On Feb 15, 7:59 pm, Steven D'Aprano <[EMAIL PROTECTED] cybersource.com.au> wrote: > On Fri, 15 Feb 2008 14:35:34 -0500, Steve Holden wrote: > >> I don't understand: why would +INF not be equal to itself? Having INF > >> == INF be True seems like something that makes sense both > >> mathematically and computationally. > >> [...] > > > There are an uncountable number of infinities, all different. > > But the IEEE standard only supports one of them, aleph(0). > > Technically two: plus and minus aleph(0).
Not sure that alephs have anything to do with it. And unless I'm missing something, minus aleph(0) is nonsense. (How do you define the negation of a cardinal?) >From the fount of all wisdom: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Aleph_number) """The aleph numbers differ from the infinity (∞) commonly found in algebra and calculus. Alephs measure the sizes of sets; infinity, on the other hand, is commonly defined as an extreme limit of the real number line (applied to a function or sequence that "diverges to infinity" or "increases without bound"), or an extreme point of the extended real number line. While some alephs are larger than others, ∞ is just ∞.""" Mark
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