You raise a good point, but I ask you this...if there IS "just nothingness," then what does that consist of? We, as humans, have no concept of that nothingness...
Just because it's difficult or impossible for us to imagine doesn't mean it can't exist. Not to drag this into a religious or spiritual debate, but death (to me) is the same concept. It's so difficult for us to imagine because it's like asking someone to recall what it was like before they were born. So just because we've never experienced an absence of matter and light doesn't mean there are no places in which those two do not reach.
actually you guys could just do some reading and find the answers to these questions. theoretical physics FTW!
I think you don't understand what the word theory means in a scientific context. Nuclear bombs are based on the idea that you can convert matter to energy, which comes from the Theory of Relativity.
the immensity of space.On my whimsical imagining,I think it's unlimited and we just could not reach the edge of the Universe. Maybe when we could trek on light speed,we could make it clear for everyone who's curious about that trillions of unsolved questions remaining. I'd like to see what really constitute the nebulae,wanna take a deep probe into it.
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/JWVshkVF0SY&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/JWVshkVF0SY&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
i believe the universe is infinite. of course it will be impossible to prove that or disprove that for thousands of years if not longer. I do believe space travel will be possible when it becomes a necessity but of course the technology hasnt been developed to move a ship that fast to go investigate galaxies outside of our own. I also believe that there probably other parallel universe/worlds out there as well as Aliens. A buddy of mine back in school was mentioning how what if jesus, greek gods and other celestial beings that people have claimed to have seen and have miraculous powers were actually aliens who made it to this planet? That made my head spin for a bit but i dont know how true any of that would be. i am sure there is probably a galaxy out there that has had a living system of planets much much much much much older than ours and probably a race of being that are much more technologically advanced than ourselves. But Bill Watterson (Calvin and Hobbes FTW!) said it best, "Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us"
I guess I never thought about this way, but we've all sort of been dead before. Well, not "dead" by definition, but "not alive". We all wonder what it's going to be like when we pass, and many (myself included) find it hard to image it being complete nothingness. However, everyone reading this thread has already experienced that complete nothingness for the billions of years (or more?) before we were born...we just can't remember it. Man, pondering this stuff always gives me a sickening feeling because I start thinking about the inevitability of death. Then I convince myself that everything's going to be fine and "that's just the way it goes", and I actually feel pretty cool about it all. Then I get freaked out again, and it goes back and forth for a while until I get distracted and forget about it.
That's the exactly how I feel. I just get really freaked out if I think hard about death. Too many questions what happens after we die. Do we go to heaven? Do we come back million of years later? Or we just die and nothing. Ugh. Time for lunch.
That's been the story of my life for about the last month. The only real defense is to try and put it out of your mind, as it can become crippling to even your everyday life. Either that or convince yourself of an afterlife or reincarnation. Or be like me and hope that in my lifetime science will become capable of transferring consciousness into a badass robot! Perhaps, but what I'm getting at is that there a whole lot of characteristics of our universe that we can't be sure of. I take issue with anyone who tries to say that they have the definite answers to the questions postulated here.
The other side of the black hole? I don't really buy into the idea that a black hole is a portal that spits things out somewhere else.
