Monday, May 14, 2007

Sybil the Rat

The rat, Sibyl, who lives beneath the trailer, wants to cross the room from one end to the other. Before she can cross the full distance, she must cross half the distance. Before she can cross the rest (half of the full distance) she must cross the next ¼. Before she can cover the last ¼, she must cover the next 1/8. And so on. Since covering any distance requires some time, it would take Sybil an infinite amount of time to cross all of the infinite distances. Therefore, Sibyl can never cross the room.

By the same argument, you could never cross the room either.

How can this be?
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2 comments:

nk said...

Well Mr. A, mathematically I don't know how this is possible. However, I do think it is. I'm someone who is interested in quantum physics, and if I think of Sybil and quantum physics (consider that what quantum physics states is true) then I would have to say, it will never reach the wall.
If I'm not wrong (in what I understood about quantum physics) actually our atoms never touch with the floor, wall or anything or anyone.
The universe on a very basic level could be a vast web of particles which remain in contact with one another over distance, and in no time.
- R. Nadeau and M. Kafatos

May 15, 2007 at 9:27 AM
anto said...

Well according to this paradox then distance AND time are both illusions. Since we can never cross a certain distance because we first need to cross half that distance etc etc. The same applies to time, for one second to occur half a second needs to pass and for that to happen one fourth of a second needs to go by and so forth. Now, our experience tells us this is obviously false, but then whats the problem with the previous statements?

May 15, 2007 at 3:30 PM

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