# 無限の概念ーNever Ending Story
**Source:** https://taksanart.com/en/無限の概念ーnever-ending-story
**Language:** English

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Do you know this quiz? I think you can find it easily if you search online.

"A hotel where an infinite number of guests can stay is said to be full. How can one more person be accommodated?"

It's difficult. Infinite, yet full. There might be a possibility if we consider that the infinite number of guests matches the infinite number of rooms, "♾️ = ♾️"... I couldn't find the answer myself.

Okay, here's the answer. Sorry for the spoiler.

It's said that 'All guests move to the room next door, one by one: 1 + ♾️ = ♾️.' (Apparently, it doesn't hold true mathematically.) I see. Even if you add new value to ♾️, the concept of infinity lives on. I like this infinity quiz.

On the other hand, in many cases, it is believed that communication with objectivity can be achieved by quantifying everything (for example, in marketing cases, or calculating financial assets), and there seem to be many such academic fields. It's the same in job interviews, isn't it? When you want someone you don't know to know you, saying "I achieved XX project with XX yen in XX years with XX% success rate!" can be understood by everyone through numbers.

When I went abroad, even though I couldn't speak the language well (perhaps it's a survival skill), I was surprisingly good with numbers, and they helped me communicate. (I always got failing grades in math in Japan, but at community college, I used to tutor math students in the cafeteria... it's a really strange story. I'll tell you about that another time!)

However, I sometimes feel limitations with things that can be quantified. Assuming that becoming larger means increasing in number, the way to enrich something is often by increasing from 100 to 1000. But what if we focus on 1 and consider how many parts 1 can be divided into? For example, let's keep dividing a pizza in half, n x 50%. The number of such pizzas is infinite.

![Img 6447 1](https://taksanart.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/img_6447-1.jpg?w=750 "無限の概念ーNever ending story")

I feel the same way about human potential. (Perhaps it's hope for myself.) For example, there are limits to how many external factors you can increase, or what quality of external factors you can increase. But what if you delve into the individual '1'? Therein lies eternal possibility.

There's a theory that the Japanese word 'wakaru' (to understand) is derived from 'wakeru' (to divide). To divide. To divide a pizza. There's such thing as being able to divide things completely; perhaps it means that understanding something eternally and completely is impossible. Therefore, in this information-flooded society, there might actually be many people who just \*think\* they understand.

That's why I enjoy studying. The state of not understanding continues, and what I thought I understood leads to the next mystery, an eternal cycle. An eternal journey is a wonderful thing. (If I could offer one piece of advice, based on my experience, starting this journey of infinitely excavating the individual '1' might not always be pleasant. I believe it can also be a journey that others cannot understand. How you confront that might also be a lesson that cannot be fully grasped.)

When this body perishes, perhaps I will have achieved nothing. But if I have had obstacles in continuing to dig into '1' until that time, I can think of nothing happier. (Well then, first, let's exercise!)

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