Comment by ssijak | Hacker News Reader

Comment by ssijak | Hacker News Reader

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If you are turning in bed and can't sleep I'll give you some questions to think about. Even though some are non-sensical in a way, they are a good starting point to ponder about:

- Is space really flat (infinite) or curved (finite)?

- If it is flat and the universe had the beginning (big bang) then does it just have "potential infinity", by ever-expanding?

- If it is curved is it implied that it is encompassed by something that has at lease 3+1 dimension into which it is curving?

- What would happen if you would happen to stand at the edge of space/universe and push a hand through the edge?

- Space could be infinite but at the same time with a boundary. Can you imagine that boundary without trying to imagine what it is bounded from?

- Where does new space, created by the universe expansion, come from?

- What is space fabric actually made from? Is it discrete or not.

- Are there other universes outside ours?

- If there are, do we live in an infinite Russian doll type of universes?

- What gives the initial conditions and laws in the universe?

- If the universe is cyclic or there is a multiverse, are there universes with totally different laws and if yes what generated/allowed that?

- Try to imagine nothing.

- Try to imagine infinite.

- You can't imagine how any of these 2 things would work (nothing or infinite), but one or both must exist. Either all existence existed in some way forever, or it had some genesis from nothing.

- Is there free will?

- Can you even imagine a proper mechanism that would allow for free will to exist?

- What would prevent you from "cutting" the smallest possible particle in 2 parts?

- Are there several dimensions of time?

- Is there a beginning of time?

- Is math invented or discovered?

- Can we ever, in theory, discover every law in the universe if we are looking at it only from the inside.

- Try to imagine 4.5 billion years of evolution (or more if life crashed to earth from a comet). How many organisms lived, and died, how many actions were made, how many found a partner and reproduced for you to be here and read this text at these exact moment. How many chances for failure at any point in that period were there?

...

Enough for tonight. Happy dreaming.

> - What would happen if you would happen to stand at the edge of space/universe and push a hand through the edge?

That doesn't make sense if you say the universe is curved or infinite. There will be no edge.

> - Space could be infinite but at the same time with a boundary. Can you imagine that boundary without trying to imagine what it is bounded from?

No. That's what the definition of infinite is. There are no bounds.

> - What is space fabric actually made from? Is it discrete or not.

Probably numbers. But then I like Math, so...

> - Are there other universes outside ours?

I don't think we are any special. But I'd be happy to be proven otherwise!

> - Try to imagine nothing.

> - Try to imagine infinite.

You are having trouble with nothingness because you are linking it to your consciousness. Infinity is easy though. You keep pushing infinitely and there is no edge!

> - Is there free will?

No. But don't go and do stupid stuff because of that.

> - Can you even imagine a proper mechanism that would allow for free will to exist?

There isn't. You are the product of your environment and your parents.

> - What would prevent you from "cutting" the smallest possible particle in 2 parts?

Max Planck.

> - Are there several dimensions of time?

> - Is there a beginning of time?

There is no time. Try understanding the theory of general relativity.

> - Is math invented or discovered?

Math is very basic. It starts with set theory and then builds on top of that. It is invented since set theory is invented.

>No. That's what the definition of infinite is.. There are no bounds.

just a thought: it sounds like you are more describing the concept of an uncountable infinity in a mathematical sense, a set that is infinite and with no discernible end, as opposed to a countable one, where the set is certainly infinite but it can be iterated through and conceptually has some point where it transitions into a higher meta-set that encompasses it and far more. at least, that's the metaphor i use to interpret the concept of an infinity that is bounded; conceptually, everything that exists must be contained within something if you ask me. it could even be contained within a conceptual nothing, but that nothing itself acts as a boundary point for the infinite.

also: i am definitely not a cosmologist or a scientist in any rigorous sense, im just a person that likes to think a lot. my arguments or thoughts likely wouldn't hold their weight compared to one substantiated with support and such, so I just want to make it known that I don't exactly treat my views internally as the canonical explanation, just the one that makes the most sense to me given my limited scope of understanding. thanks for your time :)

The set of positive numbers is infinite but bounded by 0. The same concept could be applied to space.

I don't have trouble with nothingness because of that. Imagining it "visually" yes, but imagining how from something that would be nothing can become something that boggles my mind.

Max Planck would not prevent that. The smallest particle (that we know for know) is much larger than Planck length. But anyway even if it weren't, plack length have different implication.

My understanding is that there is time, just that it is not that simple as Newton imagined.

>There isn't. You are the product of your environment and your parents.

That just hand-waves away the subjective experience, based only on some mechanisms we have a ho-hum understanding of at the moment.

>Math is very basic. It starts with set theory and then builds on top of that. It is invented since set theory is invented.

Many prominent mathematicians beg to differ. And Hilbert called, he would like his plan back.

>> - What would prevent you from "cutting" the smallest possible particle in 2 parts?

>Max Planck.

For those who did not understand: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planck_length

I can give one thing for you to ponder: what's the true difference of the world you experience in the waking state and the world you experience during dreaming state and the cause behind both of these? The puzzle of the universe, infinity and multiverse can become apparent if you ponder over the above question.

The world we experience in the waking state is persistent and objective. The world we experience during the dreaming state is subjective and temporary. There, I pondered, and it did not make “the puzzle of the universe, infinity and multiverse apparent”.

The objectivity you are assigning to the world of waking state is also subject to your mind. Different kinds of minds experience the world differently. Scientific investigation confirms us that the object we experience do not exist like that; it's just set of atoms which are empty by their nature. There's nothing solid or liquid in actual, it's our mind way of interpreting the input from senses that makes us experience solidity/etc.

Regarding the persistency argument, the waking world seems persistent to you because it has a longer duration relative to your dream. Sometimes we dream in a dream and experience continuity of the dream-world as well. There are stories of people experiencing years of life in dreaming [0] which confirms that continuity in dream is also possible.

That said, I'm not trying to prove that waking and dreaming state are literally the same. The idea is to ponder on the generality behind waking and dreaming states and question/contemplate on the true nature of reality. Do we not observe that it's the mind which seems to be the cause of us experiencing both these states the way we experience them? If so and if the dream seems to be our personal creation then the question arises what if the waking world is a our collective (cosmic) mind dream? If it's a cosmic dream then we can start deducing answers such as there cannot be any boundary to the universe because it's all in mind as a reflection. And multiverse is also possible as the same cosmic mind can dream N number of worls/universes as it's not bound by any real material quantity.

There have been interesting books [1] written on this subject going very deep into above idea which also talk about methods to realize it as experience rather than just as an intelectual exercise.

0: https://www.quora.com/Whats-the-most-inexplicable-experience... 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripura_Rahasya

Our awake experience is also subjective. When we look at a car, we see how it slides on 4 wheels. A deeper look reveals that the wheels aren't sliding, but rolling. What we see in our mind is simplified models, while the objective reality is much more complex, messy and not comprehensible.

> - Is space really flat (infinite) or curved (finite)?

Is (curved, infinite) sine-like ripples an option?

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