How can infinity minus infinity give infinite results?
Answer Podcast
Transcript
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the infinity minus infinity can give various results especially Prabhupada says in that infinity minus infinity is still infinity so what exactly is the point of saying how does infinity minus infinity give different results and what is the point of that answer yes you know in different contexts different examples are given or different points are analysed in different ways for conveying different lessons so when Sri Prabhupada gives the example of Om Purnam Adah Purnam Idam he says infinity minus infinity still remain infinity there he is talking about God’s absolute infinitude and there the absolute truth infinity he says no matter how many units emanate from the absolute truth still they remain infinite still absolute truth remains infinity remains complete now I was talking that how the how being finite we find it difficult to understand the infinite and this principle that the finite finds it difficult to understand the infinite I illustrated with the example of mathematics so even in mathematics when we come to the subject of infinite things become complicated normally if I subtract say if I do 5 minus 2 I’ll get a fixed answer 3 any 2 number one I subtract from the other I’ll get a fixed answer but when it comes to the natural numbers I still get an infinite result that is the set of all odd numbers so infinity minus infinity here comes out to be infinity but if say I take the set of all natural numbers and then I take the set of all natural numbers above 2 that means 3 onwards now that is also in the set of all natural numbers above 2 is also infinite here if I do infinity minus infinity here I have infinity minus infinity giving me 2 and the same exercise I can apply for 4 if I subtract from infinity all set of natural numbers above 4 then I will get the answer of 4 so like that I can get an answer from 1 to infinity so infinity minus infinity can give me infinity or infinity minus infinity can give me 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 infinity minus infinity can give different results.
So, the two examples are different and in this, in the first case of Ishopanishad, the emphasis on the absolute truth infinity and how from that infinite things can come out and still remain infinite. Whereas in the example of mathematics, the stress is on how we are finite and how the finite cannot understand the infinite. And for that purpose, how from the finite perspective when we subtract infinity from infinity, we can get a wide variety of results.
So, the two have different perspectives and different purposes and that is how the two examples are different. Thank you.