Traveller’s Comments (group member since Jan 14, 2015)

Traveller’s comments from the On Paths Unknown group.

LOL, well-said! :D

A question I would ask, is: Could infinity possibly / does infinity exist in reality, or is it just a human-made abstract concept that we use because it is useful in the discipline of mathematics. It almost seems to me as if that might be the gist of what Matt was pointing out?

..and your q fit in with that, Derek.

Derek (Guilty of thoughtcrime) wrote: "Traveller wrote: " one infinite set (people) = the other infinite set (rooms) "

This is where you go astray. ∞ ≠ ∞ Or, in the vernacular, "they're the same but different"!"

Sure, but for me, the clue lay not in the tag that they are both infinite, but that each room was occupied by a person and that each person occupied a room - if you look at it from that angle and ignore the "infinite" tag, do you then see why it frustrated me? Because if each room was already occupied, then there is no additional room to move on into, even if the line is infinite- because the property of every single room in that (infinite) line is that it is already filled with a person.

Yes, I saw that she uses at least one alias and wondered why...

But listen here, guys. If a number is infinite, how can you detract another number from it? I mean What is infinity minus 1? What is infinity minus 10, for that matter? <_<

EDIT: Ah, okay, thanks, Matt - we must have posted at the same time. I think after your post #17 I feel more satisfied about the matter. (Posted the above lament before I saw your post # 17).

Okay, this is the part where my mind boggles, though: (and I realize you've explained it, but....) if there's an infinite set of room and an infinite set of people, so much so, that each room is filled - doesn't that then imply that the one infinite set (people) = the other infinite set (rooms) , so that if you moved them all up, then there should now theoretically be a person who had a room, who now doesn't have a room.
I realize that the nature of the paradox makes that since the number is infinite, you probably won't be able to identify the now roomless person - but that's what frustrates me so much, because it feels like there should now be a de-roomed person, a person who had lost his room because of this new addition.

Derek (Guilty of thoughtcrime) wrote: "Traveller wrote: "Oh, and Derek, I'm sure you would be familiar with the infinite rooms in the hotel scenario, but I'm sure I saw it mentioned in a slightly different form in a different context. (A maths context)."

I wouldn't be surprised, it has lots of mathematical implications, but I'm not sure what you're thinking of. .."

Okay, well... if the number of rooms is infinite, wouldn't that imply... hmm. Well, then... see I kind of instinctively feel that there shouldn't be a number 1, that it should be infinite in both directions, but ... well, anyway, if its infinite, then how can it be full - then where does the infinite number of people come from that made it 'full"? There seem to be contradictions in it. I need someone more into maths to help me formulate what I'm trying to say here...

OMG... Ruth... the horror! The horror! :O :O :O :O :O :O

!!!! Howl by Allen Ginsberg is not on the list! That's rather a big omission.....

The first few interesting things about the book, is that it's written by a male writer with a female as his first-person protagonist, which so far, I think he's doing rather well, or what do the rest of you think?

It's starts in Copenhagen, Denmark, but the protagonist hails from Greenland, and apparently one of the aspects of the novel, is that we get a bit of socio-historical background around the Greenland Innuit and so forth.

I'm not there yet, but I like the setting of the stage so far, with how Smilla is talking about all the various manifestations of ice and snow, and the quality of the long long winter night in Scandinavia- how the snow makes everything much brighter than you would expect it to be. Maybe some input from Ruth and any other Scandinavians around here? Plus about "frazil ice"? There was something else rather unusual that Smilla mentioned about the snow that I'd wanted to ask about while reading on my tablet, but I can't find it right now.

The story is not in chronological order - the first chapter starts with Isaiha's funeral, then works back to when his body was found in the next chapter.

Oh, and Derek, I'm sure you would be familiar with the infinite rooms in the hotel scenario, but I'm sure I saw it mentioned in a slightly different form in a different context. (A maths context).

Nate D wrote: "You have to wonder how many more books the list-maker can possibly have read that didn't make the cut! How many books can one actually read in a lifetime? It is, unfortunately, certainly a finite n..."

Unless you're a vampire.

I just HAVE to share this with you guys: https://www.facebook.com/achu.muzik/v...
B-) Ain't it amazing how he actually looks at the sheet music?

All right, let's just get the green light from the group in general, and then, since you're rearing to go on Authority and I'm not close to ready for it, would you mind leading Authority for us as well, please Amy? I'll take care of the other discussions.

Btw, is there anybody who would like to volunteer to lead any discussions for us? A work that you love and cherish, perhaps?

Our schedule is so hectic, that it's touch and go to keep up - will start posting here soon - hopefully later today - apologies for the delay!

Ok, listen up everybody, there have been requests to change our schedule a bit - remember that I said the schedule is not set in stone - our "forthcoming attractions" calendar was just laid out ahead of time so that we can get a rough idea.

In the meantime 3 issues have arisen:
1) People have asked that we postpone The Chimes, because they have problems getting hold of a copy. Is everybody okay with that?

2) Apparently some people have asked that we read the rest of the Area X: The Southern Reach Trilogy sooner, because they've really been liking Annihilation.
I was thinking that we can perhaps then replace The Chimes with Authority. What say you?
...and if people then still want to do the last in the Southern reach, we could try and fit that in a bit farther up the line. I'll set up a poll around this, I think.

3) A core group of us have realized that we're brave enough to want to discuss T.S. Eliot. We want to start with The Hollow Men followed later on by The Waste Land.

Since The Hollow Men is a short-ish poem, I was thinking that we could perhaps fit that in next to Authority, or somewhere around there, because soon after that we're going to become pretty busy for those more interested in the classics, with our twin-read of Hamlet the play by William Shakespeare together with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead a play by Tom Stoppard which adds commentary to Hamlet; which will be followed quite shortly by various literatures around Charles Dickens and his friend/rival Wilkie Collins.

Are you guys ready for The Hollow Men so soon?

Stephen wrote: "Difficult to have Hugo on a 20th-century list... :P"

Oops - LOL, you're right! Been through so many lists on the same day that it sets your head spinning a bit. :P That would explain a lot of omissions on this list, actually.... (Also, not been looking at the full title of the list anymore...)

Nate D wrote: "Only novels written in English are worth reading I see."

That's why I included the Le Monde list and this one: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Gee, bad as that may be, frankly I don't think anything can be worse than what the Chinese do to their political prisoners, if what I've been hearing is true...

Ah. Well, quite a few of those around here. ;)
...but I still swear by the 2645-book list....

"Detained" sounds more like kidnapped, to me...

Better than...?
I'd like to cherry-pick them all.