Why does the universe have no end?

Question

I understand the concept of Hubble's Law...but, to me it doesn't justify the theory of the universe as a neverending, ever-expanding entity. There must be something else beyond the universe. Are we inside of something else...It's very perplexing if you think about it.

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

The universe cannot have an end, it has to be infinite and completely symetrical. This leads to three possible scenarios for its shape a saddle shape, a spheroid, and a flat plane. Different experiments have led scientists to believe that space is an infintie flat plane. The main reason why we know that if there were edges to space then we would have to me moving towards some objects and away from others. This is not the case as all observed entities are moving away from us. This leads to the assumption of a infinite expanding universe.

As far as our perception is concerned we are not inside of anything since the universe occupies all of the space that we can observe so the universe is everything. But if somehow you could step out of our universe into a higher dimension you dont know what you would see. There are some theorists who believe our universe is one of many universe. But since there is no way to see out of the universe we may never be able to answer this question. I agree that if you start thinking in this manner it can get quite perplexing

To the person who said space must have an edge to expand think of a baloon. If we go down a dimension imagine that our galaxy is a penny glued on the surface of a baloon. To us the baloon has no edges at all since we cannot see out into the third dimension, yet the baloon is expanding. So from our vantage point we live on an infinite surface that is expanding and causing nearby pennies to all travel away from us.

Asker's Rating:

Asker's Comment:

Dealt with the perplexity of the notion and the science as well...

Answer 2

by definition, and from greek, universe is all that is... if there is an end to everything that is please show me where

okay...

seriously though...

and in all honesty i want you to think about one of those old video games where you could go off one side of the screen and come back on the other side...

topologically the universe can be viewed as a single (for lack of a better word) super volume... according to superstring theory an (at least) 11 dimensional object where boundaries as we percieve them don't really exist...

while we percieve the passage of time a growing number of scientist say that time itself is an illusion... that the entirety of everything is in fact stationary... we only percieve movement in time and space...

we see only a small set of the diminsional space that exists... our bodies are simply not equipped to deal with the sensation of higher dimension...

and as a direct result when we consider "all that is" we think it must have an edge or surface or n-surface... but that is not required by physical law...

only by our perceptions

Answer 3

Maybe someday man will be smart enough to figure this out or know the answer. God is not the answer

Answer 4

Universe does not end as it will or it is going on splitting as it expands and likely to create multiple universe

Answer 5

Yeah, it does seem odd to contemplate and ever expanding universe. I agree it seems it must be expanding in something. After all what will be left behind when the universe begins shrinking? My brain has yet to come up with what. Now I recommend two Advil (or if you prefer some other brand) to deal with the brain ache. :)

Answer 6

the definition of the universe is everything so there can not be anything outside it.

maybe there is an edge or maybe the universe wraps around at some point but I prefer the neverending option.

Answer 7

Although philosophically the universe may have no end scientifically you cant say so... its just humans cannot comprehend its end that we might not be able to accept it... this is how most quantum paradoxes arise cos no one can comprehend the bizzare facts....

Answer 8

Because the container will be too big.

Answer 9

I agree, infinity is a difficult concept to grasp. It's not one I subscribe to myself. The universe must have an edge. It needs an edge for expansion, otherwise what is expanding?
As for where is the expansion going? ......?? hmmm.

Answer 10

Outside our universe would be a spatial place with no dimension of time. The edge of the universe would be finite, but we would never be able to go to the other side. Therefore it would not exist in a sense that we could imagine. For example, say there is a rock in the palm of your hand. The rock has three space dimensions, but has zero time. Since the rock does not occupy any time, in our universe, it does not exist. Being that space and time are interwoven into the fabric of everything we can "see", it would be impossible for us to even imagine what could be on the other side of the "wall". I hope that makes sense.

Source(s):

try reading any Stephen Hawking book...They are very easy to understand (as far as cosmology goes)

Answer 11

Don't think so much bout this....,maybe we will never be able to find the reasons bout the universe on how? where? why? what?.....there are places where mankind will never be able to reach...not even their rockets and satellites....it's just useless to think.....

Answer 12

Perhaps the easiest way to look at this is to imagine our universe not existing. What is left is what we are expanding in to.

The even weirder thing to think of is that there is proof that the universe is accelerating, in addition that acceleration is also accelerating. I suppose there are an infinite number of reasons that may happen but a finite number of solution/s.

Answer 13

Like others here have said, the human brain is not equipped to handle the perplex nature of the answer. With 100% certainty - we all know there IS an answer to this question - we just cannot comprehend it.

For example, a bug knows survival, hunger, and the need to breed - not much more. Ask a bug a question in English. Do you get a response? They aren't even equipped to hear us. Their brains are wired for what they need to live - just like us. No matter how hard you try, you will never be able to teach a bug how to read. But they must be able to read in order to understand how to boil water. Luckily for bugs, however, they probably aren't bent on answering that question.

However, we're smart enough to raise the question "how far does the universe go".

But just like the bug, we're an animal. And just like the bug is not equipped to understand boiling water, we're not equipped to answer how far the universe goes.

If you can "understand that there are some things the human brain is simply not equipped to understand" - then you are far smarter than those actually looking for the answer itself.

Using the bug example - it makes perfect sense. We want an answer. Actually it's probably right in front of us. But you put a book in front of a bug and they couldn't read it. But WOW, at least we're smart enough to know we're not smart enough.

Knowing this, I hope I've saved you from the sleepless nights trying to understand how far the universe goes.

By the way - the theories of loops, starts, and "nothing" are admirable - but they are all within the grand picture. Perhaps they are a part of the answer. But you still have to explain them - and even "nothing" is outside something. It all leads back to the fact that as smart as we think we are, we just aren't smart enough to understand.

Some people absolutely need to have an answer. Many turn to religion. Many shut out the fact that this question persists because it makes them feel so small that they want to curl up and hide. Many are scared to face the question so they block it out. But there is nothing to be scared of. We live in a physical universe bound by physics. You'll wake up tomorrow and start your day. Fish will always live in the sea.

There's an "easy" answer to how far the universe goes - the 2006 model human just doesn't come with processor strong enough to compute it. No worries - when we upgrade to the 21,2006 model, our hyper-great grandchildren will make fun of us for questioning it.

The fun part begins here - imagine the possibilites. This isn't the only question we can't comprehend. Imagine the questions we can't even imagine to ask...it's all around us. We're like bugs crawling over the cover of an encyclopedia we don't even recognize as a source of information....feel even smaller?

Guess what - just because we can't put an answer to this question, humans are still maximized for survival on Earth. We dominate this place. We have everything we need to run marathons and billion dollar computer firms - and everything in between. We virtually exhaust the capacity of what we're capable of accomplishing...or at least the best ones do. The rest get eaten, just like the slower and dumber bugs that weren't smart enough to realize they were sitting on an encyclopedia.

Or at least that's the way I look at it. What do you think of that?

Dan

Source(s):

high school, college, and a mad desire to understand everything