I thought this was a fascinating bit of a thought experiment. I was reading a thread where people we debating the idea of a “multiverse”, the idea that our universe is just one of an infinite number of universes out there, thus explaining how life could be possible.
Whether you believe that theory or not, the idea of infinite universes raises some interesting concepts. If there are infinite universes, that means literally everything has happened somewhere, right? For example, maybe in one universe everything is the same except I became a movie star instead of Brad Pitt? Not likely.
0-1 doesn’t include 2
To explain the thought as to why every scenario isn’t possible, even with infinite possibilities, a user in the thread simply said this:
There are infinite numbers between 0-1, but 2 isn’t one of them.
It kind of blew my mind. If you understand math, they are correct that there are literally an infinite number of digits between 0-1 (“0.12”, “0.32234”, “0.4”, “0.567”, etc), but none of them will ever be the number 2. Just because you have infinite set of numbers doesn’t mean that every possible number is included.
The same goes for the multiverse concept, or almost anything else with infinite possibilities. The idea of infinity is hard to comprehend, so it makes sense to just include everything in there, but you can actually have infinite possibilities even within hard limits.
If the multiverse theory is right, there are undoubtedly an infinite number of universes where Brad Pitt isn’t a movie star (and many more where he doesn’t exist at all), but that doesn’t mean that I necessarily got to take his place in any of them. You can have an infinite number of results, but still not necessarily include every possibility.
I like this perspective that infinite doesn’t include everything. However, your example seems flawed. It makes sense that the infinite set of numbers between 0-1 couldn’t include 2 because 2 doesn’t exist within the realm of possibility when you create the confines of 0-1. However, if we lived in a multiverse with an infinite number of universes, your statement that you couldn’t take Brad Pitt’s place as a movie star, seems improbable because that outcome is possible within the confines of this universal reality. It seems more likely that anything that can happen, will happen in an infinite set.
Interesting take — it feels like you’re wrong, but I think you’re correct. I admit I still struggle with what “infinite” really means in many cases, and this is one of them. It’s hard to know for sure.
For example, what if my existence is predicated on Brad Pitt existing first, butterfly effect and everything? Therefore, in any scenario where he isn’t born in 1963 I never come along in 1976.
It’s fascinating to think about, and I know I’m still missing some piece of it in my head.