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submitted 2 months ago by alyaza@beehaw.org to c/askbeehaw@beehaw.org

critical minds want to know the answer to this question

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[-] polonius-rex@kbin.run 4 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

A single human brain is finite, but the possible configurations of neurons across any possible hypothetical brain is decidedly infinite.

[-] jeff@programming.dev 6 points 2 months ago

I'm no mathematician, but I don't think that's how it works. A quick Google says there are 100 billion neurons. So you would have 100000000000! possible combinations, unfathomably large, but finite. Granted, a human brain is more complex than the configuration of neurons, but I don't know how it becomes infinite.

I'm also way past the point of overthinking this.

[-] polonius-rex@kbin.run 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

yeah, but the relative positions and relative lengths and relative widths and relative densities and relative conductivities of those neurons are real numbers

[-] jeff@programming.dev 7 points 2 months ago

Now we are getting into the quantum physics question of if the universe is discrete or continuous. Which seems to be unsolved.

So I guess that's my answer. If the universe is discrete then there are finite genders, and if it's continuous then there could be infinite genders.

[-] knokelmaat@beehaw.org 5 points 2 months ago

I fucking love where this went, as I was thinking the exact same responses while reading this thread! Love it when a question about gender results in fundamental ideas surrounding mathematics and the nature of reality.

[-] polonius-rex@kbin.run 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

so at the very least, the lower bound is the natural numbers, or a countably infinite number

this post was submitted on 22 Jul 2024
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