Questions tagged [cosmology]

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Can we consider the multiverse as the capstone of the Copernican Revolution?

The Copernican Revolution was a major shift in our mindset as a species. No longer were we the special center of the universe. If we generalize this notion, we see it surface in many areas beyond ...
Annika's user avatar
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-1 votes
1 answer
50 views

What do you call something that determines the world [closed]

A computer and software determines a simulation, however, the world we don't know if it's a simulation or not, so let's assume that it's not a simulation, then what do you call something that ...
Sayaman's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
828 views

Why does the world exist, as opposed to nothingness, from Indian perspective?

I came across this Ted Talk by philosopher and author Jim Holt which raised the question as to why the universe, as we know it, exists at all as opposed to existence. The viewpoints discussed in the ...
Muralidhar Rao's user avatar
2 votes
5 answers
256 views

How to explain the cosmic expansion? [closed]

We know from astrophysics that the cosmos expands, i.e. that all galaxies recede from each other. This fact is confirmed by observation. It can also be obtained as a solution of the Einstein equations....
Jo Wehler's user avatar
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1 vote
4 answers
137 views

Does the Universe tend towards complexity/elegance?

So many of our scientific theories suggest that, from singularity or homogeneity, everything grows more and more complex. I say 'so many' here because I'm not speaking only about cosmology (and ...
Jesse Tate's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
16 views

Can physical universes nontrivially embed themselves into themselves?

Sometimes our world is said to be a "Big Conjunctive Contingent Fact" or that other possible worlds are "recombinations" of available propositions for some actual world. So model-...
Kristian Berry's user avatar
4 votes
4 answers
348 views

What would happen if the universe had no global symmetries and conservation laws?

I am asking this question in this site as it involves some philosophy of physics... I am trying to understand what would happen to the universe if it had no global symmetries (including those that ...
vengaq's user avatar
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1 vote
0 answers
37 views

Could deities/multiverses be the empty/trivial solutions to, "How and why does our universe exist in the way it does?"

Note: I am loosely following Nicholas Rescher (Axiogenesis) here, by qualifying "the existence of this world" as "the existence of this specific world," where, "Why is there ...
Kristian Berry's user avatar
7 votes
8 answers
1k views

Is topology used outside of cosmology in philosophy?

It seems like topology is used to model spacetime, but outside of cosmology, it seems like topology has absolutely no use in philosophy. Is topology used to create models that relate to abstract and ...
Sayaman's user avatar
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0 votes
0 answers
33 views

In cosmology, what do you call a visual representation of fundamental elements/forces in the universe?

I am interested in learning about various cosmological systems that come from various philosophies and religion throughout history. To understand what I really mean, here's a graphical example: I am ...
Sayaman's user avatar
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0 votes
3 answers
1k views

A terrifying variant of Boltzmann's brain

I am new to this forum even though I have read a lot on the subject of boltzmann's brains and have come to a terrifying conclusion, the classic argument which for example Sean Carroll used, "The ...
Zeruel017's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
141 views

Should believers in god(s), the creator(s), answer the question what created god(s)?

In explaining the presence of the universe, you can assume the laws of the universe brought it into existence, which leaves the question: how can these laws, and the stuff they describe, have brought ...
Pathfinder's user avatar
3 votes
5 answers
636 views

An argument against brute physical facts

I would like to know what anybody thinks of the following argument against brute physical facts, such as the idea that the material universe as a whole is a brute fact. A physical fact is taken to ...
Mark's user avatar
  • 377
0 votes
0 answers
84 views

Will we ever be able to find the universal cause?

The universe can be thought of as a (curved) spacetime with matter and energy inside it and with an internal energy. The last is not matter based and represents dark energy which can be seen as a ...
Deschele Schilder's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
166 views

Can inductive reasoning support the beginning of the universe?

Is it reasonable to use induction to conclude that the universe probably had a beginning?
A curious guy's user avatar
2 votes
5 answers
241 views

Can space be distorted without things that occupy the space being distorted?

Can space be distorted without things that occupy the space being distorted? I mean it is whether in reality or imagination?
manpower's user avatar
2 votes
3 answers
269 views

Can the Universe make sense at all?

Considering that nearly everything that exists cannot be even imagined by humans (or would it be reasonable to assume the contrary?), what is the chance of finding a scientifically coherent ...
user1975053's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
113 views

What is known of Anaximander's reasoning behind his belief that the Earth floated?

Anaximander was the first philosopher (at least that I know of) to argue that the Earth floated in space without support and without being enveloped by the cosmic ocean. I have heard his reasoning for ...
tom894's user avatar
  • 225
-1 votes
1 answer
300 views

What does Aristotle mean by "the whole" and "sphere of the whole" in Physics Book IV?

In discussing time, Aristotle frequently mentions "the whole" and "the sphere itself." I have the intuition that it is related to his physical cosmology, but fail to see anything ...
Rylee A.'s user avatar
  • 119
2 votes
1 answer
216 views

Does the Strong Anthropic Principle lead to Idealism?

I have to admit this question isn't very neatly thought out, but I've always been a bit puzzled by the Anthropic Principle. I realize there are various forms or "strengths" of the idea, and ...
Nelson Alexander's user avatar
-1 votes
1 answer
139 views

What exactly is Time and Space? [closed]

Question description so that anyone can evaluate and answer accordingly I don't know what is the formal process for a theory to get accepted by the science community, please guide me on how to proceed ...
Harjeet Singh's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
203 views

Is it possible philosophically that the entire cosmic void with one or more universe/s inside it will stop exist eternally?

As a conscious agent who suddenly appeared in this cosmic void as a child to my parents and got a consistent memory since about the age of 3; With time I have learned of the question "why is there ...
AskerInTheUniverse's user avatar
1 vote
4 answers
809 views

Would it be logically possible that the Universe has a beginning in time but an infinite amount of time has elapsed since this beginning?

Imagine that the Universe had a temporal beginning but no temporal end. At the beginning the Universe has a finite size, and as time passes its size increases exponentially. And the number of ...
user50746's user avatar
  • 111
1 vote
3 answers
617 views

How does biological evolution work in the block universe/b-theory of time?

The b-theory of time is often described as a film reel where the whole reel exists, but we can only view one frame at a time. The problem I have with this analogy is that it starts to feel too ...
Physeo's user avatar
  • 11
3 votes
1 answer
289 views

Did Stephen Hawking think that logic is contingent on physics?

According to this book*: Extrasensory Perception: Support, Skepticism, and Science, it says that Stephen Hawking thought that logic was contingent on physics, i.e that logic depends on the physics of ...
vengaq's user avatar
  • 579
3 votes
1 answer
194 views

Are there any non-scientific non-religious cosmology theories proposed in recent times?

Are there any non-scientific non-religious cosmological theories proposed in recent times? I looked at various cosmological theories proposed and I only see scientific ones (ex: Machian universe), and ...
puffofsmoke's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
522 views

A small reformulation of the Cosmological Argument

I am sure the cosmological argument has been raised here by people like me who know nothing about philosophy numerous times before on this board. But I'm wondering if a slightly different approach can ...
Mark's user avatar
  • 377
0 votes
0 answers
119 views

How strong are arguments realting to cosmology in problems of personal identity?

Cosmology, with fairly low confidence, predicts that the universe (or multiverse) is infinite in both time and space. While this does not directly follow, it is also predicted that every possible ...
APCoding's user avatar
  • 749
1 vote
2 answers
119 views

Philosophical papers based on modern cosmological theories

Einstein's theory of relativity was the big ground breaking discovery of the 20th century, and one of the most influential of all time. He laid the foundations not only of all the physics and ...
Yamar69's user avatar
  • 534
0 votes
2 answers
239 views

Does a two-way infinite time imply that every event is recurrent?

If time were to be infinite in both the past and the future, does that mean that every event must occur an infinite number of times? If time is only infinite in one direction, it is easy to see how ...
APCoding's user avatar
  • 749
1 vote
3 answers
262 views

Is the idea that people believed in a flat Earth in ages past grounded in historical documents? [closed]

My question about this answer was tangential, but I'm very curious to know where the idea comes from that people believed in a flat Earth. For example, were there Greek philosophers that held this ...
Don Branson's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
235 views

Does the Kalam cosmological argument prove that the prime Creator created this universe directly

I was reading about the Kalam cosmological argument on wikipedia. The conclustion of which is: An uncaused, personal Creator of the universe exists, who sans the universe is beginningless, ...
user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
222 views

Is it there any direct relation between Tegmark's Mathematical Universe Hypothesis and the Holographic Principle?

I would like to ask you about Tegmark's Mathematical Universe Hypothesis and its relation to the holographic principle: Could we use the holographic principle as a framework to Tegmark's MUH? I mean, ...
Sue K Dccia's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
174 views

Does Gregory Chaitin propose a computable or an uncomputable ontology?

Gregory Chaitin is a mathematician who thinks that the universe is itself a computer, or similar... He has written papers closely related to the field of hypercomputation (For example, he invented the ...
bohrno's user avatar
  • 11
1 vote
0 answers
162 views

Did Wheeler's "It from Bit" allow inconsistencies to exist?

Physicist John Wheeler proposed a model of the universe based on "It from Bit" asserting that the world is fundamentally information. I've been told both that Wheeler's It from Bit is compatible with ...
inuflatze's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
185 views

Multiverse and the anthropic principle?

In this paper (https://arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/0211048) by physicist Andrei Linde, the multiverse concept, the anthropic principle, quantum cosmology and inflationary cosmology are discussed. In the ...
physistack's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
332 views

Examples of theories that assume the existence of an “External Reality”?

In this paper written by physicist Max Tegmark (https://arxiv.org/pdf/0704.0646.pdf) it talks about "External Reality Hypothesis". Specifically, he says: Although many physicists subscribe to the ...
minnafotter's user avatar
-1 votes
1 answer
259 views

Is it there any model of the universe (considered by physicists) which would be the product of a simulation?

There are various philosophical theories that propose that the universe is the product of a simulation. But I was looking for theories that propose this and are also considered by physicists (not only ...
Niein Ofinfo's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
89 views

Does Tegmark's hypothesis include dynamical mathematical structures?

Tegmark's hypothesis is the idea that mathematical structures are physical and thus have physical existence (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematical_universe_hypothesis) Zuse's thesis says that ...
Niein Ofinfo's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
235 views

Can our universe be a pocket in a bigger unseen eternal universe?

Taking time as a fourth dimension is due to Einstein because of the speed of light being fixed. But why should such a finding have so important consequence on our philosophical contemplation of ...
Zuhair's user avatar
  • 387
1 vote
4 answers
669 views

Is the Kalam cosmological argument scientifically provable?

Kalam Cosmological Argument: (1) Everything that has a beginning of its existence has a cause of its existence. (2) The universe has a beginning of its existence. Therefore: (3) The universe has a ...
john taylor's user avatar
3 votes
4 answers
704 views

Can many worlds interpretation have universes with different laws?

The Many Worlds Interpretation of quantum mechanics is classified by Max Tegmark as a level-3 multiverse hypothesis. This means that in the universes that it will predict, there could be different ...
Forsete's user avatar
  • 99
6 votes
1 answer
330 views

Are uncomputable numbers/things a problem for Wheeler's "it from bit"?

I have some questions related to Wheeler's ideas of "It from bit" and "Law without law" In summary, these both theories postulate that there was an initial universe with no laws from which laws of ...
physistack's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
157 views

Can Schmidhuber's hypothesis reproduce all types of universes? And Wheeler's it from bit? Or Weizsäcker's ur-theory?

I found a paper that talked about paraconsistent logic systems (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraconsistent_logic) and trivialist systems (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trivialism) and the ...
bautzeman's user avatar
  • 329
5 votes
9 answers
1k views

How can God be temporal if he never began?

I was reading through this article and it says: What may be the dominant view of philosophers today is that he is temporal but everlasting; that is, God never began to exist and he never will go ...
Cannabijoy's user avatar
0 votes
3 answers
760 views

Cosmology - What are the problems with the theory of Eternal Return?

I have been thinking of Niestzche's Eternal return theory and how it could be possible that everything we do and our entire history and the universe will be repeated exactly the same again, and again ...
user202315's user avatar
2 votes
10 answers
1k views

How is it possible for an infinite number of moments to have elapsed prior to now?

In the context of the cosmological argument: How is it possible for an infinite number of equal length moments to have elapsed prior to now? For more context . . I have read several discussions, ...
Daegod's user avatar
  • 123
2 votes
1 answer
482 views

Questions about Frank Tipler's Omega Point theory?

He defends in that theory that God could become real, but that he would be limited. He wouldn't be strictly the same God as the one in classical religion. He couldn't do/know the physically and ...
Forsete's user avatar
  • 99
1 vote
1 answer
7k views

What is the origin of the symbols for the four elements used in alchemy?

Alchemy uses the following symbols for the four elements that appear in a number of classical cosmologies, namely fire, earth, air and water (I have added letters to show which is which): The symbols ...
user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
125 views

Luck of certainty

Title may be bit confusing but let me explain. Our existence depends on very small possibilities as a person and as humanity. There are billions of planets without any living thing but there is life ...
Deniz Yılmaz's user avatar