Final answer:
In "Time Capsule Found on the Dead Planet," the number 0 may have become holy as a symbol of the end, the initial singularity of the universe, and represents a limit beyond which our understanding cannot currently extend. The holiness ascribed to 0 in the 4th age could reflect both the emptiness after a cataclysm and a connection to the very beginning of the cosmos.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the short story "Time Capsule Found on the Dead Planet," by Margaret Atwood, the number 0 becomes holy in the 4th age. This shift in reverence may symbolize the end of a cycle or the obliteration of existence, resonating with the themes of emptiness and absence that are often associated with the number 0. In the context provided, which explores the infancy of the universe and the limits of our understanding, the holiness could stem from 0 representing a return to the initial state of the cosmos, an incomprehensible singularity beyond our current scientific understanding encapsulated by the limit of measurability at 10-43 seconds after the Big Bang. Additionally, the story alludes to religious and scientific imagery which inherently gives profound meanings to simple concepts, turning them into powerful symbols within a collapsing universe scenario, as seen in Gregory Benford's "The Final Now."