The Universe

[ArchaicTruth]

I'm sorry for my slight outburst, but the point is, it was merely speculation, not a claim

 

[R3quiem]

I'm sorry for my slight outburst, but the point is, it was merely speculation, not a claim

I'm assuming that the OP wants speculation, it's not like any of us KNOW what's going on with the universe, so speculation is all he can hope to receive.

And it's not like all of the scientists/researchers sit around thinking this stuff up with no evidence. They see the universe is expanding, and they think it is expanding faster than light because that's what their measurements tell them. They measure this by measuring the redshift of distant objects.

 

[AuraTwilight]

Most scientists/researches think that if the universe keeps expanding, the end result will be a "heat death". That is, eventually the matter in the universe will get so stretched out, and the atoms themselves will get so stretched out that they will all rip apart and the universe will end.

That's the Big Rip. Heat Death is when all available energy in the universe is permanently used up.

 

[ArchaicTruth]

Lots of interesting stuff that

I wonder which one will get to us first...

 

[shmee]

This all of course completely disregards the possibility that the universe loops around, like in some cosmological models.

I always liked this idea.

Otherwise, though, it's not necessarily expanding into anything, it's just expanding.

 

[Received]

Expansion doesn't imply teleology, and only if it did would it make sense to ask what it is expanding to or towards. You're projecting a teleology if you say it is expanding towards something.

 

[Eudaimonist]

Since the universe contains and defines all "wheres", any attempt to speak of a "where" outside of the universe is to speak of that which can't be defined.

The question is meaningless.


eudaimonia,

Mark

 

[elcapitan]

Since the universe contains and defines all "wheres", any attempt to speak of a "where" outside of the universe is to speak of that which can't be defined.

The question is meaningless.


eudaimonia,

Mark

Outside of the universe exists nothing. This doesn't mean that "not something" (i.e. a vacuum) exists outside the universe, but rather non-existence.

Try not to think about non-existence too much. It's a waste of time.

 

[Atheuz]

It's expanding into nothing. No, nothing is unexplainable and don't bother trying to think about it - It'll make your brain implode, I pondered about this question a lot a few months ago until I finally gave up.

 

[ArchaicTruth]

Just because it can't be solved doesn't mean we should drop it
I personally can't stop thinking about it

 

[elcapitan]

Just because it can't be solved doesn't mean we should drop it
I personally can't stop thinking about it

Yes, it should be dropped because it's meaningless. As I mentioned before, outside the universe is not simply "nothing" (no-thing), but non-existence.

I'm reminded of what the philosopher Parmenides said (I've done some formatting to make it easier to read):

"It must be that what is there for speaking and thinking of, is; for [it] is there to be, whereas nothing is not. That is what I bid you consider., for I restrain you..from this [route of inquiry], on which mortals knowing nothing wander two-headed. ...Being and not-being have been thought both the same and not the same; and the path of all is backward-turning... For never shall this prevail, that things that are not are"

Or, in other words, don't think too much about non-existence, because it's a waste of time and will get you nowhere.

 

[ArchaicTruth]

Well, I enjoy myself when I contemplate such things, so obviously I'm getting somewere

 

[Allister]

If, as some scientists believe, our universe exists as one in many, a multiverse, there must be some area of separation between one universe and another. If all universes start with a big bang and expand then surely some pure void, empty of both space and time, exists everywhere between universes and is being expanded into.

I don't think, with any future technology, anyone or anything could exit the universe. We are trapped to our fabric of space.

 

[R3quiem]

If, as some scientists believe, our universe exists as one in many, a multiverse, there must be some area of separation between one universe and another. If all universes start with a big bang and expand then surely some pure void, empty of both space and time, exists everywhere between universes and is being expanded into.

I don't think, with any future technology, anyone or anything could exit the universe. We are trapped to our fabric of space.

Scientists believe with evidence that SPACE ITSELF was created with the big bang. Outside of the expanding universe isn't just empty space, there is literally nothing-ness; not even space itself exists. If the multiverse theory is correct, it's more like they overlap in different dimensions- they wouldn't just be next to each other with space in between.

 

[Allister]

Scientists believe with evidence that SPACE ITSELF was created with the big bang.

Obviously

there is literally nothing-ness; not even space itself exists.

Yes

If the multiverse theory is correct, it's more like they overlap in different dimensions- they wouldn't just be next to each other with space in between.

Why is it more likely? Is that your personal assertion?

Why is it not equally as likely that Universes exist in their own inescapable space-time in a "field of bubbles" with non-space-time nothingness between them. This helps to explain what space-time is expanding into.

 

[R3quiem]

Obviously



Yes




Why is it more likely? Is that your personal assertion?

Why is it not equally as likely that Universes exist in their own inescapable space-time in a "field of bubbles" with non-space-time nothingness between them. This helps to explain what space-time is expanding into.

I'm not sure what "expanding into" means when there is nothingness to expand into.

And no, that wasn't my personal assertion. I don't have a PhD in physics, so I can't make personal assertions about that sort of stuff. Instead, I like to read about the subject a lot, and from what I've read from people who study these things, none of them believe that the universes are like, next to each other. They almost all agree that they would be in other overlapping dimensions.

 

[Allister]

I'm not sure what "expanding into" means when there is nothingness to expand into.

I studied Astronomy at degree level and I understand all the concepts and what have you but from a human perspective with our human experiences it seems contradictory to say that the universe is expanding yet there is nothing to expand into.

And no, that wasn't my personal assertion. I don't have a PhD in physics, so I can't make personal assertions about that sort of stuff. Instead, I like to read about the subject a lot, and from what I've read from people who study these things, none of them believe that the universes are like, next to each other.

I read somewhere that Martin Rees, the Astronomer Royal, has hypothesised a multiverse where universes sit next to each other, for want of a better expression.

And even if the majority of scientists believe in a multiverse contained within curled up dimensions it matters not. The majority of scientists at one time laughed at the big bang/expanding universe hypothesis. In a subject without evidence it is all conjecture and it comes back to the original question; if the universe is expanding what is it expanding into?

I, without any proof, believe that our universe is like the planet Earth, infinite yet contained, you could walk forever and never find the edge, yet with the right technology and understanding we could see that something exist beyond its borders.

 

[ArchaicTruth]

I, without any proof, believe that our universe is like the planet Earth, infinite yet contained, you could walk forever and never find the edge, yet with the right technology and understanding we could see that something exist beyond its borders.

Put very nicely
I completely agree

 

[peano123]

a finite space does not have to have a boundary, the surface of a sphere is unbounded but closed.

Furthermore, the expansion of the surface is based on the expansion of the sphere.