Does the universe ever drive you crazy?

[gnarledreaper]

I have a hard time getting my head around the space that everything occupies, if it does, somehow, go on forever, which I feel is impossible, how can anything have come into existence at a certain point in infinite space where there isn't a reference point?, infinity doesn't make sense.

 

And then again, if the space we occupy IS finite, how can that be possible?, a finite boundary means there is a boundary, but boundaries have two sides to them.

[Strange]

1 hour ago, gnarledreaper said:

I have a hard time getting my head around the space that everything occupies, if it does, somehow, go on forever, which I feel is impossible, how can anything have come into existence at a certain point in infinite space where there isn't a reference point?, infinity doesn't make sense.

There is no evidence that the universe came into existence. We know it was hotter and denser 13.8 billons years ago but extrapolating beyond that with our current theories is impossible.

1 hour ago, gnarledreaper said:

And then again, if the space we occupy IS finite, how can that be possible?, a finite boundary means there is a boundary, but boundaries have two sides to them.

Consider a two-dimensional analogy: the surface of the Earth is finite (about 500 million km²) but there is no boundary: if you set off in a straight line in any direction, you will end up back where you started.

[Phi for All]

1 hour ago, gnarledreaper said:

how can anything have come into existence at a certain point in infinite space

This seems like a bad characterization. If by "anything" you mean the universe, infinite space didn't already exist. The universe didn't explode, and it didn't expand INTO anything. Everything we observe now began much smaller and hotter and then expanded and cooled.

 

Edit to add: Kudos to you, btw, for being a member so long with questions like this, and NOT trying to make up your own theories to fill the gaps. Learning mainstream science is always harder, but you get the benefits of all those scientists testing it constantly. Thanks for sticking with it!

Edited April 17, 2019 by Phi for All
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[beecee]

6 hours ago, gnarledreaper said:

I have a hard time getting my head around the space that everything occupies, if it does, somehow, go on forever, which I feel is impossible, how can anything have come into existence at a certain point in infinite space where there isn't a reference point?, infinity doesn't make sense.

 

And then again, if the space we occupy IS finite, how can that be possible?, a finite boundary means there is a boundary, but boundaries have two sides to them.

The point  is that the BB is not a theory of how the universe was created or came into being...a common misconception and pop science inaccuracy. It is a theory of how our universe or space and time as we know them, evolved from a hot dense state, from t+10-43 seconds, or 10-43 seconds after the initial event. Our laws of physics and GR  tell us nothing about that first fraction of a second. For that we can only as yet speculate, although some reasonable speculative scenarios, based on current knowledge does exist.....https://www.astrosociety.org/publication/a-universe-from-nothing/

We also are not sure whether the universe is finite or infinite at this time. If the above linked article is correct, the closest thing we get to nothing, is the quantum foam, so maybe we need to redefine that as nothing. That maybe infinite and eternal.

If the universe is finite that is best illustrated and described here.....

5 hours ago, Strange said:

Consider a two-dimensional analogy: the surface of the Earth is finite (about 500 million km²) but there is no boundary: if you set off in a straight line in any direction, you will end up back where you started.

and also I would like to echo the following remarks....

5 hours ago, Phi for All said:

Edit to add: Kudos to you, btw, for being a member so long with questions like this, and NOT trying to make up your own theories to fill the gaps. Learning mainstream science is always harder, but you get the benefits of all those scientists testing it constantly. Thanks for sticking with it!

 

[The Shadow]

If crazy=mind boggling, then yes. Spatial uncertainties aside...equally mind boggling is the baryonic matter amount. Our current models lead us to believe that dark energy and dark matter make up about 96% of all the matter we can observe. That means all the stars and planets are represented in the 4% of baryonic matter.

Even more mind boggling. Of that 4% of baryonic matter, 99.9999% of it is in the form of plasma (aka; stars). Uninhabitable for humans or any life form we can imagine. Baryonic matter, that is not plasma, is a mind boggling minority in our observable universe!

Edited September 5, 2019 by The Shadow