Submitted by Ruth Goodlaxson on Sun, 09/23/2007 - 12:44pm.
When I was in elementary school, it always really bothered me when a teacher said the universe was infinite. I always wondered, "But how can it keep going FOREVER in EVERY direction?" I guess I adjusted to the idea though, because I found it bothered me way more to think that there was a limit to the universe. If the universe really is a finite size, you have to wonder what's beyond it. What is the universe expanding into? And where do you draw the line of where the universe ends? I mean really, it's hard enough to imagine space with a total absence of matter, but it's even harder to understand that places exist (if you can call it that) where there's an absense of even space.
However, I did like the symmetry that we see when we start at a human scale and get larger or bigger. It's a comfortable idea, that getting bigger there's a gap in seeing improbable assemblies that also exists getting smaller.
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When I was in elementary
When I was in elementary school, it always really bothered me when a teacher said the universe was infinite. I always wondered, "But how can it keep going FOREVER in EVERY direction?" I guess I adjusted to the idea though, because I found it bothered me way more to think that there was a limit to the universe. If the universe really is a finite size, you have to wonder what's beyond it. What is the universe expanding into? And where do you draw the line of where the universe ends? I mean really, it's hard enough to imagine space with a total absence of matter, but it's even harder to understand that places exist (if you can call it that) where there's an absense of even space.
However, I did like the symmetry that we see when we start at a human scale and get larger or bigger. It's a comfortable idea, that getting bigger there's a gap in seeing improbable assemblies that also exists getting smaller.