Thoughts on the scale of the universe?
September 19, 2012 at 3:23 am
(This post was last modified: September 19, 2012 at 3:28 am by Dumac Dwarfking.)
I'm purely hypothesising here, and would love input from one more knowledgeable than myself, but as far as I can see, the universe seems to be a finite one. By my reasoning, in a universe of infinite size movement would not be possible. I'll try to explain as best I can.
Zeno's paradox is as follows:
"Achilles and the tortoise are going to run a race. Achilles, being confident of victory, gives the tortoise a head start. Before Achilles can overtake the tortoise, he must first run to point A, where the tortoise started. But by then the tortoise has crawled to point B. Now Achilles must run to point B. But by then the tortoise has gone to point C, etc. Achilles is stuck in a situation in which he gets closer and closer to the tortoise, but never catches him."
Zeno is demonstrating the infinite dichotomy of a line segment. The paradox argues that movement is impossible. However we know that movement is possible, and while it may be mathematically to possible to dissect a line segment an infinite number of times, there couldn't possibly exist an infinite number of dissections on a line segment, being that it is of finite size (please correct me if I'm wrong).
Now, by my reasoning, in order for a universe to be infinitely large, it would also have to be infinitely small, as both of these traits are relative attributes. If the universe was infinitely small, the space between two finite objects would be subject to Zeno's paradox, and any movement made would be subject to this infinite dichotomy, making motion impossible.
Any thoughts?
Zeno's paradox is as follows:
"Achilles and the tortoise are going to run a race. Achilles, being confident of victory, gives the tortoise a head start. Before Achilles can overtake the tortoise, he must first run to point A, where the tortoise started. But by then the tortoise has crawled to point B. Now Achilles must run to point B. But by then the tortoise has gone to point C, etc. Achilles is stuck in a situation in which he gets closer and closer to the tortoise, but never catches him."
Zeno is demonstrating the infinite dichotomy of a line segment. The paradox argues that movement is impossible. However we know that movement is possible, and while it may be mathematically to possible to dissect a line segment an infinite number of times, there couldn't possibly exist an infinite number of dissections on a line segment, being that it is of finite size (please correct me if I'm wrong).
Now, by my reasoning, in order for a universe to be infinitely large, it would also have to be infinitely small, as both of these traits are relative attributes. If the universe was infinitely small, the space between two finite objects would be subject to Zeno's paradox, and any movement made would be subject to this infinite dichotomy, making motion impossible.
Any thoughts?
