according to vocalist dimitri minakakis, the majority of the lyrical content on "calculating infinity" is based on his experience in dysfunctional relationships. speaking to "decibel" magazine, minakakis explained that "most of my dillinger lyrics were predicated on myself ... i just had stupid relationships with idiotic people, and i'd just write a song about it", concluding that "most of the lyrics on "calculating infinity" were based on human insecurity. that's where i got the best material." the album's title was suggested by guitarist brian benoit, who recalled to "decibel": "since so much of the material lyrically was about failing relationships, i kind of took it as a "love not lasting forever" sort of thing ... obviously, forever – or infinity – isn't going to happen ... so let's see how long we can calculate before this blows up in our face."