If it is an infinite universe...?

Question

which means there are an infinite number of possibilities, then do you think there are an infinite number of you's and me's having this same conversation right now or has matter not yet reached the other dimensions for there to be the exact same connection?

Answer 1

An infinite universe does indeed contain an infinite number of possibilities. That does NOT however, mean that any particular possibility can exist.

As an example, the universe being infinite does not say anything one way or another about other universes even existing. If others do, it may be that there is exactly one other, or a dozen, or a huge number of them though not an infinite number. Additionally, none or some or all of them might be related to this one, perhaps from a common beginning.

Imagine a couple universes trucking along. Ours is one of them. Ours undergoes some sort of splitting, or perhaps spawning might capture it better. An infinite number (or just seven or perhaps 42,166, 847, 298 of them) of universes gush forth each following some path due to the exact circumstances they experienced in the split/spawning. Some, all, or none might have you and I following some variation of this conversation. It could even be that there are so many universes lying about that even though they never shared any common connection at all that some, or even all of them, are so similar to ours that it seems we are following variations of this conversation. It could even be that all are absolutely identical and it's not a variation of this conversation, but exactly this conversation. In an infinite number of universes, or just a few. Funny thing about infinite sets. It could be an infinite number of universes that are identical, even though there are still an infinite number of absolutely unrelated universes also.

Personally, and any amount of philosophy aside, I think our universe is what you might call a bubble differing from the universe it was and still is part of by having an extra expanded dimension, time in this case. So the rest is still there, all about ours, and ours has a varyingly expanded time dimension so it seems utterly different from the portion of the larger universe that does not have that expanded dimension. Some places, a sun for instance, have far less expansion while others ("the void of intergalactic group space") have almost expanded as much as they meaningfully can. And a black hole is a place in which the dimension has been crushed down to almost unexpanded.

In that perhaps possible universe, what you ask about would not, in fact, really be possible. So personally, I do not think what you ask is really possible at all. Though the universe in my estimation would be infinite there would be no others bobbing around. But the last couple paragraphs are only my best guess, not science. Could be right, could be wrong. Let's be honest. Probably wrong!

Good luck getting your mind wrapped around the science and math! Then roll in some philosophy and really have fun...

Answer 2

Not clear there are an infinite number of possible outcomes. A spatial infinity does not necessarily mean an infinite number of possible events (outcomes). Time would also have to be infinite seems to me. Time is just a temporal slot into which events occur. For infinite events, we would need an infinite number of temporal slots.

Further, even if there were an infinite number of outcomes (event), why would you think duplicate outcomes would be feasible?

Try this on for size. Probability is defined by P(s = x) = n(s = x)/N; where s is a defined success (x), n(s = x) is the number of ways we can succeed on a given event (trial), and N is the total number of possible outcomes (successes and failures) per trial. Then if N = infinity, as you propose, P(s = you) = n(s = you)/N = 0 because anything divided by infinity is zero. There is zero probability of you being born (a blessed event).

Yet here you are despite no probability for your birth.

Now try this one. By definition the expected number of successes E(s = x) = P(s = x)N, which is the probability of success times the number of possible outcomes (like before). Thus, E(s = you) >= (n(s = you)/N)N = n(s = you) = 1; the N's cancel and infinity has no bearing on the expected number of you's being born is at least one. Why? Because here you are, at least one of you. Thus, n(s = you) >= 1

On the one hand, you have zero probability of being born. On the other, because you exist, the expected number of yous is at least one. Such is the paradox of infinity. Bottom line, infinity is not handled well in math and science.

PS: Argon may or may not be right about the finite universe. The deal is, though, we really don't know. When we talk about the "universe" there are really two universes: the known one (which is about 14 billion years old since the big bang) and the unknown one, which is outside our range to observe. We don't even know if there is an unknown one; we cannot see beyond the cosmological horizon, which is 14 billion light years out. That's why it's called "unknown."

We do know this about the known universe...it is positive entropic, which means it's running down. It will not last forever. Eventually, a zillion years from now, it will snuff out like a burned out candle...out with a whimper. The background temperature will be absolute zero degrees Kelvin. Matter will have all crumbled because binding forces (enthalpic energy) will not exist.

Answer 3

The Universe is probobly* not "infinite". We have pretty good estimations of how much of it there is, and although there is -quite alot- of it, there isn't enough to make it likely that the complex systems that represent "you" "me" and "this same conversation" is occuring simultaneously in different places.

*Our current models of universe (viz. Big Band theory and Inflationary Theory) require it to be finite in scope. It appears to be flat (as opposed to curved inwards like a sphere, or curved outwards) and to have no boundries. Do not confuse "no boundries" with being infinite. The surface of a balloon is finite but has no boundries, much like our universe.