(February 12, 2018 at 8:28 am)polymath257 Wrote:(February 12, 2018 at 7:36 am)Grandizer Wrote: But how does one even start the adding if there is no start to it? And how does the adding have already happened without a start?
Well, that is sort of the whole point. There *is* no start. It is an ongoing process with no start.
Again, think of the integers (.....,-4,-3,-2,-1,0,1,2,3,4,.....)
There is no start and there is no finish. Every integer has an immediate predesessor and an immediate successor.
And again, this is not a proof this happens in the real world. It is, however, a demonstration that there is no *logical* issue with an infinite regress.
I think this is a fine example. Time just does seem like the kind of thing about which you can ask about the past moment or the nth moment before the current one, or, the next or nth moment after the current one. Approached like this, there is no need to (or sense in) asking about any first moment or first number. The limitless reach of each is accounted for without any puzzling first number or first moment.
