Is the number of questions humans can think of infinite or finite?
If you got everyone in the world to stop doing everything they are and devote the rest of their lives to asking new questions. Do you think there would always be new, original questions to be asked or would it eventually come to an end?
An interesting question.
My hypothesis is that there is an infinitely countable set of possible questions humans can think of.
A question is a at least one or more ordered set of words.
Words are created by humans.
Words can be created as we abstract a set of concepts or objects.
The set of possible combinations of words therefore increases naturally.
It is therefore permissible to claim that humans are able to formulate an infinitely countable number of questions.
It is infinite. Generations and generations will come with people's experience and matter of reasoning will be the key of thinking infinitely. While we are not assured life will be long lasting for humans, the way our brain works are the typical reason that we question a lot of things.
The thought of questioning too is a big revelation that it comes infinitely. We can even make question out of small things.
The only loophole in this question is that life is uncertain. I don't have any idea if we get extinct or not. But if given the chance to live longer, then there's no question of unlimited thinking.
Infinite, diffidently infinite. See, lets say we could answer every question, by say, an all knowing self learning AI, so we know everything. Well,, that just means that you know everything right now, the next day, the next hour, or even nanosecond will start a butterfly effect in which it will raise new questions.
But in theory it is finite because in theory you can calculate everything to an atomic level, even the future can be calculated in which will give us an answer ... but to be honest, even a computer can get it wrong.
I think it is actually finite, but I can not picture that for myself. But that would be in the far future when we have atomic computers like it's nothing and brains that can surpass our imagination.
Great answer. Thanks for taking the time to reply! It actually inspired my next question :)
Oh, that's great. Go ahead and post those questions, I'm interested.
https://musing.io/q/runicar/p3h26rzm5
Questions can only stop flowing when the brain is dead. As long as human brain is active,there is no limit to the numbers of question that can be thought of.
Infinite. Maybe finite if we could reach ages way above the average of 80.