(August 10, 2013 at 10:21 am)whateverist Wrote: Of course a more rote demonstration is to show that the answer to 20/5 is 4 and the test of that is that 4X5 = 20. Likewise 20/2 = 10 and it passes the test: 2X10 = 20. But if 20/0 = 0, then 0X0 would have to = 20. To say that the answer is infinity abuses the idea of infinity by treating it as a specific number, and anyway no very large number multiplied by zero will give you 20 (or 1 or any other number you care to divide by zero.)
While the salami sandwich is a nice, easy to digest example, I prefer whateverist's here, because it demonstrates the mathematical impossibility of dividing by zero equalling zero.
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own - Bertrand Russell
