Impossible to know

I always was like, "space is really big" then a few years later, "Space is really really big", now i have come to my own conclusion that it is mentally impossible to actually know or think that you know how big the entire universe is. i mean its hard to explain but i just think its too big to even contemplate... you think you house is big? then move onto your city, county, state/province/ect., then onto your counrty, continent, planet, solar system, galaxy, universe... i mean i dunno its just too big to even think about it can get you all screwy in the head. And in case anyones wondering... i am actually proud of myself thinking like this, it makes me feel like the next einstien.

Schmndt1989

Well, don't jump onto your high horse yet einstien. I would argue that most people think just like this! What makes it different for the very few is that some choose to approach it with logic and reason, which by the looks of it, you are doing. So, now jump on your high horse.

I want to put forth something that many people disagree with me on. You have trouble imagining this, because when it comes down to it, you don't know where to draw the line called "end of universe". That leaves the universe infinite in your mind. Infinity is a concept that we can know, but never fully comprehend. You could never visualize something infinite. Visualization is a huge part of understanding. You just can't fully understand infinity.

Think of something, anything, that is infinite. If you describe it to yourself, it will be moving. Or expanding. You will imagine an end, then you will imagine the end extending. But in reality, infinity is already fully extended.

Well i tried thinking of my own theories of what would happen if someone/something just kept going str8 into space !! What would happen or what would appear ?? But after so much contemplating i thought i was going to go nutz! So i just told myself,"a box yeah, a box, we (planets, sun, moon, etc.) all are in a box!That put me at peace for a while but then i started thinking but whats outside the box!!??? I just entirely gave it up!!

Ok, yeah your right, i can see how people disagree with that, i do actually agree with you though, i do know that there is an end now, but it is expanding, but i just think that it wont stop. so surely it is infinty right?

Humans cant comprehend properly something without beginning or end... we have to have a definate start and finish... If the universe started with the bigbang.... what was there previously... nothing... what is nothing... how could all the matter in the universe come from one atom and expand into nothing... is nothing just empty space... how much empty space is there... is it infinate... if it ends what comes after this nothing... more nothing?...

We will never know this in our lifetime, or possibly ever... maybe the universe doesnt end but keeps looping on itself... like if you walk around the world over and over again... maybe the universe doesnt have ends as we know them and you just kepp going around and around and around...

Its hard to comtemplate how this could be, as humans we have always found there is more to what we kno, but so far everything has boundaries and the concept of a boundaryless space is just too much... hell i've confused myself tryign to explain the confusion...

anyways... welcome to the world of philosophy

Originally posted by Seapeople
Infinity is a concept that we can know, but never fully comprehend. You could never visualize something infinite. Visualization is a huge part of understanding. You just can't fully understand infinity.

And still main "religion" of western world is based to infinite... capitalistic economy, it's basic dogma requires forever increasing profits, sales and so on... while it should be clear for everyone that you can't have infinite growth with finite resources.

And universe can be finite without having edge!

BTW actually all, even we are mostly just empty space. Remember how big part of atom is empty, if core would be size of football electrons would be orbiting it at distance of football stadium's outer edge.

then we get into quarks and particles and strings and oh my word theres the infinitly small! yeah this universe is expansive, think of it as a balloon. but wait there are more demension so it just goes on and on...

Scientists have proven our solar system has boundaries, so the universe must have!

But if we can imagine the Universe in our heads, thoughts and dreams, is it not then so small?!...

I do however believe it's growing, links would be most appreciative!

The universe is infinite, this is what nearly every scientist in the world agrees on, therefore it is infinite, but than you think whats outside the universe, and than whats outside of that, heres my theory:

We live in an infinintly large universe, that is in the multiverse where an infinite amount of universes exist in the infinitky large multiverse, and there is an infininte amount of larger 'verses that are infinite in size and hold an infinite amount of the one step lower verses.

Thinking of this really helped me sleep at night before I thought of it.

In addition to parallel dimensions of the universe as we know it there could be other similiar universes that could have different laws of physics. Our universe as we know it could have formed from an exotic bubble in another universe and exploded into a new space time (our universe). I read something along these lines but I'm not sure if I'm explaining it that well.

Oh well, for those of you confused just imagine that there could very well be a parallel dimension or a part of our universe with our same laws of physics but where people chose a different path. For instance Sadam Hussein is still in power, sanctions were dropped, and President Gore launched several missles into Afghanistan but apparently the missles missed Osama. Gore vows we will find Osama and bring him to Justice one day. Twelve years later, Sadam has built a nuclear arsenal as well as Iran. India, Pakistan, and North Korea are all armed as well. Sadam threatens to nuke Europe and both Iran and Israel promise to wipe each other off the face of the Earth in a series of disagreements. Some parallel dimensions may not work out very well. Some probably have nuclear warfare if there are parallel dimensions.