
What do Christian fundamentalists have against set theory? - ichaib
http://boingboing.net/2012/08/07/what-do-christian-fundamentali.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+boingboing%2FiBag+%28Boing+Boing%29
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wbillingsley
Perhaps because I skim-read it, but I couldn't seem to find the part where he
(i) actually found that Christian fundamentalists in general have something
against set theory, and (ii) determined that it was their Christian
fundamentalism and not some other factor that made them opposed to it.
Instead, there was just a vague ramble about a particular publisher that
doesn't like modernism. Reading this post felt a little reminiscent of the
famous newspaper story: "SIXTY HORSES WEDGED IN CHIMNEY. The story to fit this
sensational headline has not turned up yet."

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hosh
He talked about how set theory can apply to sets of different infinities (e.g.
sets of infinite whole numbers, sets of infinite rational numbers). This bumps
into "There is only one infinity, and that is God".

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dazzawazza
There are multiple sets of infinite size. Lets take two: the set of all whole
numbers (1,2,3,4...) and the set of even numbers (2,4,6,8...).

Now since the set of whole numbers contains the set of even numbers AND the
set of odd numbers the set of whole numbers MUST be bigger than the set of
even numbers. So now we know that there are different 'sizes' of infinite
(when comparing sets of infinite things).

This leads to the dangerous thought that there might be something MORE
infinite than God which is an abomination. Since only god is infinite.

This kind of logic makes me cry.

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greenyoda
Actually, the set of all whole numbers and the set of even numbers are the
same size, since you can construct a one-to-one mapping between them: n -> 2n.

Cantor famously showed that the set of rational numbers is the same size as
the set of whole numbers. However, the set of real numbers can be proven to be
larger than the set of integers.

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epo
Perhaps fundamentalists are proving the validity of evolutionary theory. Maybe
they are a side branch of homo sapiens in which intelligence is curiously
underdeveloped, that brain capacity being occupied by blind dogma and
superstition. Due to interbreeding perhaps?

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iterationx
Positing that your ideological opponents are a subspecies of humanity. Classy.

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ctdonath
One element in a large set, evaluated out of context, is not necessarily
representative of all elements in the set.

