How big is the universe?

[downbeatplumb]

How big is the universe?


Large enough to comfortably contain my penis.


So doesn't have to be too big.

[Brian37]

How big is the universe?


Large enough to comfortably contain my penis.


So doesn't have to be too big.

I am pretty sure it is bigger than a quark. OH....... Didn't see that one coming did ya??  Sorry you walked right into that one. But just being silly. I couldn't resist it was too easy. 

As an side an old penis joke, not aimed at you, but one you can use.

"I was pulling on a pubic hair, or what I thought was one until it started leaking."

[Catholic_Lady]

My guess is that it is infinite. I dunno why exactly I think that. It just seems to make the most sense out of something that can never make sense to us human minds.

[Rhondazvous]

Again, the truth is right now we simply don't know. Humans as laypeople without aid of QM science are used to viewing the world in strictly 3d, but science HAS proven there are more dimensions than that. QM has opened the door to the possibility of parallel universes and multiple "bubble" universes. But until we can break the singularity barrier we simply don't know. But I am very comfortable with what we currently know, but that is the great thing about scientific method, it never stays complacent. I do think with every decade that passes in the future we will learn more.

It still remains also a possibility if I am correct, that this is the only universe there is. But then again, there was a time when scientists thought the galaxy was the extent of the universe, so who knows?

Agreed. It's not that I'm uncomfortable with scientific knowledge. I have the utmost respect for the scientific method. I just have a mind that's always asking questions that no one else seems to be asking.

The one thing I respect about scientists is they aren't intimidated by such questions. If they don't know something, they say so instead of offering some convoluted explanation and expecting me to give them the same fiat credulity that I denied to the church.

Some questions cannot be answered with current technology. QM and the macro universe don't even follow the same laws. That's not to suggest that QM has nothing to say about the apparent dichotomy between the universe's age and it's size. Since some scientists have already begun to consider the possibility of a multiverse, my question is not a shot in the dark.

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My guess is that it is infinite. I dunno why exactly I think that. It just seems to make the most sense out of something that can never make sense to us human minds.

Whether there is an infinite universe or an infinite number of multiverses, we'd have to have the technology to distinguish if a galaxy is in our universe or moving in another one. We have to think of some kind of infinity because that which is finite comes to an end, leaving us with the problems of what comes at the end of space. More empty space? Why can't there be galaxies there? if space is infinite and the universe is finite then the universe must exist at some point, and that makes no sense. How can there be a point in infinity?

But then, if the universe is singular and infinite, there could have been no single Bib Ban because there would be no room for one infinite universe to expand. There'd have to be an infinite number of singularities and Big Bangs

[Alex K]

The size of the entire universe is currently unknown, but there doesn't have to be a relationship with the size of the visible universe which is just a result of age+expansion  it could be infinite for all we know. Or at least orders of magnitude larger than what we see.

The problem I'm having with that is the idea that the universe started out roughly the size of a basketball then there occurred Einstein's singularity and it started expanding. If nothing travels faster than light then the expension of the universe would be subject to that limitation, just like if I drive at 70 miles an hour, I can't reach 120 miles from my starting point in half an hour.

It doesn't have to be problematic if we abandon the idea that what we perceive as THE universe is the result of one singularity, but consider the possibility of a multiverse or several Big Bangs. then ours could have happened 13 or so billion years ago while others occurred at various times, accounting for a visible universe that's much larger than what it should be in just the time it's had to expand. Hell, maybe it's these other universes that are moving away from us.

The fact that our universe hasn't had time to reach the size that it has, should make us look for other explanations.

The theory of relativity contains both the speed limit as well as cosmic expansion as built-in features, so you seem to suggest that relativity is inconsistent - but it isn't. It explicitely tells us how cosmic expansion arises from the dynamics of spacetime through a change of all length scales, which is a completely different thing than movement of an object through space. Both phenomena have in common that distances between objects change, but the cause and nature of this change is completely different. Ordinary movement through space only allows an increase in distance of twice the speed of light at maximum, whereas when the universal rulers themselves change as is the case in cosmic expansion, such limits do not apply because the increase in distance does not come from relative movement but from a change of the cosmic rulers built into spacetime (called "the metric" in technical terms). Both phenomena were not postulated separately but are described by the very same theory, Einstein's General theory of relativity, and coexist as two different physical processes.

[Brian37]

My guess is that it is infinite. I dunno why exactly I think that. It just seems to make the most sense out of something that can never make sense to us human minds.

Again, have a tendency to  agree with the idea with infinite, but not as one universe, but as a cycle between off and on. Off being finite until a quantum twitch that produces material which becomes "on" then runs out of energy to go to "off" again.

Like I said in a prior post, the light switch  is "off" would be temporary and finite, leading to a twitch,  leading to a temporary finite time being "on" then back to off then back to on then back to off ect ect ect. 

I think it is possible for both infinite and finite to happen in that context. Where we disagree is a super cognition being the cause.

[Rhondazvous]

The theory of relativity contains both the speed limit as well as cosmic expansion as built-in features, so you seem to suggest that relativity is inconsistent - but it isn't. It explicitely tells us how cosmic expansion arises from the dynamics of spacetime through a change of all length scales, which is a completely different thing than movement of an object through space. Both phenomena have in common that distances between objects change, but the cause and nature of this change is completely different. Ordinary movement through space only allows an increase in distance of twice the speed of light at maximum, whereas when the universal rulers themselves change as is the case in cosmic expansion, such limits do not apply because the increase in distance does not come from relative movement but from a change of the cosmic rulers built into spacetime (called "the metric" in technical terms). Both phenomena were not postulated separately but are described by the very same theory, Einstein's General theory of relativity, and coexist as two different physical processes.

Okay, now I see the rubber band and raisin bread dough analogies coming into play and things are making sense. So the expansion of space doesn't follow the rules as the movement of objects would.

I want to see if i can get a copy of Bertrand Russell's The ABCs of Relativity or maybe there's a Relativity for Dummies book out there.

[ignoramus]

Pretty sure Alex got his break by buying the Dummies guide to theoretical particle physics!
And there's the Dummies guide to open heart surgery which obviously Beccs bought!
Look at 'em now! Wow!

[Alex K]

Pretty sure Alex got his break by buying the Dummies guide to theoretical particle physics!

I kinda wrote it...

[ignoramus]

While I got you mate.

If the universe is infinite, then for all intents and purposes, can we say that Earth is the centre of the universe? You know, The way God intended?

GC, LR, I'm pm'ing you my paypal address for some donations. I think I can fake being a smarter theist than a theist!