I could go on forever about this topic... *pause for laughter*... but I'll be as brief as possible.
I was watching one of my nerdy science shows about the universe when I heard a thought-provoking theory; never mind that I thought I had my mind wrapped around the concept of "infinity" and now I'm back to square one.
Basically the show was about how the conventional paradigm (sorry, I've always wanted to use that word) of the universe is slowly beginning to give way to newer thoughts on a multi-verse, which suggests parallel existences. One theory was centered around electron activity. Electrons don't circle nuclei in patterns the way I was taught in school. Electrons appear and disappear seemingly randomly and can even appear in two places at once! Taking that into consideration some scientists speculate that when the electrons have disappeared, they are actually jumping to another plane of existence and creating a reality that is as real as we perceive ours to be. Sounds cool but, meh.
Another theory mentioned, which is the hottest topic in theoretical physics these days, is String Theory. I'm not really sure that I could explain my poor understanding of it in less than 10,000 words so consider that more reader homework.
There was a third theory though which, barring divine intervention and given certain assumptions, seems mathematically sound to me. I'd even say it's brilliant in its simplicity (once you grasp the concept of "infinity")! Okay, here goes: The assumption is our universe is infinite. So if you believe the universe was created without design after the Big Bang, then there was a certain probability that all of the particles, atoms and molecules involved in creating an environment that led to human existence and consciousness would actually happen. Make up any probability you like; 1 in 1 trillion, 1 in 10 X 10^trillion, 1 in a "flabbity-floo," 1 in a trillion "flabbity-floos" (or is it "flabbity-fli?"). The fact is whatever the probability is, it's less than infinity. And in fact, infinity is infinitely larger than whatever the probability is/was! What does that mean? That means however incredibly rare or impossible our existence seems, it's actually quite likely to have occurred previously, occur multiple times currently or re-occur again in the future! And I'm not just talking about some other earth with some other people on it. I'm talking about duplicate yous and mes that have had our exact same experiences, upbringings, failures and successes! It sounds absolutely crazy but the math says it is so.
Shall I take it one more step or have you had enough? Too bad, one more step. A truly infinite universe would have an infinite number of usses!! Why? Because whatever that probability of us actually occurring is, there is room in an infinite universe for that probability to occur an infinite number of times! (Although to be true, there would also have to be an infinite amount of matter which I've never heard anyone speak to. Yes, supernovas create all naturally occurring elements that are bigger than hydrogen but the supernovas themselves, like all stars, are created from hydrogen. Herego, an infinite hydrogen supply would be necessary.)
There you have it, an infinitesimally small tip of the infinite universe "iceberg." An infinite universe can never be proven, only disproven. But it sure is cool to wonder! I'd love to hear what you think.
Just Joe
NEXT WEEK: What is a Sport?
Ok, here is what I asked my Calculus professor at Georgia Tech.
ReplyDeleteSuppose I throw a baseball at a wall. At some point it will be 1 foot away, then 1/2 foot away, then 1/4 foot away, etc. You get the idea. At the instant before impact, it is 1/x feet away. If numbers are infinite, then it would just keep getting closer and never hit the wall. But, we know that it does hit the wall. So, there must be finite number.
He gave some vague answer about how they don't actually touch but, rather, are just molecules that repel...blah...blah..blah.
Leave it to me to get into an asymptotic math discussion with an engineering grad from Georgia Tech!
ReplyDeleteCouple of thoughts/questions:
1) I see your point but I feel like it’s a bit different than finding the reciprocal, infinity. Essentially what I get from the example is about the distance two relative points can get before they end up touching. We assume they do touch because we see the ball bounce off of the wall. (Makes perfect sense but in wanting to consider all possibilities, I wouldn’t mind hearing your professor’s answer if there is some science behind it!) But if there is only one point to consider, moving about with no spatial relation to anything, will it find the edge of the universe? If it does then there is that second point and infinity, in universe terms, would end. The tantalizing – and fun – part is that even if the single point spent a flabbity-floo years space traveling and still did NOT find an edge, infinite space would not be proven; the edge could always be just a bit further.
2) Physics of the very small is different than the physics of the very big. Is it possible that can be true in the numbers world, too?
3) Breaking news: theoretical numbers aren’t very practical!!