Thursday, January 22, 2015

The Infinite Hotel Paradox - Ted Ed Video


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj3_KqkI9Zo
By Jeff Dekofsky

14 comments:

Jenna said...

At first I did not understand anything that they were saying in the video. Then I realized the infinite hotel is like a puzzle that doesn't end. I thought it was very cool because everyone had a room and there were still more to spare. I thought that this video was cool because I talked about infinite in so many different ways.

Siji said...

It's really amazing how you can get infinite numbers by using the infinite prime numbers. I think it works that way because since there are infinite prime numbers and a prime number is basically itself times 1, you can basically disregard the 1, because anything times 1 is the same number, and you are left with the infinite prime numbers. It is incredible to picture infinity because infinity + 1 has to be defined as infinity because infinity is the greatest possible number.

Natalie said...

I really liked this video and the concept of it also. It is a never-ending puzzle, and the willing host won't except declining someone. At first, I wasn't very clear on this. But, after he said that you could use prime numbers to (temporarily, at least) solve this, it all made sense. Just move everyone up one room. But what I wasn't clear on is this: why didn't the host just put the guests in the top rooms instead of having to move everyone up n+_ levels?

Jason G. said...

This video was really cool. I think that the concept of an infinite hotel is such a cool idea. Many of the ideas were more complicated than they needed to be. There is an infinite number of rooms. The hotel never stops. At least, isn't that what "infinite" means? The manager could just put people on the highest floors in the rooms with the highest numbers. Also, I never thought that there could be an infinite number of prime numbers. At first this video was a bit confusing. The idea of n+(a number) just made it more complicated. Other than that this video had a great concept, and was explained well.

Siji said...

This is my idea on why the hotel manager couldn't just put the infinite people on top instead of moving the original guests up n+ (a number) rooms: The hotel is described as infinite, however there are also infinite busses with infinite guests. So basically infinite guests are entering the hotel with infinite rooms, which should work out. However, there are already some people in the hotel before there are infinite new guests. So when the infinite new guests enter, there are infinite + (the number of already-existing guests). This is greater than infinity, thus he couldn't just put the new guests in the upper floors.

Julianna said...

Wow! An infinite salary! Cool! (Sorry off topic) Anyways... I don't think the hotel manager's strategy is very complicated and should be easier. The strategy DOES work but there are unfilled rooms that waste space, even if the hotel has infinite rooms. Also the rooms numbers are going to get very complicated and large, people are not going to remember them. OH! And what about the elevator? Are people going to have to go through 52 floors if their room is on the 52nd floor? Then it will go on and on and no one would like to wait that long to get to their room. Eventually it will be a 1 star hotel and the manager would regret his strategy.

Jaime said...

I think it was really interesting, how the night manager dealt with infinity. When the night manager had more and more people come in the hotel, and he couldn't tell them they could not stay, he did many things. First, he would move everyone from room n to n+1. Second, if there were more people coming he would tell the guest to move from n to n+ however many of people came. Third, if an infinite bus came, he would ask the guests to move from room n to room nx2. so then all of the even numbered rooms would be taken up, and all the new people would take the infinite odd rooms. Fourth, when a infinite number of infinite buses come, the night manager can move the existing guests from the first prime number, lets say seven; so he or she would go to two to the seventh power. Then he takes the first bus and assigns them the third power, so the passengers would take the number of their seat, to the third power, then the second bus to the fifth power and etc. Also, I agree with Natalie; why couldn't the night manager just add the new people to the top rooms?

Lily S. said...

At first, I didn't understand how there would be enough room, but when they explained that there are infinite prime numbers, I understood. It is like a maze or a puzzle that will never end. I thought it was very interesting how the night manager always found room, but I don't like how rooms are wasted, such as room number six. I liked the idea of how the night manager took the first prime number for the first infinite bus filled with an infinite amount of people and then used their seat numbers to get their room. Then he would do that with the next bus and the next. I didn't understand why the night manager couldn't just put the guests on top, but I understood Siji's comment. They first have one number as infinity, and then with infinite people, they are adding more to infinity.

Olivia said...

This video definately took my breath away. I have always been in awe at the concept of infinity and I often find myself asking myself, "would living forever be a dream or a nightmare?". I find it amazing that there will always be room for more and an infinite number of people can fit into this hotel. When the video began getting into the prime numbers, that is when it became a real challenge to wrap my mind around the concept of an infinite hotel. This is probably the most amazing and interesting concepts I have ever heard of and about. I had so much fun watching this video and trying to understand the concept of an infinite hotel. There is truly no way to describe this video, other than breathtaking.

Sydney said...

I really thought this video was cool! Infinite rooms could accommodate infinite guests, as long as the current guests move some number of rooms down. this number is defined by a formula, the room number being n. i would hate to be in room .01!

Allie said...

I have seen this video before, but it didn't really make much sense to me. Now I watch it again, and I get it. It is amazing how this is, like Natalie, Jenna and some other people said, like a giant puzzle with practically no answer. In the beginning, n+amount of people was really cool, and then it became seat# of person on the bus x a prime number. There would be a lot of empty rooms! Also, like Julianna said, that night manager must be super rich...

Kendall said...

The one thing that confused me is there is an infinite number of room, then how can all of the room be filled? And why don't you just put all the people in the new rooms instead of moving all of the other ones? and (a little off topic)1. they need more maids... and like oli said- "would living forever be a dream or a nightmare?". aren't these people impatient? i would assume that calumniation must happen very fast in order to keep people happy

Ayden said...

This video was rather interesting. At first, it didn't make any sense. But then I realized what it meant, and it really is quite clever, because there is an infinite number of even natural numbers and an infinite number of primes, as proved by Euclid. The video mentioned the infinite real number hotel, which would be really cool to see. Room number π would be interesting to see, and so would room number √-1. The concept of infinity is pretty complicated, and it's really hard for our little minds to grasp its idea.

Siji said...

Ayden, isn't the square root of negative one an imaginary number, which would not possibly be a room.