| I Am the Center of the Universe
Posted: 6/10/2009 8:12:16 AM | The universe is infinite. So from where im sitting now, the universe expands equally in all direction from me. How could I be anything but the center? To say I was not the center, would mean that the universe would be present farther in one direction than another. That is an impossibility, because infinite has no stop.
Doesnt this mean that Earth as a whole must be the bigger center of the universe | |
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| I Am the Center of the Universe
Posted: 6/10/2009 8:15:52 AM | ...and the sun, the Milky Way, the local group of galaxies, the local supercluster, and so on, and so on.
Perhaps more accurate to say you're the center of your universe. Just as I'm the center of mine. However the center of the universe is a little trickier concept. | |
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| I Am the Center of the Universe
Posted: 6/10/2009 8:19:23 AM | The problem is, EVERYWHERE appears to be at the center of the universe... not just the earth. 
And the "infinite" universe has a radius of only about 13.6 light years. (I guess they just don't make "infinities" like they used to!  ) | |
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| I Am the Center of the Universe
Posted: 6/10/2009 8:30:45 AM |
And the "infinite" universe has a radius of only about 13.6 light years. (I guess they just don't make "infinities" like they used to! )
This maybe "the infinite universe" visible to us. | |
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| I Am the Center of the Universe
Posted: 6/10/2009 9:08:53 AM | I agree, people as a whole are the center of the universe, not a location such as Earth.
But this fits perfectly with the notion that all existence is here so we can exist! | |
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| I Am the Center of the Universe
Posted: 6/10/2009 9:24:03 AM | And the "infinite" universe has a radius of only about 13.6 light years. (I guess they just don't make "infinities" like they used to! )
Huh? 13.6 LY? Where are you getting your figure from? The farthest we've seen through the Hubble is well into the billions of light years:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble_Space_Telescope
A unique legacy of Hubble are the Hubble Deep Field and Hubble Ultra Deep Field images, which utilized Hubble's unmatched sensitivity at visible wavelengths to create images of small patches of sky that are the deepest ever obtained at optical wavelengths. The images reveal galaxies billions of light years away, and have generated a wealth of scientific papers, providing a new window on the early Universe.
For that matter, our own Milky Way Galaxy is about 100,000 LY across, and our solar system is about 30,000LY from one edge.
And just because it's a cool video, here's Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnFMrNdj1yY
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| I Am the Center of the Universe
Posted: 6/10/2009 9:26:02 AM | Space is infinate. Matter within Space is not.
>>>Huh? 13.6 LY? Where are you getting your figure from? The farthest we've seen through the Hubble is well into the billions of light years
The Universe is approx 14 Billion years old, so far as we can tell- so it'd be impossible for the universe to be larger than the age of...the Universe... | |
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| I Am the Center of the Universe
Posted: 6/10/2009 9:33:30 AM |
The Universe is approx 14 Billion years old, so far as we can tell- so it'd be impossible for the universe to be larger than the age of...the Universe...
Yes, I agree, but he said 13.6 LIGHT YEARS, not 13.6 BILLION light years.
There's a slight difference... | |
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| I Am the Center of the Universe
Posted: 6/10/2009 9:33:53 AM |
Huh? 13.6 LY? Where are you getting your figure from?
Oops, sorry... I merely forgot to type the word "billion". 
(But, other than that, I nevr mayk eny misteaks. ) | |
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| I Am the Center of the Universe
Posted: 6/10/2009 9:37:31 AM | Oops, sorry... I merely forgot to type the word "billion".
(But, other than that, I nevr mayk eny misteaks. )
Been there, dun taht. 
Besides, it gave me an excuse to post that video. :D | |
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| I Am the Center of the Universe
Posted: 6/10/2009 10:31:09 AM | You're only the center of the universe (hypothetically) if the universe is volumetrically infinite. We really don't know that it is or not , whether we're talking about the matter within it or the space that that matter is flying through. Until we have an answer to the question of whether or not space actually is infinite , there is no means of calculating where the center might be. Actually , there's no point in trying without some measurements to work with.
Basically what I'm saying is that you've got it backwards OP. Without any knowledge of the spatial dimensions of the universe , there is NO centre. The most you can say is that you're potentially the center of the universe. Of course , so is everybody and everything else...making the statement meaningless. | |
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| I Am the Center of the Universe
Posted: 6/10/2009 5:10:20 PM | Last year I found a sign pointing to the center of the universe.
It lead to another sign, which then lead to another.
Anyhoo, after following some waaaaan hunnnnndred and eeeiiiighty signs, I eventually ended up at jinglehimmer_smith's house.
So he is not lying.
And everyone should be ashamed of themselves if they question any of this. | |
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| I Am the Center of the Universe
Posted: 6/10/2009 5:22:17 PM |
For that matter, our own Milky Way Galaxy is about 100,000 LY across, and our solar system is about 30,000LY from one edge. Where are you getting your numbers from? The solar system is about 8o astronomical units in diameter if you go out to Pluto, which converts into 665 light minutes. | |
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| I Am the Center of the Universe
Posted: 6/10/2009 5:42:25 PM |
For that matter, our own Milky Way Galaxy is about 100,000 LY across, and our solar system is about 30,000LY from one edge. Where are you getting your numbers from? The solar system is about 8o astronomical units in diameter if you go out to Pluto, which converts into 665 light minutes.
His numbers are completely correct. You are misinterpreting them. Try this: "Our solar system is about 30,000 LY from one edge of the Milky Way Galaxy." | |
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| I Am the Center of the Universe
Posted: 6/10/2009 10:45:07 PM | i spent 7 sun-stroked days, and 7 sleepless nites, followed by a pack of wolves, climbing a mountain in Tibet to reach a wize man....When i finally got there, dehydrated, sunburned, exhausted, i asked him where the center of the universe is located.
He said "de vaudin ran stinklet housfen" which translates into english as "Jinglehimmer Smith's House"
There is a weird phenomenon going on here, even though this whole thread is based on the FALSE assumption that the universe is infinite. Far from it. | |
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| I Am the Center of the Universe
Posted: 6/11/2009 5:35:48 AM |
The universe is infinite. So from where im sitting now, the universe expands equally in all direction from me. How could I be anything but the center? To say I was not the center, would mean that the universe would be present farther in one direction than another. That is an impossibility, because infinite has no stop.
a) The universe will expand equally in all directions from you only if you are, in fact, in the centre of the universe.
b) You cannot assume that just because two numbers (or distances) are infinite, that they are equal.
Doesnt this mean that Earth as a whole must be the bigger center of the universe
Nope. | |
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| I Am the Center of the Universe
Posted: 6/11/2009 6:53:16 AM | Ok, so what about the multiverse, are we the center of that too?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rg3uNrI8tE | |
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| I Am the Center of the Universe
Posted: 6/11/2009 7:07:27 AM | how can people still argue a non infinite universe? And yes if it is infinite then it is equal in all direction from me!
How could the universe stop? What would seperate it. exisetence is only seperated by non-existence, and that cannot exist! There cannot be a stopping point ever. The only thing that can stop existence is non-existence, and it doesnt exist.
Think logically, if non-existence was ever real. Then what would have changed the eseence of non-existence? There would have been nothing there to spark existence, cause only non-existence would have been.
Dont confuse matter with existence! Just because we are incapable of seeing or knowing what takes up space, our mind knows that something has to exist within that space, because non-existence is impossible. | |
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| I Am the Center of the Universe
Posted: 6/11/2009 7:12:05 AM | Verry well said Jingle himmer
Existence is the default state of reality. What is, always was, and always will be. We are just along for the ride. Might as well enjoy the scenery. | |
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| I Am the Center of the Universe
Posted: 6/11/2009 7:12:09 AM | I have to say that Funcuz's reply is by far the best interpretation.
but yeah, this is totally a solipsism topic.
solipsism- grab a dictionary | |
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| I Am the Center of the Universe
Posted: 6/11/2009 7:43:40 AM |
You're only the center of the universe (hypothetically) if the universe is volumetrically infinite.
Not true. When einstien discovered relativity, he also discovered that the universe, although not infinite, behaves in ways that resemble infinity. For example, einstien discovered that there is no centre of the universe as everything moves relative to the position of everything else.
For example, if you drive counter to the rotation of the earth, do you speed up or slow down? Because your car may be recording a speed of 30MPH, but the speed you are travelling as a part of the earth, has actually been reduced.
One of Einstiens little jokes when he discovered this, was to ask train conductors when the station leaves the train.
So thanks to relativity, although we can say for certain that the Universe has to be finite, we can alos say for that it has no centre, or that the centre is relative to the observerer, just as you would see with an infinite universe.
Its all verilly strange I say to thee. | |
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| I Am the Center of the Universe
Posted: 6/11/2009 7:45:33 AM | I have to say that Funcuz's reply is by far the best interpretation.
I have to disagree.
My money is on Jingle Himmer.
Certainly we have no proof that the universe, or multiverse is infinite, but Jingle's logic has to be taken into account.
There is no proof that you exist either, from a solipsistic perspective, but one has to take certain assumptions into account if one is to keep from slipping down the rabbit hole into the realm of total flipped outedness.
"Jingle logic". I like that. | |
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| I Am the Center of the Universe
Posted: 6/11/2009 7:49:38 AM |
Dont confuse matter with existence! Just because we are incapable of seeing or knowing what takes up space, our mind knows that something has to exist within that space, because non-existence is impossible.
Why is it impossible?
You're making all sorts of assertions, but you're not giving either evidence or reasoning in support.
Is non-existence impossible, or is the brain just incapable of comprehending it? | |
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| I Am the Center of the Universe
Posted: 6/11/2009 8:50:38 AM |
Is non-existence impossible, or is the brain just incapable of comprehending it?
One definition of nothing is a physically real condition that has no discernable form or substance, such as a white canvas, or a uniform void in empty space. This type of nothing is real and exists, and is actually quite ordinary. An empty refrigerator has nothing in it. A white artist canvas has nothing painted on it. The real nothing is always a place or a space that is uniformly undefined, where there are no distinct things. There is just one thing, like one color, or just space alone, so we call it nothing. But the other definition of ‘nothing’, is nonexistence, which is a very difficult concept to understand when defined separately from the real nothing, which is the very reason we confuse the two. We confuse the two out of need, because one we can describe, the other we cannot.
When the dictionary defines nothing as ‘something that does not exist’, it is reasonably obvious that the syntax of the phrase makes no real sense. How can ‘nothing’ be a something which does not exist? In fact simply using any word in an attempt to mean non-existence creates a sort of riddle. How do we make a word refer to something that doesn’t exist? What word can represent a form that isn't a form; a thing that isn't a thing? What language can define a concept that has no reality or meaning?
Of course we cannot solve the great old riddle of how something came from nonexistence. It’s the ultimate oxymoron, and the ultimate contradiction in terms. We cannot even refer to a state of nonexistence when there is no such state, and no such form, to refer to. Any attempt to describe it isn’t describing it. Any word representing it, isn’t representing it. Non-existence can only really be defined as something that cannot be defined with a word. It can only refer to something that cannot be referred to. Obviously there is a vexing fundamental problem here. Any attempt to define a nonexistence using any meaningful idea or thought, by using the meaning that otherwise defines all language, that defines our reality, is predestined to fail.
Nonexistence cannot be. It cannot exist. It cannot even be meant. And that predicament, that total paradox, is very different from the real nothing that exists and can be talked about. And the fact that we confuse these two concepts is the very reason we don't yet clearly understand why we exist. We exist because there is no alternative. There never was a non-existence in the past and there never will be a non-existence. Existence is the default setting of reality. Existence belongs here. It has always been. | |
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