32 replies to this topic

[Irenë Hawnetyne]

So... in the news there's a proposal that the universe may have existed forever, according to the science people who know stuff about this kind of thing. Sounds good and quite positive to me, how about you guys? Any opinions, thoughts, criticisms?

[Mathijs]

How do you apply a value judgement to something like this? How does it affect us? It's an interesting theory (if a little shaky is what I would say if I had the smarts) but how is it good or positive? If this theory turns out to hold any weight, how is it more positive than the big bang theory?

 

Also, do you feel gravity is a good thing?

[MattTheLegoman]

Why does dark energy and dark matter have to be part of every sensational science article? =p

 

And Mathijs, everyone knows that gravity sucks. =p

Edited by MattTheLegoman, 11 February 2015 - 06:24 AM.

[Pasidon]

Well... does this change my outlook on anything?  Uhh... no.  Not really.

[Irenë Hawnetyne]

How do you apply a value judgement to something like this? How does it affect us? It's an interesting theory (if a little shaky is what I would say if I had the smarts) but how is it good or positive? If this theory turns out to hold any weight, how is it more positive than the big bang theory?

 

 

 

It's rather like meta-ethics, with belief in scientific/religious predeterminism or free will. It doesn't massively affect us unless we prove it absolutely, however it's interesting to debate. I personally like it as good and positive because it would mean there's no 'end' to life. The whole idea that everything recedes to a single point of existence terrifies me.

[OmegaBolt]

This would not mean there is no end to life. Life is still trapped on small balls of rock, spread out millions of light years apart (if there is any other life at all) and we know the Sun is going to end. Even if the Universe is finite it would end life in trillions of years time, way after life had probably been extinguished by other events (such as supernova constantly occurring). The only life that could ever survive is one that can travel between worlds and survive on all worlds, and we're unlikely to make it off this one alive with the irreversible damage we're causing and willful destruction of all species-including our own.

 

This is interesting but until it's proven more probable than the current understanding of the Universe obviously it has to be taken with a pinch of salt. The Big Bang is at least a usable coordinate for us. We know we're 13.5 billion years after the beginning and that's kind of nice. Nice doesn't change what's true so everything needs investigating but from an aesthetics point of view I prefer a finite Universe. It's like knowing your age and what year you're in and then realising that at one point you were a single cell, and then before that never existed and yet, apparently, life and the Universe was going on perfectly fine for billions of years prior to your awakening. It's not something to be afraid of it's liberating. What would you do with infinity? Know that you've only got a finite time and go for it.

 

Now I'm gonna sit back and carry on browsing Revora, wasting my life.

Edited by OmegaBolt, 11 February 2015 - 09:40 PM.

[Irenë Hawnetyne]

Well, seems you guys are loyal big-bangers, then fair enough, each to their own, but I personally find no comfort in the big bang theory (not that I don't believe in it, I just wish it wasn't so.)

[MattTheLegoman]

A World Without End is actually the title of a book I want to read. It is the sequel to Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. It's British.

[Pasidon]

Pillars of the Earth was quality.  To this day, the only good book Oprah recommended to me.

 

And I don't really care for the Big Bang Theory either, to be fair.  Not understanding the universe, and just saying, "Oh.  It was made because... explosions." is a bit of a vague and lame answer.  It's like Michael Bay science.

[Mathijs]

That's not what the Big Bang theory is, Pas. Everything is dumb if you dumb it down sufficiently to make it sound really dumb.

 

I could say Rage Hammer is just some unhinged American raging on pop culture because... suck, but we both know there's more to it than that.

[Pasidon]

No, that's pretty much all it is.

[Mathijs]

You could've played along.

[Pasidon]

The universe is forever, man.  The game of life is just so pointless now, man. Man.

[OmegaBolt]

Let's face it, Pasidon is not an improv kind of guy. He needs scripts and weeks of rehearsal just to master a simple sentence.

 

I don't why this got so brutal... when faced with the possibility of meaningless infinity society breaks down.

Edited by OmegaBolt, 12 February 2015 - 11:09 PM.

[Pasidon]

Give me a day to respond to that.  I don't have anything clever prepared yet.

[Demon0f1nsanity]

Im deep too you know...just wanted to let you know that

[Pasidon]

No, you have to prove that.

[Demon0f1nsanity]

this is a picture of my house,thats all im going to say

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[Pasidon]

Your house is a tree next to a landfill?  That just makes you particularly ghetto.

[Beowulf]

This isn't really a new theory per se. However, if the laws of entropy are actually true, which they seem to be, the universe will run out of energy to do work and everything will decay into darkness. You know, iron stars and all that. At that state, even black holes will have all decayed out and become nothing. If there's no energy left, I'm not sure anything else can happen. Maybe if the universe falls under the Big Rip or Big Crunch scenario, that might work if the compression causes another Big Bang. Theories I've seen state that the universe has seen multiple Big Bang scenarios.