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Interesting Science Stuff

NationalTitles18 said:
I say this all the time and it's true for most areas of science. New discoveries make us question old paradigms and always lead to ever more questions. It's what makes science so exciting to us nerds.
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Brian Greene -- "Until the End of Time" -- awesome on many levels...I don't always agree with him, but I do like his approach.
 
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Today is the 55th anniversary of the 1st moon landing.
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Padreruf said:
Brian Greene -- "Until the End of Time" -- awesome on many levels...I don't always agree with him, but I do like his approach.
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Greens' conclusion is that in a few trillion years our universe will implode as the sun dies...and all the advances in science, the arts, etc., will die with us...nothing will survive. He does say that we may learn how to build a "brain" that does not need a body such as ours, but gives little hope otherwise.'

I have a number of problems with this...the least of which is that no one can extrapolate that far into the future. We humans may bow up this planet long before then or we may alter our behavior and learn how to extend our existence somewhere else if not here.

His perspective is is pure nihilism...nothing has any intrinsic value or worth. All is destined for the universal trash heap. To accept this is to say that there are no ultimate values other than utilitarianism...and that hangs on a slim thread.

It's a good thing I don't drink...
 
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Padreruf said:
Greens' conclusion is that in a few trillion years our universe will implode as the sun dies...and all the advances in science, the arts, etc., will die with us...nothing will survive. He does say that we may learn how to build a "brain" that does not need a body such as ours, but gives little hope otherwise.'

I have a number of problems with this...the least of which is that no one can extrapolate that far into the future. We humans may bow up this planet long before then or we may alter our behavior and learn how to extend our existence somewhere else if not here.

His perspective is is pure nihilism...nothing has any intrinsic value or worth. All is destined for the universal trash heap. To accept this is to say that there are no ultimate values other than utilitarianism...and that hangs on a slim thread.

It's a good thing I don't drink...
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I'm not too familiar with Green.

Of course our sun only has about 5 billion years left before it becomes a red giant and likely engulfs Earth before shrinking back down to become a white dwarf star.

One oxymoron of the universe is the tendency toward entropy vs the very natural propensity of chemistry having the potential to organize itself into life through the same laws of nature.

And while we once thought we'd have a big crunch at the end and perhaps a new big bang after that, current prevailing thought is for a universe that trillions and trillions of years from now spreads and cools into a dark and cold expanse with even black holes slowly leaking out their contents through Hawking radiation into this vast expanse.

Of course none of this decides for us what we place value on or the meaning that we give it.
 
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NationalTitles18 said:
I'm not too familiar with Green.

Of course our sun only has about 5 billion years left before it becomes a red giant and likely engulfs Earth before shrinking back down to become a white dwarf star.

One oxymoron of the universe is the tendency toward entropy vs the very natural propensity of chemistry having the potential to organize itself into life through the same laws of nature.

And while we once thought we'd have a big crunch at the end and perhaps a new big bang after that, current prevailing thought is for a universe that trillions and trillions of years from now spreads and cools into a dark and cold expanse with even black holes slowly leaking out their contents through Hawking radiation into this vast expanse.

Of course none of this decides for us what we place value on or the meaning that we give it.
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You've summarized Greene much better than could I...of course he comes from a purely physics point of view and meaning/value is something that others/artists do...albeit he is also a classically trained musician.

I just have a hard time thinking that all our work in ethics, justice, etc., will have no ultimate value.
 
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Padreruf said:
You've summarized Greene much better than could I...of course he comes from a purely physics point of view and meaning/value is something that others/artists do...albeit he is also a classically trained musician.

I just have a hard time thinking that all our work in ethics, justice, etc., will have no ultimate value.
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One way or another, our world was always going to be destroyed. All things would pass away - this was always inevitable, even in religious texts - especially in religious texts. Science is simply telling us what we already knew - we will end our existence in this universe whether we blow ourselves to kingdom come or through the laws of entropy that govern the universe.

And this is where humanity and spirituality fill this vast void. This is where we find hope and solace, meaning and value.

Will it matter in the vast expanse of space-time?

Only if it matters to you. Or me. Or those we love.

And this is without considering (much) faith/hope in something new beyond this place.
 
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NationalTitles18 said:
One way or another, our world was always going to be destroyed. All things would pass away - this was always inevitable, even in religious texts - especially in religious texts. Science is simply telling us what we already knew - we will end our existence in this universe whether we blow ourselves to kingdom come or through the laws of entropy that govern the universe.

And this is where humanity and spirituality fill this vast void. This is where we find hope and solace, meaning and value.

Will it matter in the vast expanse of space-time?

Only if it matters to you. Or me. Or those we love.

And this is without considering (much) faith/hope in something new beyond this place.
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For the most part you are correct...especially in standard Christian theology based on biblical texts. However, Bishop NT Wright (England) has come up with a perspective that says God will use God's people to repopulate the earth, building the society that was supposed to be in the beginning before the fall. He is combining (IMHO) the belief in a "heaven" with an interpretation of Jesus's teaching that says the Kingdom is already here, albeit proleptically. Most of us interpreted that to mean an "inner" kingdom rule of the individual, but Wright projects this to a future kingdom here on earth. He has gained some traction among non-fundamentalists/literalists.

Either way I don't think I will be around to witness the final days of our planet and/or this universe.
 
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