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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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....
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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 ...
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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-...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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Can inductive reasoning support the beginning of the universe?
Is it reasonable to use induction to conclude that the universe probably had a beginning?
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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?
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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, ...
user40173
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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, ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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, ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
user19558
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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 ...
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