Does everything which has a beginning have an end?

Hey, I was just wondering this question. For example, humans have a beginning to life and an end which is death. Pretty much everything in the world has a beginning and an end, but is this true for every single thing? Is there anything which doesn't follow this pattern?

Reply 1

Farm_Ecology

12

I would argue no.

For an example: Numbers.

Reply 2

philistine

14

Harry Potter, despite what was once common belief, did actually come to an end.

I remain hopeful.

Reply 3

brumdeals

i don't think so. i mean first of all... if what is said is true and at one time we assume that we start counting at one and others at zero... what is the last number then? is there an end?

Reply 4

Mullah.S

Original post by shyamshah

Hey, I was just wondering this question. For example, humans have a beginning to life and an end which is death. Pretty much everything in the world has a beginning and an end, but is this true for every single thing? Is there anything which doesn't follow this pattern?

The term 'thing' assumes the throne of ambiguity and wears the crown of vagueness in the kingdom of linguistics.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 5

username664275

2

Original post by Farm_Ecology

I would argue no.

For an example: Numbers.

I was agreeing with you, and then thought to myself 'well what's the starting number then?'

There are numbers that come before zero :frown:

Reply 6

Farm_Ecology

12

Original post by 4mar_ar5en4l

I was agreeing with you, and then thought to myself 'well what's the starting number then?'

There are numbers that come before zero :frown:

Take a number like pi. A definite starting point. No end.

Same with any recurring number (3.3`)

Reply 7

shyamshah

OP

12

Original post by brumdeals

i don't think so. i mean first of all... if what is said is true and at one time we assume that we start counting at one and others at zero... what is the last number then? is there an end?

But what is the actual first number? Zero isnt because we have minus numbers.

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Reply 8

mmmpie

12

Original post by shyamshah

But what is the actual first number? Zero isnt because we have minus numbers.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Depends on how you count. You can start from zero and get all the numbers: 0, 1, -1, 2, -2, 3, -3...

It's even more natural to do this if you write numbers using something like balanced ternary instead of decimal.

Reply 9

pjm600

18

Take energy or matter as another example. They don't necessarily have a beginning or end.

Reply 10

The_Duck

7

Its quite possible that the universe will not end ie heat death. So if you say it began then no?

Reply 11

ttoby

15

Original post by shyamshah

But what is the actual first number? Zero isnt because we have minus numbers.

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It depends if you want a first number or not. In maths, you can consider just the numbers 0, 1, 2, 3, .... and that works for some situations, such as describing the number of tennis balls on a table. You can't have a negative ball and you can't have fractions of a ball because then it won't be a ball any more. Multiplication and addition work fine in this system, but subtraction doesn't always work.

Then you could consider the numbers ..., -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, .... which work well for describing other systems. These don't have a beginning (unless you want to rearrange them in some way) but you get more flexibility with the maths you can do. Subtraction is now always possible, but still division doesn't always work.

You can carry on extending what a number is, for instance complex numbers (to allow square roots of negative numbers) or vectors (to express position and/or direction).

The point is, you can't read too much into whether some number system has a beginning or end because you can always change to a different one if you prefer.

Reply 12

aranexus

12

No, as far as i'm aware: π (pi) has a begining, but has no end :rolleyes:

Reply 13

Picnic1

19

Some ideas can be so persistent that it can be realistically bet that they might have no end such as that there will always be at least 1 living person who knows who Shakespeare was.

But more certainly:

The existence of opinion, of pleasure, pain, indifference/neglect and the '7 deadly sins' will probably never come to an end as long as there are living things. As long as there are, subjectivity will always exist. So will ignorance - ignorance is literally not knowing something. Even those who think they know a lot about a lot of things would be objectively wrong- they only know the tiniest percentage of all there is to know. The number of facts that the universe has ever made possible to come up with is infinite.

The existence of moving things.

The existence of particles.

Reply 14

shyamshah

OP

12

Original post by Picnic1

Some ideas can be so persistent that it can be realistically bet that they might have no end such as that there will always be at least 1 living person who knows who Shakespeare was.

But more certainly:

The existence of opinion, of pleasure, pain, indifference/neglect and the '7 deadly sins' will probably never come to an end as long as there are living things. As long as there are, subjectivity will always exist. So will ignorance - ignorance is literally not knowing something. Even those who think they know a lot about a lot of things would be objectively wrong- they only know the tiniest percentage of all there is to know. The number of facts that the universe has ever made possible to come up with is infinite.

The existence of moving things.

The existence of particles.

I agree with you on that, the existence of opinion will never end. There will always be people who believe they are better than others etc.

Sorry if this was a stupid question but thank you for all the replies :wink:

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Reply 15

diggy

19

Original post by Mullah.S

The term 'thing' assumes the throne of ambiguity and wears the crown of vagueness in the kingdom of linguistics.

Lol did you make that up ?

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Reply 16

Architecture-er

19

Original post by shyamshah

Hey, I was just wondering this question. For example, humans have a beginning to life and an end which is death. Pretty much everything in the world has a beginning and an end, but is this true for every single thing? Is there anything which doesn't follow this pattern?

Pi, or any irrational number for that matter.

If you're speaking in a more physical sense, then I can't think of anything, apart from Turritopsis nutricula, which is a jellyfish that is capable of rejuvenating its own cells, amazingly enough.

Reply 17

Pleonasm

7

Original post by Architecture-er

Pi, or any irrational number for that matter.

If you're speaking in a more physical sense, then I can't think of anything, apart from Turritopsis nutricula, which is a jellyfish that is capable of rejuvenating its own cells, amazingly enough.

The decimal representation of pi is irrational, but pi is merely a mathematical ratio. Pi does not have a beginning and so its ending is not needed. Even to extend this further: why does 3.--- have to be the beginning of the "number"? the 0.04---- is just as much a part of the "number" as the first digit. You only reasoning for "starting" at the 3 is because that is a convention of our system. But not only is this system of formatting without a beginning, it is not actually a "thing" anyway, it is a human interpretation of a mathematical ratio that is a consequence of the dimensions of this universe.

As far as I am aware, from a logical standpoint, it is an accepted statement that everything that has a beginning has an end. But be aware that this does not include things like circles or irrational numbers; because they do not have beginnings.

Reply 18

Architecture-er

19

Original post by Pleonasm

The decimal representation of pi is irrational, but pi is merely a mathematical ratio. Pi does not have a beginning and so its ending is not needed. Even to extend this further: why does 3.--- have to be the beginning of the "number"? the 0.04---- is just as much a part of the "number" as the first digit. You only reasoning for "starting" at the 3 is because that is a convention of our system. But not only is this system of formatting without a beginning, it is not actually a "thing" anyway, it is a human interpretation of a mathematical ratio that is a consequence of the dimensions of this universe.

As far as I am aware, from a logical standpoint, it is an accepted statement that everything that has a beginning has an end. But be aware that this does not include things like circles or irrational numbers; because they do not have beginnings.