I believe Cadsuane Sedai mentioned to Rand that the voices are a common side-effect of the Taint. This should be included in the Effects section.
Infinite vs Finite misconception[]
I find the argument that the Taint is Finite as it is descroyed by another Finite Source in Mashadar very incorrect in the view of both sources of power as it misunderstands what infinite is in itself, the Infinite can be contained in a single grain of sand, outside of that grain of sand is another infinite that is outside of the original one. a 'Finite space' does not hold to the idea of infinity. The Universe is Infinite but it has dimension and space to it in 90 billion light years, it contains the infinite of the universe though.
What you consider Finite is the 'Access Point' the part where the place that holds the evil of Mashadar and the evil that holds the Taint interact with the Living World and both have different points of convergence with that Living World. One affects the physical world, one affects the metaphysical world, both are a form of miasma that coats the place they interact with no matter where it is. If you're weilding Saidin in Seanchan you're going to interact with the Taint, just as if Fain is in Shara and spreading the taint of Mashadar there as well, both are accessed by a single finite point but both are infinite in the fact that they need to be to encompass everything.
Infinite itself is a difficult concept to understand, and the reality of having one form of corruption meet against another form of corruption, having both of them seek to destroy everything around them ends in the destruction of both, which explains how Shadar Logoth is destroyed and the female Choden Kal, as the 'access point' is the funnel that Nynaeve creates to filter the Taint through from Saidin to the Living World, both were their access and both needed to be destroyed and the only things left after that are those still affected by the powers (i.e Fain and any Asha'man who touched Saidin before the Cleansing.)
- The argument maybe needs readdressed as written, but I don't disagree with the conclusion. I think it has a strong basis in the fact that the Taint was destroyed in a finite amount of time. With a proper understanding of infinity, this means that an infinite amount of the Taint is being destroyed by Rand every second, every microsecond, every Planck-second. That should be a point of further examination.
- The approach of mathematics towards the concept of infinity is the most rigorous. What you are talking about is as set of infinite measure, which is not the same as an infinite set. The interval (0,1) in the real numbers is an uncountably infinite set, but it is not of infinite measure. The set of real numbers, however, has infinite measure. So the question is, does the Taint have infinite measure? I would think not as it could be destroyed in finite time, so a given measure of it can be destoyed per unit of time.
- That infinity can be contained in a grain of sand needs a more rigorous approach. By e=mc^2, that grain of sand has a finite mass that can be converted entirely to a finite amount of energy. What do you mean by infinite in this sense? Furthermore, I don't find it a valid argument that either the True Source or the universe is infinite. There is nothing canon to say the True Source is infinite. It is likely the case that it is like the concept of energy in the real world - it can be manipulated, but it is more recycled than infinite in the true sense. The universe is also finite in that it contains a finite amount of mass and energy in some combination and it is contained within a finite space. True infinity only exists in the abstract sense and so it seems unreasonable to think that it would exist literally within the Wheel of Time. With regards the many mirror worlds, this would probably be infinite only in the sense of countably infinite, if at all. Each decision branches off, but it becomes infinite only with the assumption that there truly are infinite turnings.
- How much RJ knew of infinity, being a somewhat failed engineer/physicist more interested in the arts, remains to be seen. This is not a slight at all. He definitely has a scientific bent, but Origins of the Wheel of Time suggests it wasn't his real passion, and he was a genius where he wanted to be. Moridin_2000 (talk) 18:17, 28 April 2023 (UTC)