Buzz Lightyear
At the most recent Meeting on Main gathering, we discussed the Kalam Cosmological Argument. Like always we have a question box situated on the front table for those who desire to ask further questions. We stated that we would post some of the questions and our answers to them on the website. We only received one question this time around. After reading the question, I assumed it was meant to be funny, but I decided to go ahead and answer it anyways! I don’t know if the questioner realized it or not, but one is actually able to make important distinguishments about infinity from their question.
Q: If you can’t have an actual infinite, what was Buzz Lightyear talking about? JERK!
A: Before I go ahead and answer this question, it is important to from the start figure out a few things. The first is what Buzz actually said and the second is to figure out the exact meaning/definitions to his terms/statement. In order to do this I watched an extensive amount of YouTube clips from the movie (just to be certain). Buzz states specially, “to infinity and beyond.”
Now that we figured out exactly what he stated, the question that arises is what did Buzz mean by this statement? I don’t think we can be one hundred percent certain of his meaning, but it appears we may be able to pull a few things out of this statement to try to determine his meaning. Let us take a look at two points.
Some may recall from our talk the other night that we mentioned Aristotle. Aristotle made important distinctions when discussing the many paradoxes within infinite limits. He separated what he called an ‘actual’ infinite from what he called a ‘potential’ infinite. He denied that an actual infinite could exist but confirmed the existence of a potential infinite, that there are these limits that could keep going, or these magnitudes that could keep being divided… It seems to me these sorts of thoughts or concepts about infinity is not what Buzz meant. I state this due to the fact Buzz ends with ‘and beyond.’ Well there is no sense of beyond when it comes to these infinite limits, yet for Buzz there is this idea of a beyond. Lucky for Buzz I don’t think this is the context in which he meant it.
I think the answer to this lay within who Buzz actually is and what Buzz actually does. You see Buzz is a space ranger super hero! He battles these evil space characters in his quest to make this vast universe good. He is determined to stop all those that oppose the good. I think this maybe is where our answer lies. What I mean by this is that I don’t think Buzz was talking about infinity quantitatively but rather qualitatively. Buzz traverses the universe in order to stop the bad. Buzz is supposed to travel across this vastness to do what he does best and if he is called to travel to further planets and further galaxies to achieve his calling he will do so. No time or space will stop his mission. When he stares out into the vast empty universe in which he fights, he realizes his purpose and desires to push past those limits or boundaries that his enemies and maybe even himself place on what good this one small polystyrene man can do. His end and upmost achievements may very well then just be a platform to blast off to a greater and better goal - to infinity and beyond.
I do not think what Buzz said causes any mathematical problems at all. It seems within the context of who Buzz is and what he does this saying would be correct. Now of course this is mere speculation. For all we know Buzz may not have a great knowledge of Math, Philosophy, or even Science. He may very well have been thinking of it quantitatively. He could have been thinking of literally infinite measurable distances he has to cross, in which case then he would be incorrect. Granted he is a toy! It also took him the span of what may have been a few days (from reaching the house) to contemplate and agree with his existence as a toy. He may very well just be plain wrong. I would like to give him the benefit of the doubt though. For those who don’t want to give him this benefit, I am going to take a shot in the dark and say that I think you may identify with that Sid character haha!
Before I end this blog I would like to point out a question that relates and that often gets brought up about God. With this I believe the church needs to be more careful with terminology and context. We have heard in church that God is infinite, but if an actual infinite cannot exist how can this reconcile? It appears to me that this term is not used quantitatively with God but qualitatively. By this I mean what scholars call God’s ‘Omni’ properties. God is the greatest in power, knowledge, goodness, etc.…. If this is what we mean by infinite, then I agree.
Thanks for the question!
Ryan Willert