Has 3 definitions at the same time: Infinite

The page just launched, and, well, it's all over the place.

• First the page offers us a definition of infinite, which I don't think is acurate ("Everything there is, has been, and ever will be." is closer to what universe means than the definition of Infinite)

• Then the page discusses Infinite used as a shorthand for a big number. This is a valid trope. Some examples are valid, others kind of are (like the concept of "near infinite" for the infinity gauntlet example)

• Then the page discusses immortality (which in itself may not be infinite, but whatever) in vague terms, and makes mention that some eldrich abominations may be infinite.

The examples are all over the place. Some just listing "X has the infinity symbol" or "this has infinity written on it" with no connection to any of the definition. The concept of infinity on it's own is not a trope. The same reason we don't have a page on 3, 45, 8 or whatever or Pi. We have pages when numbers mean something (Mouthful of Pi: Someone saying decimals of Pi as sign of intelligence. Four Is Death: Four as a bad omen)

edited 16th Apr '11 10:37:41 PM by Ghilz

The examples appear to have no coherent, tropable connecting thread, and the description doesn't offer any clear definition. I don't see a trope in here.

Rhymes with "Protracted."

Cut.

Fight smart, not fair.

Looking at the YKTTW, the OP seemed to narrow this down to the second definition, but not before originally posting it in a People Sit On Chairs form, and no one quite caught on to the redefinition without having it pointed out. The OP suggested he'd "fix" the examples later, but he never did.

People requested a new title under the "work names get priority" semi-rule, but the problem is that the concept of infinity isn't People Sit On Chairs in the traditional sense - no one will ever encounter something literally infinite (except maybe the universe). Technically, it's a concept made up by humans, so technically it falls under the borders of a trope. (At least given the way the perception of the wiki's mission has shifted.)

It seems like during the YKTTW, there were conflicting forces pushing this trope into describing the general concept, and pushing it into just describing infinity as shorthand for a big number.

Being a human concept is not what makes a trope (Chairs are human concepts, yet See People Sit On Chairs). It's having a meaning that makes a trope. 4 represent death is a trope (Four Is Death). Fire makes things more awesome is a trope (Incendiary Exponent). Etc.... On it's own, Infinity is not a trope.

That said, I do think "Infinity used to represent a big, finite, number" is a trope, its just that most of the examples dont support it. Which is why I would ideally prefer not seeing it cut.

EDIT: Seems the trope Launcher has now began tightening the page towards definition #2. Good chunk of the description and examples are gone.

edited 17th Apr '11 9:39:42 AM by Ghilz

Bumping

If this is intended to be something that is mistaken for infinite when it is really only very large, then this trope needs to be renamed. I'd suggest something like Approaches Infinity or Close Enough Infinity.

That said, I have no problem with a trope that deals with infinity itself, like the Infinite Ammo for Metal Gear Solid (just) and the Inifinite Improbability Drive (something with infinite potential that deals with infinite numbers), which is certain a property that has in-story repercussions.

I'd like to hear someone else's opinion on this before we go ahead with anything. There could well be two tropes here with too few examples.

edited 19th Apr '11 6:41:30 AM by the1ultimate

I call forth Unlimited Stories!

We should have a trope for the symbol though.

Wouldn't that be called "Infinity" though? Or Infinity Motif, Infinity Symbol Motif ect.

I do agree that it could be a trope. Haruhi's Endless Eight had the infinity symbol hidden in many places [1]◊[2]◊ [3]◊ (Along with a store called Endless◊). It was an endless recursion of time.

Sparkling and glittering! Jan-Ken-Pon!

I don't think the symbol is really a trope on it's own.

Not anymore than a page on ampersand (&) or # would be tropeable

Many names were suggested to that effect in the YKTTW. Some where even made into redirect by the launcher (Infintely Big Number)

For some odd reason, when I saw the name, I thought it was an Infinite from a fighting game (AKA A combo/maneuver that can be done repeatedly without escape).

Fight. Struggle. Endure. Suffer. LIVE.

Bump

Bump

the description seems pretty coherent to me. Any problems look like they've been solved.

Yes, but alot, if not most, of the examples don't support it. So in the end, would there be enough to even keep a page?

EDIT: Removed alot of the bad examples. Would this even count as an example? Doesn't mention infinite as a big number.

• Parodied in Look Around You's first episode "Maths".

—>Narrator: What's the largest number you can think of?
Girl: Um... a hundred thousand?
Man: Nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand.
Older man: A million.
Narrator: In actual fact, it's neither of these. The largest number is about 45 billion. Although mathematicians suspect there may be even larger numbers.

edited 27th Apr '11 7:07:14 AM by Ghilz

Its just one of those tropes that has a type 1 and type 2 example, we're hardly short of those. Type 1 is the symbol used to imply @something@ psuedoscientific is happening, the second is the concept is explicitly invoked for psuedo-scientific technobabble.

The one you quote is playing off our expectations of type two. It's a niche trope, so it will never be widespread, but I think it is valid. Maybe be a bit more explicit in type 1 and type 2 in the description to prevent anyone else misunderstanding, but that is about it.

Except for that example, I think this looks pretty much cleaned up.

First key to interpreting a work: Things mean things.