The Limit

When Archimedes designed the idea of limits over 2000 years ago, paving the way to advanced differential calculus that happened much later, it was limited to curved figures and volume. For those who could internalize the concept, it provided a higher meaning to many disciplines. Social scientists have been backward in the incorporation of mathematics, especially in formulating policy, because many play politics and not truly interested in optimum policy. Such is the state of distress on the blue planet that even math can’t help it survive, let alone lowly humans.

As society fast approaches the limit, one has to understand that answers are likely hidden in math. Unfortunately, the discontinuity requires a genius who materializes at the will of God. She was kind just twice in the last 500 years, once in 1643 and again in 1879 and then has gone silent. Perhaps it is symptomatic of an impending catastrophe or just random. It is not easy as it requires a clear understanding of the system, whether the scope is 8 billion humans and countless other organisms on the tiny blue dot or a vast universe extending over 100 billion light years, beyond recognizable horizons.

The true limit is the human’s ability to understand and consume math.