There will be a point where I no longer create things that need to be washed up. Unless you believe that the human race is destined for an indefinite existence then there will be a time when no one creates anything to be washed up (plenty of other species don't do it, and I suspect that neither have humans all through their history). But, for all practical purposes, I can look forward to a time when I don't do it any more. Indeed, I can look at it and say "the washing up is done" until some point when someone (possibly me) creates some more.
If you are trying to compare it with poetry, the analogous thing is with poetry in general. Certainly, you can memorise one poem -- but by the time you've done that people will have written several more (much like your washing up). It's effectively infinite[1] (in that there will always -- I hope -- be more poems than any one person could possibly read). Or, it's finite in that once you have memorised one poem (equivalent to the washing up from one meal) you have accomplished that task.
"An attainable goal is worth striving for, even if you can't attain it yourself." Assertion. That may be true for you, but it isn't for most people, who see no point in striving to climb a mountain, for instance. And while attainable goals may be worthwhile as steps, people do seem to see them as only steps on the way to the unattainable goals. No one will ever write the "perfect tune", it doesn't stop composers from trying to get ever better.
Again, /in your view/ there is no point in striving for an unattainable goal. Yes, you make that clear. I don't understand that because I can see lots of goals which are unattainable but people strive for them anyway. People who try to become "the best" at anything are in this category (because someone will always beat their 'record'). Scientists who try to get as close as possible to Absolute Zero (they'll never make it, but it doesn't stop them trying to get that fraction closer).
To me, hoping that the amount of knowledge and understanding is finite is like hoping that people will stop writing books or music. If it ever happened life would be very boring, and at that point there would indeed be no point in striving to to anything, because it would have all been done. Indeed, something like that happened towards the end of the 19th century when several scientists did think that everything was likely to be known very soon and all that would be left would be refining a few more decimal points, and it put a damper on anyone entering the field, who wants to be left with the "washing up" with no meal?
[1] Anything 'infinite' may be restricted by the life span of the universe, if you believe that it has one. But in any practical terms, for an individual, the amount they can know is finite and bounded by their lifespan and so they will always die, like Newton, having played on the beach and picked up a few pebbles with an unknowable amount left to learn.
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If you are trying to compare it with poetry, the analogous thing is with poetry in general. Certainly, you can memorise one poem -- but by the time you've done that people will have written several more (much like your washing up). It's effectively infinite[1] (in that there will always -- I hope -- be more poems than any one person could possibly read). Or, it's finite in that once you have memorised one poem (equivalent to the washing up from one meal) you have accomplished that task.
"An attainable goal is worth striving for, even if you can't attain it yourself." Assertion. That may be true for you, but it isn't for most people, who see no point in striving to climb a mountain, for instance. And while attainable goals may be worthwhile as steps, people do seem to see them as only steps on the way to the unattainable goals. No one will ever write the "perfect tune", it doesn't stop composers from trying to get ever better.
Again, /in your view/ there is no point in striving for an unattainable goal. Yes, you make that clear. I don't understand that because I can see lots of goals which are unattainable but people strive for them anyway. People who try to become "the best" at anything are in this category (because someone will always beat their 'record'). Scientists who try to get as close as possible to Absolute Zero (they'll never make it, but it doesn't stop them trying to get that fraction closer).
To me, hoping that the amount of knowledge and understanding is finite is like hoping that people will stop writing books or music. If it ever happened life would be very boring, and at that point there would indeed be no point in striving to to anything, because it would have all been done. Indeed, something like that happened towards the end of the 19th century when several scientists did think that everything was likely to be known very soon and all that would be left would be refining a few more decimal points, and it put a damper on anyone entering the field, who wants to be left with the "washing up" with no meal?
[1] Anything 'infinite' may be restricted by the life span of the universe, if you believe that it has one. But in any practical terms, for an individual, the amount they can know is finite and bounded by their lifespan and so they will always die, like Newton, having played on the beach and picked up a few pebbles with an unknowable amount left to learn.