This Toothpick Contains Everything Ever Said (Infinity Part 3)
4/6/202651 min
What happens when you finally reach the end of forever? And what exactly is the difference between Omega and Aleph-null?
Professor Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens (VSauce) return for the final (possibly not) chapter of our infinity series, unpicking the frankly absurd mechanics of multiple infinities. They reveal how mathematicians don't just measure the endless void, but actively organise it, exploring the bizarre gap between the sheer size of a boundless set of numbers and its actual order.
Following Georg Cantor's mathematical meltdown, this episode tackles the mind bending...
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsHannah Fry· Host0:01
Welcome to The Rest is Science. I'm Hannah Fry.
Michael Stevens· Host0:02
And I'm Michael Stevens.
Hannah Fry· Host0:04
And we have been talking for a long time about infinity, but we're, we're still talking about it.
Michael Stevens· Host0:10
We're still talking about it. I don't know, this series might become endless, or- [laughs] ... maybe third time's the charm. We'll see.
Hannah Fry· Host0:17
Maybe third time's the charm.
Michael Stevens· Host0:18
I think, I think they will end because we have decided we're done. They certainly won't end because we've covered all the numbers.
Hannah Fry· Host0:24
[laughs] [laughs] No. No, certainly not. The thing is, there's just so much delight to discover. There's so many strange weirdnesses once you allow your s- mind to m- to wander into the depths of infinity.
Michael Stevens· Host0:35
Not only are there a lot of strange weirdnesses, but there's a lot of different ways to talk about each strange weirdness, and sometimes, um, I'll find a whole new way of describing a tr- transfinite number, and I'll be like, "That is so much clearer than what I've ever heard before. I'm so glad I heard it." But I wanted to start with an object, okay? To kind of, like, cleanse our palates, so we're gonna talk about something that's physical and real. Are you ready, Hannah?
Hannah Fry· Host1:01
I am, absolutely.
Michael Stevens· Host1:03
Okay. I have here a toothpick. You see that?
Hannah Fry· Host1:06
[laughs] Not what I thought you were going, but sure.
Michael Stevens· Host1:09
This is a toothpick, but guess what?
Hannah Fry· Host1:11
Tell me.
Michael Stevens· Host1:12
Everything that could ever be said is on this toothpick.
Hannah Fry· Host1:18
Uh, tell me how.
Michael Stevens· Host1:21
Here's how you do it. Here's how you do it. All you need to do is put a little simple code together, and we can stick to the English language if we want. We can say, okay,