahgrf!). on a side note, who knew rot13(gur cevzr snpgbef bs VASVAVGL jrer (onfr 10) 2, 13, 127, 149, 18923, naq 2970661?)
$endgroup$
– SteveV
Apr 30 at 17:08
add a comment |
6
$begingroup$
She could count 200+ billion digits less if she used base 35
$endgroup$
– b a
Apr 30 at 7:33
4
$begingroup$
Arguably this is the only answer yet that actually describes a finite process that could in any way be described correctly as "counting to infinity". (Arguably.)
$endgroup$
– Gareth McCaughan♦
Apr 30 at 10:02
$begingroup$
maybe she rot13(pbhagrq ol 7OW2OG (442628489 onfr gra) yrnivat bayl 3302 vgrengvbaf, rnfvyl qbar va 10 zvahgrf!). on a side note, who knew rot13(gur cevzr snpgbef bs VASVAVGL jrer (onfr 10) 2, 13, 127, 149, 18923, naq 2970661?)
$endgroup$
– SteveV
Apr 30 at 17:08
6
6
$begingroup$
She could count 200+ billion digits less if she used base 35
$endgroup$
– b a
Apr 30 at 7:33
$begingroup$
She could count 200+ billion digits less if she used base 35
$endgroup$
– b a
Apr 30 at 7:33
4
4
$begingroup$
Arguably this is the only answer yet that actually describes a finite process that could in any way be described correctly as "counting to infinity". (Arguably.)
$endgroup$
– Gareth McCaughan♦
Apr 30 at 10:02
$begingroup$
Arguably this is the only answer yet that actually describes a finite process that could in any way be described correctly as "counting to infinity". (Arguably.)
$endgroup$
– Gareth McCaughan♦
Apr 30 at 10:02
$begingroup$
maybe she rot13(pbhagrq ol 7OW2OG (442628489 onfr gra) yrnivat bayl 3302 vgrengvbaf, rnfvyl qbar va 10 zvahgrf!). on a side note, who knew rot13(gur cevzr snpgbef bs VASVAVGL jrer (onfr 10) 2, 13, 127, 149, 18923, naq 2970661?)
$endgroup$
– SteveV
Apr 30 at 17:08
$begingroup$
maybe she rot13(pbhagrq ol 7OW2OG (442628489 onfr gra) yrnivat bayl 3302 vgrengvbaf, rnfvyl qbar va 10 zvahgrf!). on a side note, who knew rot13(gur cevzr snpgbef bs VASVAVGL jrer (onfr 10) 2, 13, 127, 149, 18923, naq 2970661?)
$endgroup$
– SteveV
Apr 30 at 17:08
add a comment |
$begingroup$
There goes one Infiniti G35! And there goes another!
There. I've counted two Infiniti. ;)
answered Apr 30 at 1:39
ikegamiikegami
30126
$endgroup$
7
$begingroup$
Hahaha this was awesome lol
$endgroup$
– PerpetualJ
Apr 30 at 2:19
$begingroup$
Ah, the punch buggy no punch back answer :)
$endgroup$
– Captain Man
Apr 30 at 14:56
add a comment |
$begingroup$
There goes one Infiniti G35! And there goes another!
There. I've counted two Infiniti. ;)
answered Apr 30 at 1:39
ikegamiikegami
30126
$endgroup$
7
$begingroup$
Hahaha this was awesome lol
$endgroup$
– PerpetualJ
Apr 30 at 2:19
$begingroup$
Ah, the punch buggy no punch back answer :)
$endgroup$
– Captain Man
Apr 30 at 14:56
add a comment |
$begingroup$
There goes one Infiniti G35! And there goes another!
There. I've counted two Infiniti. ;)
answered Apr 30 at 1:39
ikegamiikegami
30126
$endgroup$
There goes one Infiniti G35! And there goes another!
There. I've counted two Infiniti. ;)
answered Apr 30 at 1:39
ikegamiikegami
30126
edited Apr 30 at 1:44
answered Apr 30 at 1:39
ikegamiikegami
30126
answered Apr 30 at 1:39
ikegamiikegami
30126
answered Apr 30 at 1:39
ikegamiikegami
30126
30126
7
$begingroup$
Hahaha this was awesome lol
$endgroup$
– PerpetualJ
Apr 30 at 2:19
$begingroup$
Ah, the punch buggy no punch back answer :)
$endgroup$
– Captain Man
Apr 30 at 14:56
add a comment |
7
$begingroup$
Hahaha this was awesome lol
$endgroup$
– PerpetualJ
Apr 30 at 2:19
$begingroup$
Ah, the punch buggy no punch back answer :)
$endgroup$
– Captain Man
Apr 30 at 14:56
7
7
$begingroup$
Hahaha this was awesome lol
$endgroup$
– PerpetualJ
Apr 30 at 2:19
$begingroup$
Hahaha this was awesome lol
$endgroup$
– PerpetualJ
Apr 30 at 2:19
$begingroup$
Ah, the punch buggy no punch back answer :)
$endgroup$
– Captain Man
Apr 30 at 14:56
$begingroup$
Ah, the punch buggy no punch back answer :)
$endgroup$
– Captain Man
Apr 30 at 14:56
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Perhaps
clever Sarah went the appropriate "I" page in the dictionary and counted word entries until she reached "infinity"
answered Apr 30 at 0:17
SteveVSteveV
7,0832635
$endgroup$
8
$begingroup$
If so, she didn't count to infinity, she (at best) counted to "infinity". (Personally I don't think even that is a correct description of what she did.) But I don't expect whatever answer OP has in mind to be much more convincing than this.
$endgroup$
– Gareth McCaughan♦
Apr 30 at 1:00
$begingroup$
I don't see how this fits with the "Sarah started slow, but as time went on she got incredibly fast!" hint.
$endgroup$
– Simon Baars
Apr 30 at 11:12
$begingroup$
It was posted before that hint was added. (As were almost all the answers, including one of mine that already does the slow-then-faster thing. I suppose the hint was added more to make the question less too-broad than because it was needed as a hint :-).)
$endgroup$
– Gareth McCaughan♦
Apr 30 at 11:37
1
$begingroup$
But that's only to "infinity" - far too low. If you instead listed Disney catch-phrases, then you could count "To Infinity, and Beyond"
$endgroup$
– Chronocidal
Apr 30 at 14:09
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Perhaps
clever Sarah went the appropriate "I" page in the dictionary and counted word entries until she reached "infinity"
answered Apr 30 at 0:17
SteveVSteveV
7,0832635
$endgroup$
8
$begingroup$
If so, she didn't count to infinity, she (at best) counted to "infinity". (Personally I don't think even that is a correct description of what she did.) But I don't expect whatever answer OP has in mind to be much more convincing than this.
$endgroup$
– Gareth McCaughan♦
Apr 30 at 1:00
$begingroup$
I don't see how this fits with the "Sarah started slow, but as time went on she got incredibly fast!" hint.
$endgroup$
– Simon Baars
Apr 30 at 11:12
$begingroup$
It was posted before that hint was added. (As were almost all the answers, including one of mine that already does the slow-then-faster thing. I suppose the hint was added more to make the question less too-broad than because it was needed as a hint :-).)
$endgroup$
– Gareth McCaughan♦
Apr 30 at 11:37
1
$begingroup$
But that's only to "infinity" - far too low. If you instead listed Disney catch-phrases, then you could count "To Infinity, and Beyond"
$endgroup$
– Chronocidal
Apr 30 at 14:09
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Perhaps
clever Sarah went the appropriate "I" page in the dictionary and counted word entries until she reached "infinity"
answered Apr 30 at 0:17
SteveVSteveV
7,0832635
$endgroup$
Perhaps
clever Sarah went the appropriate "I" page in the dictionary and counted word entries until she reached "infinity"
answered Apr 30 at 0:17
SteveVSteveV
7,0832635
answered Apr 30 at 0:17
SteveVSteveV
7,0832635
answered Apr 30 at 0:17
SteveVSteveV
7,0832635
answered Apr 30 at 0:17
SteveVSteveV
7,0832635
7,0832635
8
$begingroup$
If so, she didn't count to infinity, she (at best) counted to "infinity". (Personally I don't think even that is a correct description of what she did.) But I don't expect whatever answer OP has in mind to be much more convincing than this.
$endgroup$
– Gareth McCaughan♦
Apr 30 at 1:00
$begingroup$
I don't see how this fits with the "Sarah started slow, but as time went on she got incredibly fast!" hint.
$endgroup$
– Simon Baars
Apr 30 at 11:12
$begingroup$
It was posted before that hint was added. (As were almost all the answers, including one of mine that already does the slow-then-faster thing. I suppose the hint was added more to make the question less too-broad than because it was needed as a hint :-).)
$endgroup$
– Gareth McCaughan♦
Apr 30 at 11:37
1
$begingroup$
But that's only to "infinity" - far too low. If you instead listed Disney catch-phrases, then you could count "To Infinity, and Beyond"
$endgroup$
– Chronocidal
Apr 30 at 14:09
add a comment |
8
$begingroup$
If so, she didn't count to infinity, she (at best) counted to "infinity". (Personally I don't think even that is a correct description of what she did.) But I don't expect whatever answer OP has in mind to be much more convincing than this.
$endgroup$
– Gareth McCaughan♦
Apr 30 at 1:00
$begingroup$
I don't see how this fits with the "Sarah started slow, but as time went on she got incredibly fast!" hint.
$endgroup$
– Simon Baars
Apr 30 at 11:12
$begingroup$
It was posted before that hint was added. (As were almost all the answers, including one of mine that already does the slow-then-faster thing. I suppose the hint was added more to make the question less too-broad than because it was needed as a hint :-).)
$endgroup$
– Gareth McCaughan♦
Apr 30 at 11:37
1
$begingroup$
But that's only to "infinity" - far too low. If you instead listed Disney catch-phrases, then you could count "To Infinity, and Beyond"
$endgroup$
– Chronocidal
Apr 30 at 14:09
8
8
$begingroup$
If so, she didn't count to infinity, she (at best) counted to "infinity". (Personally I don't think even that is a correct description of what she did.) But I don't expect whatever answer OP has in mind to be much more convincing than this.
$endgroup$
– Gareth McCaughan♦
Apr 30 at 1:00
$begingroup$
If so, she didn't count to infinity, she (at best) counted to "infinity". (Personally I don't think even that is a correct description of what she did.) But I don't expect whatever answer OP has in mind to be much more convincing than this.
$endgroup$
– Gareth McCaughan♦
Apr 30 at 1:00
$begingroup$
I don't see how this fits with the "Sarah started slow, but as time went on she got incredibly fast!" hint.
$endgroup$
– Simon Baars
Apr 30 at 11:12
$begingroup$
I don't see how this fits with the "Sarah started slow, but as time went on she got incredibly fast!" hint.
$endgroup$
– Simon Baars
Apr 30 at 11:12
$begingroup$
It was posted before that hint was added. (As were almost all the answers, including one of mine that already does the slow-then-faster thing. I suppose the hint was added more to make the question less too-broad than because it was needed as a hint :-).)
$endgroup$
– Gareth McCaughan♦
Apr 30 at 11:37
$begingroup$
It was posted before that hint was added. (As were almost all the answers, including one of mine that already does the slow-then-faster thing. I suppose the hint was added more to make the question less too-broad than because it was needed as a hint :-).)
$endgroup$
– Gareth McCaughan♦
Apr 30 at 11:37
1
1
$begingroup$
But that's only to "infinity" - far too low. If you instead listed Disney catch-phrases, then you could count "To Infinity, and Beyond"
$endgroup$
– Chronocidal
Apr 30 at 14:09
$begingroup$
But that's only to "infinity" - far too low. If you instead listed Disney catch-phrases, then you could count "To Infinity, and Beyond"
$endgroup$
– Chronocidal
Apr 30 at 14:09
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Did Sarah count
All of the avengers movies up to and including infinity war?
answered Apr 30 at 4:31
DunhamDunham
2714
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Did Sarah count
All of the avengers movies up to and including infinity war?
answered Apr 30 at 4:31
DunhamDunham
2714
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Did Sarah count
All of the avengers movies up to and including infinity war?
answered Apr 30 at 4:31
DunhamDunham
2714
$endgroup$
Did Sarah count
All of the avengers movies up to and including infinity war?
answered Apr 30 at 4:31
DunhamDunham
2714
answered Apr 30 at 4:31
DunhamDunham
2714
answered Apr 30 at 4:31
DunhamDunham
2714
answered Apr 30 at 4:31
DunhamDunham
2714
2714
add a comment |
add a comment |
$begingroup$
She counted "to infinity", 10 letters, 1 space.
answered Apr 30 at 5:26
TatranskymedvedTatranskymedved
2464
$endgroup$
1
$begingroup$
Ah, that explains the timing as well, unlike some of the other answers! (+1) Good first post! :P
$endgroup$
– Mr Pie
Apr 30 at 5:34
$begingroup$
That explains ten minutes?
$endgroup$
– Peregrine Rook
Apr 30 at 22:26
add a comment |
$begingroup$
She counted "to infinity", 10 letters, 1 space.
answered Apr 30 at 5:26
TatranskymedvedTatranskymedved
2464
$endgroup$
1
$begingroup$
Ah, that explains the timing as well, unlike some of the other answers! (+1) Good first post! :P
$endgroup$
– Mr Pie
Apr 30 at 5:34
$begingroup$
That explains ten minutes?
$endgroup$
– Peregrine Rook
Apr 30 at 22:26
add a comment |
$begingroup$
She counted "to infinity", 10 letters, 1 space.
answered Apr 30 at 5:26
TatranskymedvedTatranskymedved
2464
$endgroup$
She counted "to infinity", 10 letters, 1 space.
answered Apr 30 at 5:26
TatranskymedvedTatranskymedved
2464
answered Apr 30 at 5:26
TatranskymedvedTatranskymedved
2464
answered Apr 30 at 5:26
TatranskymedvedTatranskymedved
2464
answered Apr 30 at 5:26
TatranskymedvedTatranskymedved
2464
2464
1
$begingroup$
Ah, that explains the timing as well, unlike some of the other answers! (+1) Good first post! :P
$endgroup$
– Mr Pie
Apr 30 at 5:34
$begingroup$
That explains ten minutes?
$endgroup$
– Peregrine Rook
Apr 30 at 22:26
add a comment |
1
$begingroup$
Ah, that explains the timing as well, unlike some of the other answers! (+1) Good first post! :P
$endgroup$
– Mr Pie
Apr 30 at 5:34
$begingroup$
That explains ten minutes?
$endgroup$
– Peregrine Rook
Apr 30 at 22:26
1
1
$begingroup$
Ah, that explains the timing as well, unlike some of the other answers! (+1) Good first post! :P
$endgroup$
– Mr Pie
Apr 30 at 5:34
$begingroup$
Ah, that explains the timing as well, unlike some of the other answers! (+1) Good first post! :P
$endgroup$
– Mr Pie
Apr 30 at 5:34
$begingroup$
That explains ten minutes?
$endgroup$
– Peregrine Rook
Apr 30 at 22:26
$begingroup$
That explains ten minutes?
$endgroup$
– Peregrine Rook
Apr 30 at 22:26
add a comment |
$begingroup$
How about counting:
$frac11000, frac1999, frac1998, cdots, frac12, frac11, frac10$
answered Apr 30 at 4:40
athinathin
9,40723284
$endgroup$
2
$begingroup$
Your final term is not defined... but.... meh ;)
$endgroup$
– Mr Pie
Apr 30 at 4:48
add a comment |
$begingroup$
How about counting:
$frac11000, frac1999, frac1998, cdots, frac12, frac11, frac10$
answered Apr 30 at 4:40
athinathin
9,40723284
$endgroup$
2
$begingroup$
Your final term is not defined... but.... meh ;)
$endgroup$
– Mr Pie
Apr 30 at 4:48
add a comment |
$begingroup$
How about counting:
$frac11000, frac1999, frac1998, cdots, frac12, frac11, frac10$
answered Apr 30 at 4:40
athinathin
9,40723284
$endgroup$
How about counting:
$frac11000, frac1999, frac1998, cdots, frac12, frac11, frac10$
answered Apr 30 at 4:40
athinathin
9,40723284
answered Apr 30 at 4:40
athinathin
9,40723284
answered Apr 30 at 4:40
athinathin
9,40723284
answered Apr 30 at 4:40
athinathin
9,40723284
9,40723284
2
$begingroup$
Your final term is not defined... but.... meh ;)
$endgroup$
– Mr Pie
Apr 30 at 4:48
add a comment |
2
$begingroup$
Your final term is not defined... but.... meh ;)
$endgroup$
– Mr Pie
Apr 30 at 4:48
2
2
$begingroup$
Your final term is not defined... but.... meh ;)
$endgroup$
– Mr Pie
Apr 30 at 4:48
$begingroup$
Your final term is not defined... but.... meh ;)
$endgroup$
– Mr Pie
Apr 30 at 4:48
add a comment |
$begingroup$
I can do it in 15 minutes. Duh.
answered Apr 30 at 8:45
GOTO 0GOTO 0
9,95054089
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
Do you actually mean 40 minutes?
$endgroup$
– Arnaud Mortier
Apr 30 at 9:28
3
$begingroup$
@ArnaudMortier 15 minutes because he rotated it 90 degrees (desperately trying not to spoil)
$endgroup$
– Steve-O
Apr 30 at 13:09
$begingroup$
@Steve-O Thanks, I see it now.
$endgroup$
– Arnaud Mortier
Apr 30 at 13:10
add a comment |
$begingroup$
I can do it in 15 minutes. Duh.
answered Apr 30 at 8:45
GOTO 0GOTO 0
9,95054089
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
Do you actually mean 40 minutes?
$endgroup$
– Arnaud Mortier
Apr 30 at 9:28
3
$begingroup$
@ArnaudMortier 15 minutes because he rotated it 90 degrees (desperately trying not to spoil)
$endgroup$
– Steve-O
Apr 30 at 13:09
$begingroup$
@Steve-O Thanks, I see it now.
$endgroup$
– Arnaud Mortier
Apr 30 at 13:10
add a comment |
$begingroup$
I can do it in 15 minutes. Duh.
answered Apr 30 at 8:45
GOTO 0GOTO 0
9,95054089
$endgroup$
I can do it in 15 minutes. Duh.
answered Apr 30 at 8:45
GOTO 0GOTO 0
9,95054089
answered Apr 30 at 8:45
GOTO 0GOTO 0
9,95054089
answered Apr 30 at 8:45
GOTO 0GOTO 0
9,95054089
answered Apr 30 at 8:45
GOTO 0GOTO 0
9,95054089
9,95054089
$begingroup$
Do you actually mean 40 minutes?
$endgroup$
– Arnaud Mortier
Apr 30 at 9:28
3
$begingroup$
@ArnaudMortier 15 minutes because he rotated it 90 degrees (desperately trying not to spoil)
$endgroup$
– Steve-O
Apr 30 at 13:09
$begingroup$
@Steve-O Thanks, I see it now.
$endgroup$
– Arnaud Mortier
Apr 30 at 13:10
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Do you actually mean 40 minutes?
$endgroup$
– Arnaud Mortier
Apr 30 at 9:28
3
$begingroup$
@ArnaudMortier 15 minutes because he rotated it 90 degrees (desperately trying not to spoil)
$endgroup$
– Steve-O
Apr 30 at 13:09
$begingroup$
@Steve-O Thanks, I see it now.
$endgroup$
– Arnaud Mortier
Apr 30 at 13:10
$begingroup$
Do you actually mean 40 minutes?
$endgroup$
– Arnaud Mortier
Apr 30 at 9:28
$begingroup$
Do you actually mean 40 minutes?
$endgroup$
– Arnaud Mortier
Apr 30 at 9:28
3
3
$begingroup$
@ArnaudMortier 15 minutes because he rotated it 90 degrees (desperately trying not to spoil)
$endgroup$
– Steve-O
Apr 30 at 13:09
$begingroup$
@ArnaudMortier 15 minutes because he rotated it 90 degrees (desperately trying not to spoil)
$endgroup$
– Steve-O
Apr 30 at 13:09
$begingroup$
@Steve-O Thanks, I see it now.
$endgroup$
– Arnaud Mortier
Apr 30 at 13:10
$begingroup$
@Steve-O Thanks, I see it now.
$endgroup$
– Arnaud Mortier
Apr 30 at 13:10
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Possible mathematical answer
I think this is linked to
Zeno's paradoxes
Possible approach
Sarah defines for you a new number system. The number $1$ is represent by saying the letter "a" for a duration of $10$ seconds, the number $2$ is represented by saying the letter "a" for $5$ seconds, the number $3$ is represented by saying the letter "a" for a duration of $2.5$ seconds and, in general, the number $n$ is represented by saying the letter "a" for a duration of $frac102^n-1$ seconds.
She then says "a" for a duration of $20$ seconds to count to infinity.
answered Apr 30 at 10:22
hexominohexomino
49k4146231
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
There’s a name for this phenomenon!
$endgroup$
– PerpetualJ
Apr 30 at 10:54
$begingroup$
@PerpetualJ I've added an extra line. Is this the phenomenon you're talking about?
$endgroup$
– hexomino
Apr 30 at 10:57
$begingroup$
Surely that is counting to 0, not to ∞? (sincen = 1+ln(10/t)/ln(2))
$endgroup$
– Chronocidal
Apr 30 at 13:30
$begingroup$
The 20 seconds, is counting 1,2,3,4,5,... consecutively. I understand there is ambiguity here (1 is the same as 2 2s etc) but I decided it was not important to address in the context of the problem.
$endgroup$
– hexomino
Apr 30 at 13:41
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Possible mathematical answer
I think this is linked to
Zeno's paradoxes
Possible approach
Sarah defines for you a new number system. The number $1$ is represent by saying the letter "a" for a duration of $10$ seconds, the number $2$ is represented by saying the letter "a" for $5$ seconds, the number $3$ is represented by saying the letter "a" for a duration of $2.5$ seconds and, in general, the number $n$ is represented by saying the letter "a" for a duration of $frac102^n-1$ seconds.
She then says "a" for a duration of $20$ seconds to count to infinity.
answered Apr 30 at 10:22
hexominohexomino
49k4146231
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
There’s a name for this phenomenon!
$endgroup$
– PerpetualJ
Apr 30 at 10:54
$begingroup$
@PerpetualJ I've added an extra line. Is this the phenomenon you're talking about?
$endgroup$
– hexomino
Apr 30 at 10:57
$begingroup$
Surely that is counting to 0, not to ∞? (sincen = 1+ln(10/t)/ln(2))
$endgroup$
– Chronocidal
Apr 30 at 13:30
$begingroup$
The 20 seconds, is counting 1,2,3,4,5,... consecutively. I understand there is ambiguity here (1 is the same as 2 2s etc) but I decided it was not important to address in the context of the problem.
$endgroup$
– hexomino
Apr 30 at 13:41
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Possible mathematical answer
I think this is linked to
Zeno's paradoxes
Possible approach
Sarah defines for you a new number system. The number $1$ is represent by saying the letter "a" for a duration of $10$ seconds, the number $2$ is represented by saying the letter "a" for $5$ seconds, the number $3$ is represented by saying the letter "a" for a duration of $2.5$ seconds and, in general, the number $n$ is represented by saying the letter "a" for a duration of $frac102^n-1$ seconds.
She then says "a" for a duration of $20$ seconds to count to infinity.
answered Apr 30 at 10:22
hexominohexomino
49k4146231
$endgroup$
Possible mathematical answer
I think this is linked to
Zeno's paradoxes
Possible approach
Sarah defines for you a new number system. The number $1$ is represent by saying the letter "a" for a duration of $10$ seconds, the number $2$ is represented by saying the letter "a" for $5$ seconds, the number $3$ is represented by saying the letter "a" for a duration of $2.5$ seconds and, in general, the number $n$ is represented by saying the letter "a" for a duration of $frac102^n-1$ seconds.
She then says "a" for a duration of $20$ seconds to count to infinity.
answered Apr 30 at 10:22
hexominohexomino
49k4146231
edited Apr 30 at 10:56
answered Apr 30 at 10:22
hexominohexomino
49k4146231
answered Apr 30 at 10:22
hexominohexomino
49k4146231
answered Apr 30 at 10:22
hexominohexomino
49k4146231
49k4146231
$begingroup$
There’s a name for this phenomenon!
$endgroup$
– PerpetualJ
Apr 30 at 10:54
$begingroup$
@PerpetualJ I've added an extra line. Is this the phenomenon you're talking about?
$endgroup$
– hexomino
Apr 30 at 10:57
$begingroup$
Surely that is counting to 0, not to ∞? (sincen = 1+ln(10/t)/ln(2))
$endgroup$
– Chronocidal
Apr 30 at 13:30
$begingroup$
The 20 seconds, is counting 1,2,3,4,5,... consecutively. I understand there is ambiguity here (1 is the same as 2 2s etc) but I decided it was not important to address in the context of the problem.
$endgroup$
– hexomino
Apr 30 at 13:41
add a comment |
$begingroup$
There’s a name for this phenomenon!
$endgroup$
– PerpetualJ
Apr 30 at 10:54
$begingroup$
@PerpetualJ I've added an extra line. Is this the phenomenon you're talking about?
$endgroup$
– hexomino
Apr 30 at 10:57
$begingroup$
Surely that is counting to 0, not to ∞? (sincen = 1+ln(10/t)/ln(2))
$endgroup$
– Chronocidal
Apr 30 at 13:30
$begingroup$
The 20 seconds, is counting 1,2,3,4,5,... consecutively. I understand there is ambiguity here (1 is the same as 2 2s etc) but I decided it was not important to address in the context of the problem.
$endgroup$
– hexomino
Apr 30 at 13:41
$begingroup$
There’s a name for this phenomenon!
$endgroup$
– PerpetualJ
Apr 30 at 10:54
$begingroup$
There’s a name for this phenomenon!
$endgroup$
– PerpetualJ
Apr 30 at 10:54
$begingroup$
@PerpetualJ I've added an extra line. Is this the phenomenon you're talking about?
$endgroup$
– hexomino
Apr 30 at 10:57
$begingroup$
@PerpetualJ I've added an extra line. Is this the phenomenon you're talking about?
$endgroup$
– hexomino
Apr 30 at 10:57
$begingroup$
Surely that is counting to 0, not to ∞? (since
n = 1+ln(10/t)/ln(2))$endgroup$
– Chronocidal
Apr 30 at 13:30
$begingroup$
Surely that is counting to 0, not to ∞? (since
n = 1+ln(10/t)/ln(2))$endgroup$
– Chronocidal
Apr 30 at 13:30
$begingroup$
The 20 seconds, is counting 1,2,3,4,5,... consecutively. I understand there is ambiguity here (1 is the same as 2 2s etc) but I decided it was not important to address in the context of the problem.
$endgroup$
– hexomino
Apr 30 at 13:41
$begingroup$
The 20 seconds, is counting 1,2,3,4,5,... consecutively. I understand there is ambiguity here (1 is the same as 2 2s etc) but I decided it was not important to address in the context of the problem.
$endgroup$
– hexomino
Apr 30 at 13:41
add a comment |
$begingroup$
The definition of infinity in some circles is
the highest conceivable number.
Therefore, all Sarah needs to do is count to
the highest number she knows of, be that a hundred, a thousand, whatever. Because she cannot think of any number higher than that, that is her "infinity".
answered Apr 30 at 0:00
BewildererBewilderer
3245
$endgroup$
1
$begingroup$
Finitism much (it seems that Sarah is accepting the highest number she can count to as infinity)?
$endgroup$
– MilkyWay90
Apr 30 at 1:17
add a comment |
$begingroup$
The definition of infinity in some circles is
the highest conceivable number.
Therefore, all Sarah needs to do is count to
the highest number she knows of, be that a hundred, a thousand, whatever. Because she cannot think of any number higher than that, that is her "infinity".
answered Apr 30 at 0:00
BewildererBewilderer
3245
$endgroup$
1
$begingroup$
Finitism much (it seems that Sarah is accepting the highest number she can count to as infinity)?
$endgroup$
– MilkyWay90
Apr 30 at 1:17
add a comment |
$begingroup$
The definition of infinity in some circles is
the highest conceivable number.
Therefore, all Sarah needs to do is count to
the highest number she knows of, be that a hundred, a thousand, whatever. Because she cannot think of any number higher than that, that is her "infinity".
answered Apr 30 at 0:00
BewildererBewilderer
3245
$endgroup$
The definition of infinity in some circles is
the highest conceivable number.
Therefore, all Sarah needs to do is count to
the highest number she knows of, be that a hundred, a thousand, whatever. Because she cannot think of any number higher than that, that is her "infinity".
answered Apr 30 at 0:00
BewildererBewilderer
3245
answered Apr 30 at 0:00
BewildererBewilderer
3245
answered Apr 30 at 0:00
BewildererBewilderer
3245
answered Apr 30 at 0:00
BewildererBewilderer
3245
3245
1
$begingroup$
Finitism much (it seems that Sarah is accepting the highest number she can count to as infinity)?
$endgroup$
– MilkyWay90
Apr 30 at 1:17
add a comment |
1
$begingroup$
Finitism much (it seems that Sarah is accepting the highest number she can count to as infinity)?
$endgroup$
– MilkyWay90
Apr 30 at 1:17
1
1
$begingroup$
Finitism much (it seems that Sarah is accepting the highest number she can count to as infinity)?
$endgroup$
– MilkyWay90
Apr 30 at 1:17
$begingroup$
Finitism much (it seems that Sarah is accepting the highest number she can count to as infinity)?
$endgroup$
– MilkyWay90
Apr 30 at 1:17
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Sarah is also known as
Chuck Norris
Indeed:
"Chuck Norris counted to infinity. Twice."
And since
"Chuck Norris has his own Gender.", Sarah is a suitable second name for them.
answered Apr 30 at 12:07
user60001user60001
411
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Sarah is also known as
Chuck Norris
Indeed:
"Chuck Norris counted to infinity. Twice."
And since
"Chuck Norris has his own Gender.", Sarah is a suitable second name for them.
answered Apr 30 at 12:07
user60001user60001
411
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Sarah is also known as
Chuck Norris
Indeed:
"Chuck Norris counted to infinity. Twice."
And since
"Chuck Norris has his own Gender.", Sarah is a suitable second name for them.
answered Apr 30 at 12:07
user60001user60001
411
$endgroup$
Sarah is also known as
Chuck Norris
Indeed:
"Chuck Norris counted to infinity. Twice."
And since
"Chuck Norris has his own Gender.", Sarah is a suitable second name for them.
answered Apr 30 at 12:07
user60001user60001
411
answered Apr 30 at 12:07
user60001user60001
411
answered Apr 30 at 12:07
user60001user60001
411
answered Apr 30 at 12:07
user60001user60001
411
411
add a comment |
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Sarah isn't great at counting but she is great at improving anything she does while she is doing it.
Therefore, every time she counts a number she can count it faster than the previous one. The improvement it's not that spectacular, and to count one number still takes her 99.8% of the time it took to count the previous one.
This way, if counting to 1 took Sarah 1 second, the time it will take Sarah to count to n is: $1+1cdot 0.998 + 1cdot 0.998^2 + .... + 1cdot 0.998^n$
Since that's just a geometric series, it's sum to infinite is $frac11-0.998=500$ seconds.
That is, just thanks to keeping improving continuously, Sarah can count to infinite in 8 minutes and 20 seconds.
answered Apr 30 at 10:41
PerePere
27316
$endgroup$
1
$begingroup$
I like this one! I actually didn’t expect another answer to come in with good mathematical arguments! +1
$endgroup$
– PerpetualJ
Apr 30 at 10:45
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Sarah isn't great at counting but she is great at improving anything she does while she is doing it.
Therefore, every time she counts a number she can count it faster than the previous one. The improvement it's not that spectacular, and to count one number still takes her 99.8% of the time it took to count the previous one.
This way, if counting to 1 took Sarah 1 second, the time it will take Sarah to count to n is: $1+1cdot 0.998 + 1cdot 0.998^2 + .... + 1cdot 0.998^n$
Since that's just a geometric series, it's sum to infinite is $frac11-0.998=500$ seconds.
That is, just thanks to keeping improving continuously, Sarah can count to infinite in 8 minutes and 20 seconds.
answered Apr 30 at 10:41
PerePere
27316
$endgroup$
1
$begingroup$
I like this one! I actually didn’t expect another answer to come in with good mathematical arguments! +1
$endgroup$
– PerpetualJ
Apr 30 at 10:45
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Sarah isn't great at counting but she is great at improving anything she does while she is doing it.
Therefore, every time she counts a number she can count it faster than the previous one. The improvement it's not that spectacular, and to count one number still takes her 99.8% of the time it took to count the previous one.
This way, if counting to 1 took Sarah 1 second, the time it will take Sarah to count to n is: $1+1cdot 0.998 + 1cdot 0.998^2 + .... + 1cdot 0.998^n$
Since that's just a geometric series, it's sum to infinite is $frac11-0.998=500$ seconds.
That is, just thanks to keeping improving continuously, Sarah can count to infinite in 8 minutes and 20 seconds.
answered Apr 30 at 10:41
PerePere
27316
$endgroup$
Sarah isn't great at counting but she is great at improving anything she does while she is doing it.
Therefore, every time she counts a number she can count it faster than the previous one. The improvement it's not that spectacular, and to count one number still takes her 99.8% of the time it took to count the previous one.
This way, if counting to 1 took Sarah 1 second, the time it will take Sarah to count to n is: $1+1cdot 0.998 + 1cdot 0.998^2 + .... + 1cdot 0.998^n$
Since that's just a geometric series, it's sum to infinite is $frac11-0.998=500$ seconds.
That is, just thanks to keeping improving continuously, Sarah can count to infinite in 8 minutes and 20 seconds.
answered Apr 30 at 10:41
PerePere
27316
edited Apr 30 at 14:51
answered Apr 30 at 10:41
PerePere
27316
answered Apr 30 at 10:41
PerePere
27316
answered Apr 30 at 10:41
PerePere
27316
27316
1
$begingroup$
I like this one! I actually didn’t expect another answer to come in with good mathematical arguments! +1
$endgroup$
– PerpetualJ
Apr 30 at 10:45
add a comment |
1
$begingroup$
I like this one! I actually didn’t expect another answer to come in with good mathematical arguments! +1
$endgroup$
– PerpetualJ
Apr 30 at 10:45
1
1
$begingroup$
I like this one! I actually didn’t expect another answer to come in with good mathematical arguments! +1
$endgroup$
– PerpetualJ
Apr 30 at 10:45
$begingroup$
I like this one! I actually didn’t expect another answer to come in with good mathematical arguments! +1
$endgroup$
– PerpetualJ
Apr 30 at 10:45
add a comment |
$begingroup$
The answer is:
She starts counting and for each number she takes half the time to count to the next number, through this method you can count to infinity in a finite time.
edited Apr 30 at 11:35
Tahel
75012
answered Apr 30 at 10:55
JamesttukJamesttuk
211
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
The answer is:
She starts counting and for each number she takes half the time to count to the next number, through this method you can count to infinity in a finite time.
edited Apr 30 at 11:35
Tahel
75012
answered Apr 30 at 10:55
JamesttukJamesttuk
211
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
The answer is:
She starts counting and for each number she takes half the time to count to the next number, through this method you can count to infinity in a finite time.
edited Apr 30 at 11:35
Tahel
75012
answered Apr 30 at 10:55
JamesttukJamesttuk
211
$endgroup$
The answer is:
She starts counting and for each number she takes half the time to count to the next number, through this method you can count to infinity in a finite time.
edited Apr 30 at 11:35
Tahel
75012
answered Apr 30 at 10:55
JamesttukJamesttuk
211
edited Apr 30 at 11:35
Tahel
75012
edited Apr 30 at 11:35
Tahel
75012
edited Apr 30 at 11:35
Tahel
75012
75012
answered Apr 30 at 10:55
JamesttukJamesttuk
211
answered Apr 30 at 10:55
JamesttukJamesttuk
211
answered Apr 30 at 10:55
JamesttukJamesttuk
211
211
add a comment |
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Could this be the right approach (even if it is not the correct answer)?
Time is finite, yes, but continuous, so it contains an infinite number of individual positions. If we apply, for example, the function f: x -> 1/(10-x) to the interval of minutes [0,10] belonging to the Real Numbers, just before the 10 minutes we will have reached infinity.
answered Apr 30 at 11:43
HermesHermes
5459
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Could this be the right approach (even if it is not the correct answer)?
Time is finite, yes, but continuous, so it contains an infinite number of individual positions. If we apply, for example, the function f: x -> 1/(10-x) to the interval of minutes [0,10] belonging to the Real Numbers, just before the 10 minutes we will have reached infinity.
answered Apr 30 at 11:43
HermesHermes
5459
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Could this be the right approach (even if it is not the correct answer)?
Time is finite, yes, but continuous, so it contains an infinite number of individual positions. If we apply, for example, the function f: x -> 1/(10-x) to the interval of minutes [0,10] belonging to the Real Numbers, just before the 10 minutes we will have reached infinity.
answered Apr 30 at 11:43
HermesHermes
5459
$endgroup$
Could this be the right approach (even if it is not the correct answer)?
Time is finite, yes, but continuous, so it contains an infinite number of individual positions. If we apply, for example, the function f: x -> 1/(10-x) to the interval of minutes [0,10] belonging to the Real Numbers, just before the 10 minutes we will have reached infinity.
answered Apr 30 at 11:43
HermesHermes
5459
edited Apr 30 at 13:00
answered Apr 30 at 11:43
HermesHermes
5459
answered Apr 30 at 11:43
HermesHermes
5459
answered Apr 30 at 11:43
HermesHermes
5459
5459
add a comment |
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Did Sarah perhaps say once:
$limlimits_xtoinfty x = infty$
edited Apr 30 at 8:19
trolley813
1,535412
answered Apr 30 at 7:51
HamstirlyHamstirly
111
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Sarah would have to say this very slowly to reach ten minutes, which would be impractical if @PerpetualJ was paying for every minute during the phone call!
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– Mr Pie
Apr 30 at 8:23
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Did Sarah perhaps say once:
$limlimits_xtoinfty x = infty$
edited Apr 30 at 8:19
trolley813
1,535412
answered Apr 30 at 7:51
HamstirlyHamstirly
111
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
Sarah would have to say this very slowly to reach ten minutes, which would be impractical if @PerpetualJ was paying for every minute during the phone call!
$endgroup$
– Mr Pie
Apr 30 at 8:23
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Did Sarah perhaps say once:
$limlimits_xtoinfty x = infty$
edited Apr 30 at 8:19
trolley813
1,535412
answered Apr 30 at 7:51
HamstirlyHamstirly
111
$endgroup$
Did Sarah perhaps say once:
$limlimits_xtoinfty x = infty$
edited Apr 30 at 8:19
trolley813
1,535412
answered Apr 30 at 7:51
HamstirlyHamstirly
111
edited Apr 30 at 8:19
trolley813
1,535412
edited Apr 30 at 8:19
trolley813
1,535412
edited Apr 30 at 8:19
trolley813
1,535412
1,535412
answered Apr 30 at 7:51
HamstirlyHamstirly
111
answered Apr 30 at 7:51
HamstirlyHamstirly
111
answered Apr 30 at 7:51
HamstirlyHamstirly
111
111
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Sarah would have to say this very slowly to reach ten minutes, which would be impractical if @PerpetualJ was paying for every minute during the phone call!
$endgroup$
– Mr Pie
Apr 30 at 8:23
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Sarah would have to say this very slowly to reach ten minutes, which would be impractical if @PerpetualJ was paying for every minute during the phone call!
$endgroup$
– Mr Pie
Apr 30 at 8:23
$begingroup$
Sarah would have to say this very slowly to reach ten minutes, which would be impractical if @PerpetualJ was paying for every minute during the phone call!
$endgroup$
– Mr Pie
Apr 30 at 8:23
$begingroup$
Sarah would have to say this very slowly to reach ten minutes, which would be impractical if @PerpetualJ was paying for every minute during the phone call!
$endgroup$
– Mr Pie
Apr 30 at 8:23
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Despite the puzzle being already solved, I have another take on this.
All she needs to do is
use a diverging function.
For instance, she could say
-log(3), -log(2), -log(1), -log(0)
Which is in agreement with the hint that she goes incredibly fast in the end.
answered Apr 30 at 13:00
legrojanlegrojan
1814
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Despite the puzzle being already solved, I have another take on this.
All she needs to do is
use a diverging function.
For instance, she could say
-log(3), -log(2), -log(1), -log(0)
Which is in agreement with the hint that she goes incredibly fast in the end.
answered Apr 30 at 13:00
legrojanlegrojan
1814
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Despite the puzzle being already solved, I have another take on this.
All she needs to do is
use a diverging function.
For instance, she could say
-log(3), -log(2), -log(1), -log(0)
Which is in agreement with the hint that she goes incredibly fast in the end.
answered Apr 30 at 13:00
legrojanlegrojan
1814
$endgroup$
Despite the puzzle being already solved, I have another take on this.
All she needs to do is
use a diverging function.
For instance, she could say
-log(3), -log(2), -log(1), -log(0)
Which is in agreement with the hint that she goes incredibly fast in the end.
answered Apr 30 at 13:00
legrojanlegrojan
1814
answered Apr 30 at 13:00
legrojanlegrojan
1814
answered Apr 30 at 13:00
legrojanlegrojan
1814
answered Apr 30 at 13:00
legrojanlegrojan
1814
1814
add a comment |
add a comment |
$begingroup$
My answer is:
As Sarah got really fast, time stopped...according to Einstein's relativity..hence she did it....I know this sounds absurd but ...meh!
edited Apr 30 at 13:41
Glorfindel
15k45788
answered Apr 30 at 12:31
user669545user669545
1
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
My answer is:
As Sarah got really fast, time stopped...according to Einstein's relativity..hence she did it....I know this sounds absurd but ...meh!
edited Apr 30 at 13:41
Glorfindel
15k45788
answered Apr 30 at 12:31
user669545user669545
1
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
My answer is:
As Sarah got really fast, time stopped...according to Einstein's relativity..hence she did it....I know this sounds absurd but ...meh!
edited Apr 30 at 13:41
Glorfindel
15k45788
answered Apr 30 at 12:31
user669545user669545
1
$endgroup$
My answer is:
As Sarah got really fast, time stopped...according to Einstein's relativity..hence she did it....I know this sounds absurd but ...meh!
edited Apr 30 at 13:41
Glorfindel
15k45788
answered Apr 30 at 12:31
user669545user669545
1
edited Apr 30 at 13:41
Glorfindel
15k45788
edited Apr 30 at 13:41
Glorfindel
15k45788
edited Apr 30 at 13:41
Glorfindel
15k45788
15k45788
answered Apr 30 at 12:31
user669545user669545
1
answered Apr 30 at 12:31
user669545user669545
1
answered Apr 30 at 12:31
user669545user669545
1
1
add a comment |
add a comment |
1
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@MrPie All the way to infinity!
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– PerpetualJ
Apr 29 at 23:40
9
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This question feels a bit too broad. Are you sure there's one demonstrably correct answer to this one?
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– PiIsNot3
Apr 30 at 0:29
4
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An appropriate question for your username, @PerpetualJ.
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– Gareth McCaughan♦
Apr 30 at 0:59
13
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My concern is that there may be more than one valid answer, and without specifying further restrictions, the “correct” one becomes an arbitrary choice. There’s already many good answers that could potentially be correct, which feeds into my concern
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– PiIsNot3
Apr 30 at 4:06
5
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@PerpetualJ Several different answers already do so. As it stands, this seems to be too broad.
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– Deusovi♦
Apr 30 at 10:49