On the infinity of the universe...
Created | Updated Dec 11, 2002
There is a school of thought that believes space is infinite...the universe spans infinitely into every direction.
There is nothing wrong with this theory, and many people believe it. However, many who consider themselves knowledgable of such things don't believe it. They believe the universe is extremely large, and some go on to believe it is constantly expanding, but not infinite.
Well, if the universe is infinite, (and more or less homogenious) then there is a theory which is worth review:
The Theory
If the universe is indeed infinite, then there are an infinite amount of chances for anything to exist in that infinite amount of space. Anything you can imagine that is possibly out there, and probably even some stuff you can't imagine, is extremely-probably-almost-definitely out there!
An infinite amount of space means that there is room for everything. Even if we came to a huge gap where there are no stars or galaxies or anything, and we assumed that it was the end of the universe, there would still be space after that point. This space might seem empty, but if it goes on for infinity then there is an amazingly enormous possibility that there is something out past it...in fact, there is an enormous possibility that there are an infinite amount of things out there.
Here is an exercise to help you understand the theory. Imagine an alien. You can imagine it looking however you want it to look, within the realms of possibility. Now here is where the theory comes in: that alien IS (almost definitely) out in the universe somewhere! Space is so infinitely huge that there has to be an alien somewhere that looks exactly like your imagined alien. In fact there are an infinite amount of them, and of that infinite amount, an infinite amount of them probably speak English! However, for every language there is an infinite amount of these aliens that speak it, and an infinite amount of languages to be spoken.
That is the theory, and, if the universe really is infinite, it is true. Take it or leave it.
Disclaimer
To be fair, it should be noted that, in an infinite universe, there is a chance that there is nothing out there, or that the alien you imagined is not out there. However, this chance would be infinitely close to 0%...as close to zero as possible without actually being zero, because that one chance divided by an infinite amount of chances is infinitely close to zero. On the other hand, the chance of the alien you imagined existing is infinitely close to 100%...as close to one hundred percent as possible without actually being one hundred percent.
