earticle

영어

“Science” journal is one of the world’s top academic journals. Many researchers are trying to publish their work in Science, and only a few selected novel papers are accepted. However, we think that this kind of process cannot continue forever. In this paper, we show that there is a limit to the number of Science papers that can be written. Therefore, the day will come when Science cannot publish new papers anymore. Using a similar method, we estimate the maximum limit on the number of pop songs that can be composed. By extending our discussion to all kinds of digital contents, we derive a mathematical expression for the maximum number of digital contents of a certain type that can be created. These results imply that someday man will not be able to produce new papers or new digital contents anymore. This conclusion raises deep philosophical questions.