For reference a computer the size of the entire universe would not have enough power to count to infinity, even if it could count a googolplex a microsecond. :smile.gif:
That's misleading, though. It's not that infinity is so large it cannot ever be reached - infinity is simply Not aNumber.
A thought occurred to me... what if the truncated parts of seeds were actually set aside as secondary/tertiary/n-ary seeds, each independently run through the process by which pseudorandom numbers are generated, and checked against previous seeds in some manner to produce results different from any one of the seeds? If this were so, you wouldn't need infinitely-sized variables, as each could be stored in its own dynamic variable. There may be a finite number of seeds, but with a system like this, there'd be a theoretically infinite number of possible seed combinations. Only problem is that the longer your seed, the more time world generation would take (though I imagine this wouldn't become an issue until a very large number of seeds were used).
I doubt it's actually implemented like this, but would this not be possible?
Also, must be a spelling nazi here: it's googol, not google, and googolplex, not googleplex. A googol is a number (specifically, 10^100). Google is a company. A googolplex is a number (specifically, 10^googol). The Googleplex is the HQ of Google.
It could be implemented like that, but its adding unnecessary complexity to the world generation process. Why would you ever need more than 1.8x10^19 different worlds? More than 180,000,000,000,000,000,000 (180 quintillion?) worlds?
Oh, like I said, I don't think it's actually implemented like that - nor would I make it so, were I Notch. The point was that it's possible to do world generation in such a way that, provided an unlimited world size (not provided in Minecraft as-is), it actually is possible to generate an infinite number of unique worlds. I had assumed that from the get-go we were talking about possibility, not practicality.
Quote from TrapVader »
Yes, granted they have the same seed. But if seeds were randomly generated, think of the chances. If you got the EXACT same map as, per say, your friend on MC, then I'd consider investing in a lot of lottery tickets.
A thought occurred to me... what if the truncated parts of seeds were actually set aside as secondary/tertiary/n-ary seeds, each independently run through the process by which pseudorandom numbers are generated, and checked against previous seeds in some manner to produce results different from any one of the seeds? If this were so, you wouldn't need infinitely-sized variables, as each could be stored in its own dynamic variable. There may be a finite number of seeds, but with a system like this, there'd be a theoretically infinite number of possible seed combinations. Only problem is that the longer your seed, the more time world generation would take (though I imagine this wouldn't become an issue until a very large number of seeds were used).
I doubt it's actually implemented like this, but would this not be possible?
Also, must be a spelling nazi here: it's googol, not google, and googolplex, not googleplex. A googol is a number (specifically, 10^100). Google is a company. A googolplex is a number (specifically, 10^googol). The Googleplex is the HQ of Google.
Although I see nothing unfair about our current situation regarding Mojang's need to authorize us to use online services, it must be noted that players of Blizzard games are constantly connected to Blizzard servers, while Minecrafters need only connect once to Mojang to authorize.
But it is a neat analogy. The ultimate point is that we're not entitled to anything more than what we get, as specifically stated in Minecraft's copyright page (which, for all intents and purposes, also serves as its EULA).
Even provided an infinite number of seeds, the world is not technically infinite in size; there is a limited number of ways blocks can be arranged in the world, so given infinite seeds, some will produce exactly the same result. However, there probably are not an infinite number of possible seeds, and even if there were, there'd still be so many arrangements that nobody would ever find the last unique one. So the number of unique worlds is limited by number of possible seeds and/or world size.
Not necessarily. According to Notch, the world is now approximately 4906 million square kilometers, without factoring in the 128 block height limit. The odds of getting an identical map is infinitesimal. See my above post for number of possible seeds.
Infinitesimal, yes, but then nonzero: so there is a theoretical limit based on world size.
Even provided an infinite number of seeds, the world is not technically infinite in size; there is a limited number of ways blocks can be arranged in the world, so given infinite seeds, some will produce exactly the same result. However, there probably are not an infinite number of possible seeds, and even if there were, there'd still be so many arrangements that nobody would ever find the last unique one. So the number of unique worlds is limited by number of possible seeds and/or world size.
it cannot definitively answer the question of where we came from.
And faith can?
Yes, but purely on a personal basis. As evidence alone is not grounds for proof of any general statement, we must take for granted anything we find necessary to label "fact". Belief, then, is the very thing upon which all scientific reasoning is founded - belief in the validity of induction as a means of attaining knowledge. Faith - belief - I am using them interchangeably - is the only means by which we can resolutely determine an answer to any problem.
Quote from illford_baker »
where we came from? we came down from the trees and into the caves. from caves into huts, from huts to small houses, from houses to castles, so on and so forth. and until we get a time machine and put spy satellites into space to observe our origins, we can only make good educated guesses based on what they left behind.
Well, that whole "science is evolving" thing seems a bit unfair.
I mean, if anybody disagrees with an Atheist view on their beliefs on creation and is able to disprove it, they can just pick up other scientific theories. Maybe I'm blowing the "Unfaaaaaair WAH WAAAAHH" whistle here, especially since there may be good scientific reasons on some of the beliefs, but that really does seem like a **** move.
You know, it seems that any discussion of this kind of thing would allow people with scientific beliefs to bash on other religion's beliefs, and not have their own at risk during the discussion.
to be fair, religion is evolving too. for example, whenever an irrefutable science fact is uncovered. religion has a history of giving way to science, like the fact that the earth is not the center of the universe.
the takeaway is that religion is always giving way to science, science has a track record of being more right than religion.
Only about those things which fall in its domain. It is without the capabilities of the scientific process to determine the origins of consciousness and existence itself. When we consider the origins of life, we are really only considering the origins of conscious beings - namely, ourselves. So, while the scientific process can shed light on what we might infer to be our ancestral origins, it cannot definitively answer the question of where we came from. That is a problem left to personal faith - a beast to which even reason must bow.
For more information on what I was talking about before (that believing principles for which there is a great deal of evidence is believing, still; and that such belief is no more or less justified than theistic belief), read about the problem of induction.
On-topic: Evolution is a phenomenon which we have actually observed, and which, provided a sample of bacteria (or really any living things, but bacteria work very well for this) and a decent amount of creativity, anyone can observe for himself. That organisms change through generations (the core assertion of the theory of evolution) is as close to fact as it comes. Evolution is not incompatible with creationism, not even the young-earth variant (which is silly) - God having created the world and all life therein however many thousands of years ago would have no bearing on whether or not the life he would have created could change.
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My bad, didn't actually read that article. However, that doesn't change the fact that infinity isn't a number.
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That's misleading, though. It's not that infinity is so large it cannot ever be reached - infinity is simply Not a Number.
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Oh, like I said, I don't think it's actually implemented like that - nor would I make it so, were I Notch. The point was that it's possible to do world generation in such a way that, provided an unlimited world size (not provided in Minecraft as-is), it actually is possible to generate an infinite number of unique worlds. I had assumed that from the get-go we were talking about possibility, not practicality.
If only probability worked like that.
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I doubt it's actually implemented like this, but would this not be possible?
Also, must be a spelling nazi here: it's googol, not google, and googolplex, not googleplex. A googol is a number (specifically, 10^100). Google is a company. A googolplex is a number (specifically, 10^googol). The Googleplex is the HQ of Google.
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But it is a neat analogy. The ultimate point is that we're not entitled to anything more than what we get, as specifically stated in Minecraft's copyright page (which, for all intents and purposes, also serves as its EULA).
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Infinitesimal, yes, but then nonzero: so there is a theoretical limit based on world size.
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Yes, but purely on a personal basis. As evidence alone is not grounds for proof of any general statement, we must take for granted anything we find necessary to label "fact". Belief, then, is the very thing upon which all scientific reasoning is founded - belief in the validity of induction as a means of attaining knowledge. Faith - belief - I am using them interchangeably - is the only means by which we can resolutely determine an answer to any problem.
Thank you for demonstrating my point.
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Only about those things which fall in its domain. It is without the capabilities of the scientific process to determine the origins of consciousness and existence itself. When we consider the origins of life, we are really only considering the origins of conscious beings - namely, ourselves. So, while the scientific process can shed light on what we might infer to be our ancestral origins, it cannot definitively answer the question of where we came from. That is a problem left to personal faith - a beast to which even reason must bow.
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On-topic: Evolution is a phenomenon which we have actually observed, and which, provided a sample of bacteria (or really any living things, but bacteria work very well for this) and a decent amount of creativity, anyone can observe for himself. That organisms change through generations (the core assertion of the theory of evolution) is as close to fact as it comes. Evolution is not incompatible with creationism, not even the young-earth variant (which is silly) - God having created the world and all life therein however many thousands of years ago would have no bearing on whether or not the life he would have created could change.
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I see what you did there.