ChatterBank46 mins ago
big bang theory and the center of the universe=higher intelligence ??
Hi all, first off let me say that i am just an ordinary guy so if you could please keep any answers really simple, thanks in advance. right, if the universe started off with a "big bang" that must mean that it had a starting point and therefore must have a center, so therefore the closer you get to the center of the universe the older the planets would be and therefore the more intelligent any life that has formed would be since it would have had longer to evolve, is this anywhere near possible or am i way way out of the ball park, be interesting to read the replies, thankyou, ps sorry for all the "therefore's"
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No you're misunderstanding what the big bang refers to - don't worry it's a common misunderstanding and the reality is pretty mind blowing.
The big bang is *not* an existing space into which an explosion occured.
Physical space and time were actually created in this.
The Universe does not have a centre because the Big Bang happened everywhere.
The Universe itself is actually expanding like aaf of bread rising taking currents with it.
We know this because the further away something is, the faster it is receding from us this would not be the case it it had been a simple explosion
The big bang is *not* an existing space into which an explosion occured.
Physical space and time were actually created in this.
The Universe does not have a centre because the Big Bang happened everywhere.
The Universe itself is actually expanding like aaf of bread rising taking currents with it.
We know this because the further away something is, the faster it is receding from us this would not be the case it it had been a simple explosion
However that does not actually detract from your main question.
After all there are stars much older than the Sun and presumably planets much older than the Earth. Also although life started really early on the Earth for something like 2/3rds of it's history most life was just slime - on some planets complex life may have come about much sooner.
That doesn't mean of course that older life is more intelligent - crocodiles have been about much longer than humans -We don't really know what conditions drove intelligence - perhaps physical conditions are important, maybe on a planet with lower gravity, greater intelligences would evolve.
We only have one example of intelligent life arising so it's really difficult to know what what drives it and what is and is not possible.
You're certainly not "out of the ball park" in fact it's as good an idea as anyone has
After all there are stars much older than the Sun and presumably planets much older than the Earth. Also although life started really early on the Earth for something like 2/3rds of it's history most life was just slime - on some planets complex life may have come about much sooner.
That doesn't mean of course that older life is more intelligent - crocodiles have been about much longer than humans -We don't really know what conditions drove intelligence - perhaps physical conditions are important, maybe on a planet with lower gravity, greater intelligences would evolve.
We only have one example of intelligent life arising so it's really difficult to know what what drives it and what is and is not possible.
You're certainly not "out of the ball park" in fact it's as good an idea as anyone has
hi jake, thanks for answering so quickly and simply :-), one question if the universe big bang happened everywhere would there not be some form of space / time /planets heading in our direction and not just receding from us ?? all anyone has said is that the universe is expanding, well if everything is going away from us that means there must be a center much the same as there is a center to a loaf of bread, as currents are not only on the outside but insde as well, hope i am not winding you up too much with my thoughts cheers
hi mark, thanks for the reply, way way too technical for me but thanks anyway, one thing though a line from that page reads "It is also possible for a distance to exceed the speed of light times the age of the universe, which means that light from one part of space generated near the beginning of the Universe might still be arriving at distant locations" i dont understand how the universe can have a begining but not a center
It's difficult to grasp. I'd really suggest you read this: Amazon.co.uk User Recommendation
Imagine a big lump of dough with currants.
As it sits in the sum warming the dough starts to expand.
Siting on one of those currants all the other currents seem to be moving away.
the further away ones have more dough between you and them and so more to expand - so move faster than the ones close by.
Galaxies are moving away from us in the same way, but they do have their own motion through space as well as being carried along with the expansion of space - that's only noticeable with the closer ones, those in the so called "local group" - those are things like the Andromeda Galaxy and the Magellenic clouds and some of the local group Galaxies just happen to be moving towards us
As it sits in the sum warming the dough starts to expand.
Siting on one of those currants all the other currents seem to be moving away.
the further away ones have more dough between you and them and so more to expand - so move faster than the ones close by.
Galaxies are moving away from us in the same way, but they do have their own motion through space as well as being carried along with the expansion of space - that's only noticeable with the closer ones, those in the so called "local group" - those are things like the Andromeda Galaxy and the Magellenic clouds and some of the local group Galaxies just happen to be moving towards us
It might be helpful to think in terms of the respective movement of points on the surface of an enlarging sphere, (like a balloon being inflated from within) -
As the sphere expands, any two points will move away from each other faster in proportion to there distance at any given time.
There is no preferred point of reference from which to measure the expansion of a sphere other than the point you happen to be measuring from. From any other point on the sphere you would observe a similar rate of expansion.
The expansion of the universe appears to be much like the sphere except that the expansion is not confined to the surface of our imaginary sphere but extends in all directions, like a rising lump of dough without a defined surface or center.
When we look at the most distant observable parts of the universe all around us, ~13.6 billion light years away, what we see is what was there back when the universe first became transparent. If you were to be transported instantly to the most distant point in the universe from where we happen to be in it, it would appear much the same as it does here, stars, galaxies etc. only from there we would see it as it is now ~13.6 billion years later.
Although when we look out we are also looking back in time, towards the beginning, the past we see is merely an allusion of time due to the time it takes light to reach us. We see it as it was, but in reality, the entire universe is all the same age.
As the sphere expands, any two points will move away from each other faster in proportion to there distance at any given time.
There is no preferred point of reference from which to measure the expansion of a sphere other than the point you happen to be measuring from. From any other point on the sphere you would observe a similar rate of expansion.
The expansion of the universe appears to be much like the sphere except that the expansion is not confined to the surface of our imaginary sphere but extends in all directions, like a rising lump of dough without a defined surface or center.
When we look at the most distant observable parts of the universe all around us, ~13.6 billion light years away, what we see is what was there back when the universe first became transparent. If you were to be transported instantly to the most distant point in the universe from where we happen to be in it, it would appear much the same as it does here, stars, galaxies etc. only from there we would see it as it is now ~13.6 billion years later.
Although when we look out we are also looking back in time, towards the beginning, the past we see is merely an allusion of time due to the time it takes light to reach us. We see it as it was, but in reality, the entire universe is all the same age.
first off sorry for not replying sooner, had a crimbo party to go to an only just comming round now :-}, wow thanks everyone for your replies they realy have enlightend me, I now have loads of questions flying around in my head so I think it's best if I sit down with someone and chat with them, also does anyone think 50 is too old to start learning about this subject or will my mindset be too far gone to comprehend this sort of dimentional thinking, once again thanks to everyone for taking time to reply
This weekly podcast is excellent and presented in a way that is very easy to understand. They have done nearly 250 episodes so have covered just about every subject.
Episode #5 talks about the big bang explicitly and #28 may also be of interest but there are many others about all things astronomical and also general science.
Episode #5 talks about the big bang explicitly and #28 may also be of interest but there are many others about all things astronomical and also general science.
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