Thread: What if there is something outside the universe?

Google "Multiverse"

Cool exobyte, I should have though of that. But perhaps something even outside the Multiverse itself?

The Omniverse, and after that, the Polyverse (just a fabricated name to throw in there). And so on...

I know this sounds funny and ridiculous, but how about a series of things ending in "Verse" until we stumble upon something else?

I shouldn't push this too far should I? Lol

I think the chances of more than one universe existing, and stuff existing outside of the universe makes more sense than not.

If you go back far enough in time, eventually you get to the point where either some thing just randomly appeared out of no where, or random events caused stuff that has been here for all of time to suddenly react in a way they never have before. Both seem unlikely.

To me it seems more likely that there is some system that creates and destroys universes, just like solar systems and galaxes are formed then destroyed. Infinite time backwards, makes a lot more sense if everything is in a cycle and repeating. Since the unvierse isn't doing it(as far as we can tell), then there should be something else outside of it.

I know this sounds funny and ridiculous, but how about a series of things ending in "Verse" until we stumble upon something else?

What do you mean by something else? Why wouldn't that thing also be a 'verse'?

Personally I think there's a multiverse, but at some level you're going to have something which contains the whole of reality. But it's worth remembering, the universe itself is far to large to comprehend, really.

The whole thing seems like a sort of mental masturbation to me. How do you define the universe? Usually I take it to mean all that which we are able to detect. If we can detect something, it is part of the universe. Therefore, anything 'outside' the universe is by definition, undetectable and can be considered to not exist. As subjective beings, the only things that really matter are those that we can experience, so if something is intrinsically beyond our experience, then it effectively is non-existent.

The multiverse idea is not the same as something 'outside' the universe in my opinion. Universe means 'all that is' so technically a different time-space continuum that runs parallel to our own is still part of the one universe. This may just be a problem with labelling, of course, since no matter how much stuff we find, all of it together will still be contained in the universe simply by how the word is defined.

When talking about a multiverse it's custom really to refer to the result of our Big Bang as the 'universe', just to make the terminology easier.

I don't really see why things outside of our experience shouldn't exist. For example, what about stars on the other side of the universe from which the light is yet to reach us? Do they not exist until the light reaches us? If so, how does the light reach us if they don't exist? What about Earth? It didn't exist until anybody was here to experience it. But then abiogenesis could not have occured and we never would have existed. It doesn't make any logical sense.

You can't go outside the universe, it's the universe.

Originally Posted by Xei

When talking about a multiverse it's custom really to refer to the result of our Big Bang as the 'universe', just to make the terminology easier.

I don't really see why things outside of our experience shouldn't exist. For example, what about stars on the other side of the universe from which the light is yet to reach us? Do they not exist until the light reaches us? If so, how does the light reach us if they don't exist? What about Earth? It didn't exist until anybody was here to experience it. But then abiogenesis could not have occured and we never would have existed. It doesn't make any logical sense.

Thats not really what I'm talking about. It is possible to experience a star whose light hasn't reached us, either by waiting or going out to find it. I meant in the sense of a space time continuum that never intersects our own, so that no information can ever pass from one to the other. I was assuming the definition of universe that means "everything we perceive to physically exist" and so we can think about other 'universes' that are outside of what is physically possible to percieve, but it will never really get anyone anywhere. We might as well assume they don't exist since as far as we are concerned, they don't.

Also, as far as general relativity is concerned, it is also possible to experience the past even though we haven't figured out how to do it yet.

Originally Posted by Xaqaria

The whole thing seems like a sort of mental masturbation to me.

Mental masturbation is pleasurable, not sinful. Let the thinkers think. Besides, thinking leads to more discoveries and advances that once didn't exist.

Originally Posted by Tall Tale

I shouldn't push this too far should I? Lol

Hey, go for it. This is fascinating stuff. No need to apologize for having deep thoughts. Anybody who bitches at you for it is a stupid troll. Exploring reality and thought is a good thing.