Arithmetic of the Infiinte

The pursuit of knowledge of various things, primarily beginning at the phenomenon of the perceptible world, eventually leads to the sublime. 

The observable and the measurable lead us to the theories that are perceived only through their manifestation. For instance, the Newton's First law can never be perceived as a thing, except as an idea in the mind or as a string of symbols on apiece of paper. However we can perceive its manifestation by observing real world phenomenon such as a satellite in orbit, or a near perfect snooker table. All laws of Science are of similar nature. H2O is a sequence of symbols. For someone who know the elements and the manner in which they combine to create different substances, this could imply a certain substance.But this can be perceived only by touching and feeling water. Water=H2O is a mere mental activity.

Such generalizations simplify our world and help us perceive and understand reality deeper. 

A progression of such cycles of observations,measurements ,theorizing, validations takes us into a more and more compact representation of the observable phenomena. One can embrace billions and billions of liters of water in the whole of the Universe by the simple three symbol string H2O. All the Gold in the world by 'Au'. Well that's a stretch! The point is, by studying and abstracting the observable phenomena, the mind creates a manageable and simplified repository of the Universe.

In other general pursuits of life, one encounters a variety of experiences, some seem to make you happy, such as possessions, recognition, companionship and so on. All of these have the property of 'diminishing returns'. they seem to loose the edge of making you happy as you keep enjoying them. This is true even to Knowledge. While knowledge of things, a superior abstraction and generalization, seem to boost the ego and make it feel superior and hence happy, even that looses its ability to make one happy perpetually. This is so merely because such is its property. One can verify from observation that it is true about every phenomenon we experience.

In the arithmetic of happiness, if we were to quantify the things that seem to provide us happiness, this quantification will be a number that diminishes over time, and will all individually tend to zero as time progresses.

Limit         H(t) → 0

(t → ∞)

In all these pursuits of life , there is a pursuit of the one who pursues. The investigation and ultimately understanding  who you are. Understanding the true identity of your self, and realizing its separateness from the world of phenomena has a value of ∞ . If we add this to our other possessions, then we have,

Hnew(t) = H(t) + ∞.

Limit         Hnew(t) → ∞

(t → ∞)

This modified equation clarifies the uselessness of the variation is values possible due to various functions of H individuals may have. Thus enabling one to pursue the Infinite, reach it and hence live Joyfully.