Continuing down the list of six possible explanations for the “anthropic” coincidences in nature which allow intelligent life to evolve…largely inspired and derived from George F.R. Ellis' brilliant brief book, BEFORE THE BEGINNING. He is NOT responsible, though, for the liberties I've taken with his logic or how I've chosen to illustrate it. I don't really believe in an oscillating universe at all. It's comforting in a way—it squares the evidence of a Big Bang with the yearning for an eternal cycle, like the seasons–but it doesn't really add up. Still, the idea—once espoused by Wheeler, among others–is worth examining. Next time: IMPOSSIBLE BUT TRUE.
That's a rather interesting possibility that the universe oscillated until it reached an option that 'broke' the oscillation. ie. Our universe. It raises the possibility that the preconditions for life correlate to the preconditions required to break the oscillation (which, I realise, falls under 'how convenient', but it's interesting).
This fits something I noticed in the number line. Number lines are infinite. Even when you try different kinds of number lines such as all whole integers or all decimals between zero and one you still find an infinite number line. But you never find a cow in the number line. This proves that something can be infinite and still have parameters about what is possible and what is not.
So in an infinite oscillating universe or a multiverse, there would still be parameters preventing certain combinations of physical laws. Certain constants would be inevitable.
Very nice synopsis! The oscillating universe (with Big Bangs followed by Big Crunches) was in vogue for so long that some lay persons with mild scientific interests still believe it to be true. I'm talking about the old version, where gravity will eventually overcome the acceleration caused by the Big Bang, before Dark Energy was known about.
irrevenant at 6:56AM, Sept. 16, 2014
That's a rather interesting possibility that the universe oscillated until it reached an option that 'broke' the oscillation. ie. Our universe. It raises the possibility that the preconditions for life correlate to the preconditions required to break the oscillation (which, I realise, falls under 'how convenient', but it's interesting).
bejjinks at 10:03PM, July 17, 2014
This fits something I noticed in the number line. Number lines are infinite. Even when you try different kinds of number lines such as all whole integers or all decimals between zero and one you still find an infinite number line. But you never find a cow in the number line. This proves that something can be infinite and still have parameters about what is possible and what is not. So in an infinite oscillating universe or a multiverse, there would still be parameters preventing certain combinations of physical laws. Certain constants would be inevitable.
KimLuster at 5:51PM, July 13, 2014
Very nice synopsis! The oscillating universe (with Big Bangs followed by Big Crunches) was in vogue for so long that some lay persons with mild scientific interests still believe it to be true. I'm talking about the old version, where gravity will eventually overcome the acceleration caused by the Big Bang, before Dark Energy was known about.