Universe is finite

[vnbalakrishna]

Is universe finite or infinite

 

Infinite universe is ensconced in finity. Does it sound crazy? Not really. For example, everything is finite but still infinity stems out of it. Lets take the seven musical notes. With these you can compose infinite variety of songs. You don't need an infinite scale to compose infinite songs. There are, again, 26 alphabets in the English language. And infinite sentences can be composed out of the 26 letters. So the vastness of the universe which we call it infinity is really a finite structure and due to our limitation of senses we are unable to fathom it.

[Helper]

It is certainly true that neither eternity nor infinity can fully be comprehended by a finite mind because mind can only reason from beginning to end or cause to effect.

[Tormod]

Lets take the seven musical notes. With these you can compose infinite variety of songs. You don't need an infinite scale to compose infinite songs.

 

Er...this is nitpicking but I don't know of any scales with only 7 notes. The western scale has 13 notes (including the octave). Purely theoretical all the sharps and flats are also not 100% equal so there are even more notes. And when you consider that you can use cents (a logarithmic scale unit), multiple octaves etc then there is an abundance of notes - all the way from 20Hz to 20,000Khz, which is the audible region of the sound frequency scale.

 

But your point is valid - if you add in tempo, syncopation, rhytm patterns and timbre, you could probable create an infinite variety of songs.

[Buffy]

Er...this is nitpicking but...But your point is valid - if you add in tempo, syncopation, rhytm patterns and timbre, you could probable create an infinite variety of songs.

"Er...this is nitpicking but..." actually only if songs can be infinitely long...the numbers get really big, but there are not an *infinite* number of songs with a finite number of permutations unless the length is unbounded. Or timbre, but at least ONE of the components has to be unbounded...

 

Don't worry, we won't run out of music and there's no reason for all this rampant sampling. I got sick when Superfreak came out as U Can't Touch This as a "new" song...

 

Cheers,

Buffy

[ab-de]

It requires energy to continuously expand. Eventually the sun will give out and so will many other suns. Where will their rejuvenation come from?

 

Infinity is also based on the perspective of time. For one thing to have a beginning and another thing not to have a beginning (to be timeless) and exist outside of the known universe, 2 different explanations of so called infinity would have to be developed to differentiate them. In this respect, the universe is finite in that it is bound by time.

[vnbalakrishna]

Hi everybody,

 

When we talk of universe the Big Bang theory comes to mind. The theory suggests that the universe came into existence after the big bang which I find it difficult to stomach. I am not saying that there was no bang. But to say that the bang created "our" universe is rather naive.

How did the bang occur? Scientists say that the matter (which should obviously have been of infinite dimension) was for some unknown miraculous reason so tightly condensed in a size as small as a marble that in one fine moment blew up creating the universe. Stars were born and so were the galaxies. This is a self-serving theory and akin to scientific whistling in the dark. I don't subscribe to it.

Let me say this. The theory assumes willy-nilly that matter existed before the bang though in a highly condensed form. In other words universe was tightly packed in a size so small as a marble. If that is so universe did exist before the bang.

After the bang the hot molten globules went hurtling in space and one of the globules was earth which after billion of years cooled. And lo! water was formed and life came onto it. This sounds more like a cock and bull story yet the scientific community has been lapping over it.

For a clear understanding of the universe I request my Christian friends to read Bhagavad Gita, the song celestial, with an open mind and especially the Chapter VIII. There is the supersoul always in existence and by quirk of maya or "illusion" (that governs our senses) we think the unreal as the real. There is a reason behind this maya gripping everyone of us and why it does so can only come through self-realisation once we purify our soul. The reality is totally different. What we yearn for is not what we actually need. But the maya prevents us from seeing the reality. Can a spark that is flying away from a bonfire understand the significance of the bonfire. Until it falls back into it and merges into from where it came its (the spark's) understanding of its existence would only be transient. For you and me it is a fact that sun rises. But a blind man has no sensation to understand about the sunrise. It makes no sense to him. What we perceive by our senses that governs our mind is only ephemeral. Beyond the control of the senses lie the reality. Since we are so overpowered by the five senses the body becomes the reality while the soul being the unreal. This is due to the all-powerful lust subjugating our mind. It is simply not possible to understand what universe means in reality so long as the lust grips us. This lust comes in all varieties and forms viz., attraction for the opposite gender or enjoyment of the flesh; greed for money; wanting eat rich fatty food; growing in status and wanting to rule over others by fair or fould means are some of the examples. Maya is cosmic illusion which the Hindus call a roadblock to self-realisation. But how does one escape from the clutches of maya?

It is only the HIndu religion, repeat Hindu religion, that advocates renunciation which means trying to come out of the grip of the five senses towards final liberation and tearing asunder the maya. This includes detachment in real sense. Detachment from one's family, friends and everything and yet be part of the cosmic unison. As long as you think the other persons is my wife, daughter, mother, father, son etc the illusionary bondage gets strengthened impeding true realisation. Please also read the book written by the famous British author Paul Brunton on Ramana Maharishi. The title of the book is "The sage of Tiruvanamalai."

One given to materialistic thoughts would find what I have written amusing but let me say this: AS LONG AS LUST STIRS YOU YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE UNIVERSE WOULD BE MERE THEORITICAL WHICH MEANS STRAYING FROM THE PATH OF REALISATION.

thanks

bala