Re: Zeno Zeno Zeno

Victoria Catherine wrote:
Zeno of Elea, my newfound friend.

I love these:

The Dichotomy: It is impossible to move around a racetrack since we
must first go halfway, and before that go half of halfway, and before
that half of half of halfway, and . . . . If space is infinitely
divisible, we have infinitely many partial distances to cover, and
cannot get under way in any finite time.

Achilles and the Tortoise: Similarly, given a ten meter head-start, a
tortoise can never be overtaken by Achilles in a race, since Achilles
must catch up to where the tortoise began. But by then the tortoise has
moved ahead, and Achilles must catch up to that new point, and so on.
Again, the suppostition that things really move leads to an infinite
regress.

The Arrow: If, on the other hand, motion occurs in discrete intervals,
then at any given moment during its flight through the air, an arrow is
not moving. But since its entire flight comprises only such moments,
the arrow never moves.

The Stadium: Similarly, if three chariots of equal length, one
stationary and the others travelling in opposite directions, were to
pass by each other at the same time, then each of the supposedly moving
ones would take only half as long to pass the other as to pass the
third, making 1=2!

http://www.philosophypages.com/hy/2b.htm#zeno

It just hit me. Zeno is a cool name for a superhero. I can see the
philosopher Zeno flying around tall skyscrapers in a blue suit with a
red cape with a big letter "Z" on it. Cool Zeno man saves the day!

-Stacey
http://victoriacatherine

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Relevant Pages

  • Zeno Zeno Zeno
    ... must first go halfway, and before that go half of halfway, and before ... tortoise can never be overtaken by Achilles in a race, ... The Arrow: If, on the other hand, motion occurs in discrete intervals, ...
    (rec.org.mensa)
  • Re: Is continuum completely filled up?
    ... mystery of Zeno. ... The chain which the race of tortoise and Achillese produce increasingly ... But, he only persued movement of Achilles and tortoise,and not made them ... I don't know whether Achilles can catch up with tortoise having run through ...
    (sci.math)
  • Re: Is true?
    ... >> See the paradoxes of Zeno. ... Achilles and the tortoise etc. ... It doesn't replace the frog in ...
    (misc.writing)
  • Re: Missing the Tigershark
    ... Eugene Griessel wrote: ... Gene, While I think Achilles might have had a phobia over Zeno, I think ... "In the paradox of Achilles and the Tortoise, ... Therefore, Zeno says, swift Achilles can never overtake the tortoise. ...
    (rec.aviation.military)
  • Re: Thomas Covenant series
    ... I am reminded of What the Tortoise Said to Achilles. ... And what Zeno said was 'mmm, tortoise kebabs *again*'. ... 'Onion oil! ...
    (rec.arts.sf.composition)