What if our solar system was really an atom?

Perhaps it has been stated before, Im not sure, but theres two things I think about alot. More probable than not they are just moronic thoughts floating through an idle mind but what do you think?


What if our solar system was really just an atom? The sun would would be the nucleus, and the planets revolving would be the protons and neutrons, and what have you. And all the other solar sytems formed some giant object too large for us too really understand?

And in that same train of thought, you know how when you look at something with a microscope, theres millions of little organisms in their own little worlds, oblivious too us and the outside world? Well what if we were just tiny bacteria, making up the genetic make up of something tremendous?


Like I said, maybe just some crazed thoughts, or do you think I could be on to something

Have thought about this myself for years. Someone once pointed out to me that we could basically be a piece of dirt under someones finger nail and that got me thinking that way. Then a few years ago when i started looking into physics i noticed the similarity between Solar Systems and Atoms etc etc. We could be so insignificant yet part of something so huge.

Then my head starts thinking about in this world where this huge object exsists is their world bigger again. It would be nice to have the answers but somehow i dont think we are supposed to know them

reminds me of the first men in black at the end where that alien is playing with the marbles with all the galaxies in them. i always thought it would be sweet if that were true. hell for all we know it is

Also in the second MIB there was the ending where J and K opened the door and it was really just a tiny locker and on the other side it was a world MUCH bigger than our own.

I often find myself kicking sand or pebbles around and wondering, what if our world is just little pebbles like this and some naive kid is kicking our world around as well.

Its trully mind boggling

LOL you read my mind. I was thinking about mentioning the MIB marbles myself. That kinda stuff sure gets you thinking

As above, so below? As below, so above? The more we investiage the smallest things the more we realise that it just goes on and gets smaller. Why not on a macrocosmic level? Sounds like a perfectly sensible conclusion to me, however testing the theory might prove tricky!

It's an interesting concept. We see space as mainly empty, but if we lived on an electron, the atom would appear mostly empty. It's just interaction of energy. Let's hope whoevers nail we're under doesn't decide to give it a trim. I have a feeling being flung accross the macrocosmic greater universe on a nail clipping would be a painful experience.

LOL yes but hopfully 10 million years of our time is equivelent to 5 mins of their time.

So providing they only cut their nails once a week we should be ok for a while yet

My father believed this and he was an astronomer. I remember him telling me 30 years ago he thought it was possible that stars and their planets were huge atoms, galaxies were cells and the whole universe was some kind of organism.

I've never really believed it myself but when I saw the Hubble deep field photograph last year it looked so much like a cell culture under a microscope I couldn't help but think about it again. I think a huge nebula looking like a strand of DNA is just a weird coincidence, but then again the Mayans did say the center of the galaxy contained the "tree of life"...

In a way we are like atoms if you scale us up to a galaxy or cluster of galaxies not sure what the ratio is.

We are not in anyone’s fingernail but the mind does see we could be part of a creation that is far beyond us. The mind is like a universe if you connect all the neuron links but in a solid universe. There was a theory that there are more connections in our head than stars or atoms in the universe apart from person to person. Something like that anyway. Its funny how we see time as there is evidence Time exists, but how do we connect to it or adapted to it?

Any chemistry people ?
What element are we ?

Water and crap that is what we are. H2POOH.
Earth and Water are our elements same as the Planet.

I think you're making reference to the Bohr Model of the atom. Where the nucleus is orbited by electrons. This concept was actually based on the planets orbiting the sun and has long since given way to more accurate descriptions.

The most accurate description of an atom is nothing like our solar system. Rather, the nucleus is a shifting sea of quarks and gluons while the electrons around the nucleus whip around in erratic patterns depending on their energy states.

So, yes, the solar system is like a bohr model atom...BECAUSE we wrongly thought it may be that way.

For more info wiki or google "atom model" and "electron cloud".

im pretty sure that dirt under the fingernail is from a scene in a old stoner film.

ive always kinda thought about how science is always in a sense proving itself wrong and how right now were incredibly advanced in our sciences but were missing something so huge right now...all the microscopes looking down etc... that what were gonna find out is gonna blow this all outta the water and hey it just might be that we are merely an atom of something so huge we cant comprehend it.

kinda like hey yeah your are right we can make that monkey heart beat in that human but why would we cause were just some sort of protein supplement for something so huge we cant even begi........

Yea, I've considered similar possibilities. Everything is relative, and our perspective of reality is certainly limited. This kind of reminds me of the "mind at large" theory, as well as the theory of reality simply being one of many layers in (or containing many layers of) an elaborate hologram (Read "Our Amazing Holographic Universe" I think it's called). Plato's allegory of the cave also comes to my mind...

If you consider our minds and our own perspectives of life and reality, then try to consider that of a small mammal, or even an insect, it is quite mind boggling. Compared to a termite, we are godlike beings, exponentially greater in size, intelligence, understanding, etc. Then consider that humans have only been around for such a short, insignificant amount of time, from a geological or cosmic standpoint. Intelligent life could exist somewhere (even in another dimension?) that started trillions of years ago, and in comparison to these beings, we might not even be comparable to a termite, from our own perspective. Just as we are capable of comprehending and understanding things that termites, or any other animal on eart, ever could, we could never comprehend or understand the things that these more advanced beings or entities can. Our understanding of reality could be so limited, we could very well be the energy "producers", small and insignificant, like many of our plants, that power something much greater.

The Men in Black ideas are very interesting also, like an entire galaxy being the size of a marble. And for all we know, our entire universe could span for trillions of light years (to us), but might just be contained inside of some sparkly, cool looking piece of stylish jewelry, hanging from some other being's neck, a cheap fashion statement. In our understanding of physics, objects such as planets all interact with each other in a precise, deterministic manner. But from the perspective of an outsider, everything going on inside of our little earth world could just be a random, chaotic, mess...similar to how quantum physics views the subatomic world. (Eh, I haven't had physics in a while, so maybe I'm confused about somethign)

Anyway, yes, very interesting to think about, and something I have always wondered. Reality is all about perception.



[edit on 12-2-2007 by Shoktek]

Quest you are correct.

I was asking if our solar system and surrounding bodies may represent any similar element currently known in our table of chemistry.

So how can we be an atom ? Just because we look like what an atom looks like in a picture book ?

[edit on 12-2-2007 by R3KR]

www.youtube.com...

nuff said

Originally posted by R3KR
Any chemistry people ?
What element are we ?

we are the human element, we do not have the properties of a gas, solid, or liquid, and yet we have all of their properties. our determination is that of the most solid rock, our movement and adaptability is so fluid it's amoother than water, and out spirit is so free that it may go further than any gaseous substance. the human race is not a meer chemical compound that can be subjugatet and classified, but a constantly growing changing entity, in a constantly morphing and ever expanding universe. we are but a spec on the horizon, but at a distance, even the sun would seem to fit in the palm of your hand. just because we are small doesnt mean that we are insignificant, or that we are not a threat or potential ally to other systems in the universe. heck, even the tiny japan conquered china many times before they came to peace.

just keep in mind that the world isnt always so big. [meaning primarily that although there is much more we dont understand yet, it may not be as important as it seems]

p.s. that intro really is trippy, shrunkensimon... i saw it b-4 and couldnt stop laughing.

[edit on 12-2-2007 by nia]

[edit on 12-2-2007 by nia]

[edit on 12-2-2007 by nia]

i ask, so what if we are? what difference would it make to my daily life? what could we do to change the fact? pointless thought to me, when theres so many real concrete issues we should try dealing with everyday

Here's the original.

[edit on 12-2-2007 by Shoktek]

I've heard something similar and have given it some thought but I do not believe it.

I do not want to believe that I am a dingleberry on the ass of life.