If the universe is infinite then everything must exist. Everything. Everything that everybody has ever thought of has to be out there somewhere. Every fantasy world. Every imaginary person. For example: if the universe is infinite then somewhere there is a world where Harry Potter exists, where dragons exist, even where gods exist.
2007-07-18 08:13:27 · 18 answers · asked by strangeuniverse 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
No, you're statement is simply wrong. If the universe is infinite then there is no reason for anything to exist, it could simply be empty. The universe does not contain every possible configuration of matter simply because there is no need to. It is governed by (generally) fairly simple laws and happily proceeds on it's own. There is no a priori reason why the universe should contain any matter or energy, it's only interesting in that it does.
2007-07-18 08:33:40 · answer #1 · answered by mistofolese 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Well, yes and no.
This Universe is finite in the sense that we can see where the stars end - there is an "edge of the Universe". But, unimaginably far away, there may be countless other Universes - but so far away that the light from those Universes will not reach this one until long after it has disappeared. Some might call that scenario a "Multiverse" (slightly inaccurate but the principal is much the same). I would say that the Universe is really composed of many Universes just as this one "Universe" contains many Galaxies besides our own Milky Way.
Existence and reality are created entirely from consciousness - without you to be here observing the Universe it cannot exist.
Remember, the entire Universe is created from nothingness - both matter and energy are created from nothing - so all it's physical laws are ultimately just arbitrary ones created by conscious minds. Of course it's a paradox, but for anyone willing to think about it for 5 minutes the solution to the riddle is right there in the fact that it IS a paradox.
I don't think there are any Universes in this Universe (if you follow me) where you will find wizards and dragons but only because this is the chosen reality for it's occupants.
Or to put it another way, you yourself have created this Universe - for whatever reason - and one day will probably replace it with something quite different.
I hope that hasn't made anyone go cross-eyed! Honestly, I don't smoke pot ^_^
2007-07-18 08:37:55 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
Most of the answers already given to this question are fine. But I'd like to suggest a different approach to the question.
The universe is not infinite. NOTHING is infinite. Infinity is only theoretical, it doesn't exist in the real world, it exists only in our minds.
The fact is that our minds are greater than the physical universe in a way. We are able to imagine things that can't really exist. This is a uniquely human talent. We have evolved (or were designed, take your pick) to be able to create new ideas, to 'invent' things that can't really exist. This is a wonderful talent, but the universe is in no way obligated to make these things exist just because we have thought of them.
I had a roommate once who insisted that anything you could imagine exists either in this universe or one of an infinite number of -parallel- universes. I saw that as a cop-out. If parallel universes exist, we have no way of knowing about them. So AFAIK they are 'made up', just like everything else we make up.
2007-07-18 08:34:29 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
The set of even numbers is infinite, but it contains only half of the integers. The set of rational numbers is infinite, but it doesn't contain a single irrational number.
I believe we live in an infinite universe which is just one of an infinite number of universes, and all of these universes are part of a fractal. A fractal has a fractional number of dimensions, which means that most of the possibilities that would be included in whole dimensions are excluded.
2007-07-18 11:04:36 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The problem is that in physics, if the answer is infinity, than something was wrong in the calculation. This means that the Universe is not infinite and only a limited amount of possibilities exist.
2007-07-18 09:28:09 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
Or does infinite mean the potential for the unknowable as well, as that too is within the infinite.
I'd like a world with a decent BLT and a cold beer. I'm not overly fussy world-wise.
2007-07-18 08:22:17 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The problem, I think, is that the universe is not thought to be infinite. In a finite universe, then only a subset of possibilities can exist, not all.
2007-07-18 08:18:28 · answer #7 · answered by hcbiochem 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Very good reasoning. There is, afterall, with infinite tries, infinite combinations can result. But the universe isn't infinite anyway, so that removes a lot of this problem.
2007-07-18 11:15:36 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Shout out to Mr. Knowitall you totally blew my mind!!
As to the Question it's possible that some of those things could exist but not every thing. Things like dragons, even Dinosaurs elsewhere, maybe transformers. But not gay old harry potter he'd get his lunch taken.
2007-07-18 18:22:57 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Everything out there really does exist. Harry Potter and dragons are roaming around only in your imagination.
2007-07-22 06:34:04 · answer #10 · answered by johnandeileen2000 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋