The good news is, there is no point. We make our own points and for me, the point is to try and give everything and everyone on this earth the best possible lives they can have. We are all in it together and together is how we should focus our efforts. Sadly not everyone thinks this way, but hopefully with time that can be accomplished.
Please help me understand Space 2.0 - Universe might have existed before the big bang.
- Thread starter SlimySnake
- Start date
I've always thought of it like this. We are here because the universe must be observed in order to exist and in order to exist, the universe needs something to observe it. Intelligence was inevitable. I think of it how an atom can be both negative and positive at the same time and it only becomes one or the other when measured. The universe needs us to observe it, we need the universe to exist first in order to observe it. It was always going to exist. And we were always going to get to see it. Neither can be without the other. At least this is what I came up with while high off 10g of shrooms.
TheUnicornGuy
Gold Member
My theory? Our universe is inside the cylinder of an internal combustion engine. The big bang was the start of the combustion cycle, the heat death of the universe will be followed by the exhaust cycle which will lead to the compression cycle and a new big bang.
Rentahamster
Rodent Whores
I've always thought of it like this. We are here because the universe must be observed in order to exist and in order to exist, the universe needs something to observe it. Intelligence was inevitable. I think of it how an atom can be both negative and positive at the same time and it only becomes one or the other when measured. The universe needs us to observe it, we need the universe to exist first in order to observe it. It was always going to exist. And we were always going to get to see it. Neither can be without the other. At least this is what I came up with while high off 10g of shrooms.
It's an interesting thought experiment that has shades of solipsism and simulation theory, but ultimately it's an unfalsifiable hypothesis. I can't really see a way in which one could empirically prove or disprove that case. In your case, if all the humans in the world died, would the universe also cease to exist since there's no one to observe it? Or would the universe spit out more intelligent people to keep itself going?
Well it's the question of, if a tree falls in the woods does it make a sound? Most likely, but if nothing heard it, it basically didn't. I figure there is more than just us out there in this vast expanse. Possibly a contingency for the problem you're bringing up.
This is a somewhat flawed analogy. 'Sound' is the passage of waves through matter. A tree falling will vibrate the ground and air regardless if there are any organisms around it to register the waves and translate that motion into a perception of 'sound'. It would be like saying, "does the sun rise over the horizon if there is no one there to see it?" Of course it does, the orbital movement of celestial bodies doesn't change based on an observer.
Now IF we are in fact living inside a simulation, with 'reality' only being rendered in the presence of an observer, then a tree falling unwitnessed probably does not make sound, in fact the tree never falls AT ALL, it is rendered as having fallen only when an observer is near enough to create it. Just like in a video game, levels the character is not on are not in existence (yet), just the data is stored and the engine only puts out what can be seen.
Rentahamster
Rodent Whores
It basically did, though. We have evidence of a fallen tree. We know that when trees fall down on Earth, two big things collide within an atmosphere. When things collide in an atmosphere, the gas particles are disturbed to create a wave of pressure. Waves of pressure in a medium like gas are detected by our ears and interpreted by our brains as a sound. It made a sound. Just because no one was there to observe it or witness it, doesn't mean it didn't happen.
If I see a dead body on the ground with a knife stuck in the back and signs of a struggle that took place, I can be pretty confident that a murder took place, even though no one was there to observe it or witness it.
True, but if you never found the body and no one else ever did, then it's like it didn't happen. If we aren't here to observe our space then it doesn't really matter if it exists or not, right? An Earth with nothing on it to think about it is just a rock.
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Rentahamster
Rodent Whores
We'd still notice a missing person. But even if we didn't, "it's like it didn't happen" is still not equivalent to "it didn't happen in reality". It's only equivalent in subjective personal experience, not objective reality.
It doesn't matter to the non-conscious universe. It might matter to conscious beings like us.
An Earth is an Earth. If there are no conscious beings around to observe or contemplate it, it's still an Earth, objectively present, but subjectively insignificant. If you subscribe to the solipsist "I'm a brain in a vat" philosophy, then the Earth is just a product of your imagination. If you subscribe to the "I'm in the Matrix" philosophy, then the Earth is a simulation.
zeioIIDX
Member
I know exactly what you mean. I actually first encountered this feeling when I was 7 years old. I was sitting on the toilet and I was pondering the fact that I exist...and that existence is a thing to begin with. The more I thought about how strange it was that I exist and the more I questioned what existence even is, I started to become woozy and feel a sense of vertigo. I panicked a bit and stopped thinking about it. I've faced that same feeling over the years when I've thought too deeply about existence, astrological things, or theological shit like "Who made God?" and "How was God just always there from the start?".