All I could find... still doesn’t explain what the infinity symbol represents. A belief in the infinite?
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INFINITY SYMBOL
It could very well mean "a belief in the Infinite." It was difficult finding an explanation, but apparently they have opened the selection of symbols used on military and veteran markers. Families are able to petition for a symbol to be added to the list of symbols accepted for markers.
NPR had a transcript of a conversation about symbols used on veteran headstones, but did not specifically mention the Infinity. I include this as background on the system in place for veterans/military headstones:
https://www.npr.org/2015/05/23/408996572/the-stories-behind-the-symbols-on-vets-headstones
"...DON MURPHY: In 2009, a process was put in place. If an emblem that next of kin wanted inscribed on a headstone was not available, then they could make a formal request to the VA to have their emblem added.
PRICHEP: Don Murphy spent two decades with the National Cemetery Administration. The VA's list now has 61 symbols, ranging from crosses to a swirling atom to the hammer of Thor.
MURPHY: If the list continues to grow, that is fine. The VA does not question the individual belief system of any eligible veteran or their spouse or dependent.
PRICHEP: There are a few requirements. The icon must be dignified and has to lend itself to being carved in stone, but beyond that, the definition of belief is fairly broad. And according to military chaplain Nickolas Gaines, more and more, that's how belief is...."
"...PRICHEP: The answers to those questions don't necessarily take the shape of a Latin cross or star and crescent. For Linda Campbell and her wife Nancy, it's a sandhill crane. Campbell petitioned to have it added to the list and now the dancing bird is carved into the stone that someday they'll share.
CAMPBELL: It's just a beautiful symbol of wisdom and protection and a happy marriage. I wanted something that represented us and something we could believe in and be proud of and be glad to spend eternity with...."
∞ ∞ ∞
AND this is an interesting link:
Someone was wondering about the meaning of the infinity sign in 2013:
https://www.metafilter.com/129820/Grave-symbols-of-many-faiths
"Anyone know the history of 49: Infinity? It's literally just ∞. Cool, probably what I would pick, but I have no idea how it got added, which group agitated for it, or whether it's from a specific religion."
posted by vogon_poet at 9:44 AM on July 9, 2013 [3 favorites]
Someone replies:
"Anyone know the history of 49: Infinity? It's literally just ∞. Cool, probably what I would pick, but I have no idea how it got added, which group agitated for it, or whether it's from a specific religion."
"I've seen Metis People in Canada use the Infinity symbol on their flag and as a cultural symbol. I'm not aware of any religious use, or if it is used outside of Canada.
posted by Deep Dish at 12:43 PM on July 9, 2013"
Another reply:
As an atheist, I would probably opt for the infinity symbol out of everything available.
posted by codacorolla at 11:59 AM on July 13, 2013
∞ ∞ ∞
AND I found this fascinating link to grave marker symbols. No mention of "Infinity" symbol.... but "Poppy" is mentioned, which they say means, "Eternal Sleep." "Skull" or "Skull and Bones" means "Death."
https://www.msghn.org/usghn/symbols.html
∞ ∞ ∞
AND I MIGHT HAVE FOUND SOMETHING!
The Infinity symbol is apparently a widely accepted symbol among many philosophies and belief systems:
https://www.quora.com/What-choices-of-emblems-of-faith-do-I-have-for-my-military-headstone
The link to explain the Infinity symbol on this web site goes to the Wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinity_(philosophy)
"In philosophy and theology, infinity is explored in articles under headings such as the Ultimate, the Absolute, God, and Zeno's paradoxes. In Greek philosophy, for example in Anaximander, 'the Boundless' is the origin of all that is. He took the beginning or first principle to be an endless, unlimited primordial mass (ἄπειρον, apeiron). The Jain metaphysics and mathematics was the first to define and delineate different "types" of infinities. The work of the mathematician Georg Cantor first placed infinity into a coherent mathematical framework. Keenly aware of his departure from traditional wisdom, Cantor also presented a comprehensive historical and philosophical discussion of infinity. "
" In Judeo-Christian theology, for example in the work of Duns Scotus, the infinite nature of God invokes a sense of being without constraint, rather than a sense of being unlimited in quantity. In ethics infinity plays an important role designating that which cannot be defined or reduced to knowledge or power."
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Not sure why the links were not live. *sigh*
Thank you. Anyone who believes in God can easily say “God and His power is infinite”.
Even a simple belief that existence or reality is infinite is a very sound foundation for truth.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ Posting totally blind on this thread but an anecdotal add-on. Keep in mind when I was in high school a class called "Bible" was still being offered in public school. High school geometry class is the source of my anecdote. When the teacher began the lesson on the infinity of lines and planes he taught that the human mind can't comprehend infinity, it is solely in the realm of understanding of God.
I wonder if anyone else had that explanation related to geometry? Was God normally mentioned in relationship to the infinite in geometry curriculum or was my instructor unique? And, it was 40+ years ago.
Round like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel
Never ending or beginning on an ever spinning reel
Like a snowball down a mountain, or a carnival balloon
Like a carousel that’s turning running rings around the moon
Like a clock whose hands are sweeping past the minutes of its face
And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space
Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind!
Like a tunnel that you follow to a tunnel of its own
Down a hollow to a cavern where the sun has never shone
Like a door that keeps revolving in a half forgotten dream
Or the ripples from a pebble someone tosses in a stream
Like a clock whose hands are sweeping past the minutes of its face
And the world is like an apple whirling silently in space
Like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind!
Keys that jingle in your pocket, words that jangle in your head
Why did summer go so quickly, was it something that you said?
Lovers walking along a shore and leave their footprints in the sand
Is the sound of distant drumming just the fingers of your hand?
Pictures hanging in a hallway and the fragment of a song
Half remembered names and faces, but to whom do they belong?
When you knew that it was over you were suddenly aware
That the autumn leaves were turning to the color of her hair!
Like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel
Never ending or beginning on an ever spinning reel
As the images unwind, like the circles that you find
In the windmills of your mind!