Problems with infinity

I had the pleasure of witnessing this interaction the other day: two kids were locked in a battle of wits to see who could think of the highest number.

Player one served with a million. Player two with an amazing return of a billion. Player one went for the smash: INFINITY. But player two caught it on the volley — INFINITY PLUS ONE.

At this point the umpire (me) intervenes with the ruling that infinity plus one is actually just infinity. (I ignored the technicality that if they are counting cardinals, then they should have said aleph null — they are just kids after all.)

Read more »