• Question: How will we ever find out what is outside the ever-expanding universe?

    Asked by anon-179325 to Stephen, Maria, John, Daniel, Claire, Amy on 20 Jun 2018.
    • Photo: Claire Melia

      Claire Melia answered on 20 Jun 2018:


      Oh wow.

      This is definitely outside of my area, but i’m still really interested! I honestly don’t know if we ever will. We only know about such a tiny amount as it is, that i’m not sure we will ever figure out what is outside the universe. However, the way technology is expanding it gives us a much better chance. With top new technology and a few more Isaac Newton’s and Albert Einstein’s, maybe we will!

    • Photo: Stephen Baillargeon

      Stephen Baillargeon answered on 20 Jun 2018:


      I’ve always been fascinated by the edge of human knowledge. I study rational thinking and that can get us far, but are humans capable of thinking clearly enough to understand everything? Humans have an innate understanding of basic physics. If you do a magic trick that makes it look like an object is defying gravity in front on an infant, they often get scared or confused because even without having any experience of how the world works, we know that gravity should be consistent. However, the instinct for physics that evolution gave us is based on what would be most practical for us to believe about physics, which is why when we talk about physics in beyond what applies to everyday life, we get really confused. If there was an adaptive benefit to understanding quantum physics or general relativity, it would probably all be pretty intuitive. However, we seem to be doing pretty well finding alternative ways to understand things. For example, we can only actually see a small amount of color. If we had perfect eyes, we’d be able to basically tell every element on the periodic table apart just by looking at them! But our perception of the world is simplified a lot because it was only adaptive to perceive a small range and variety of colors. But astrophysicists have developed ways of using computers and special telescopes to know which elements distant planets have by looking at the light reflecting off of them. It’s like natural selection gave us these eyes with big limitations, and scientists have invented new and better eyes that we can use to augment our ability to understand things we have never looked at in the history of humanity! I find this really exciting, and it makes me think that maybe we will be able to get beyond the limits that human brains inevitably have and we’ll be able to solve some of the most intense and confusing mysteries in and beyond the universe.

    • Photo: Amy Pearson

      Amy Pearson answered on 20 Jun 2018:


      Ooooh this is a wonderful question. Its not one that, as a Psychologist, I feel qualified to answer, but its one Im interested in. I LOVE Science Fiction, and the idea of things existing beyond us. If the universe is so vast, and we came to be by the luckiest set of circumstances, then there must be other life, and other things to explore.
      Stephen gives a great answer detailing the limitations of the human mind and body- we can only really know about what we can experience, and for all intents and purposes, our experiences are quite limited. Time, and space, are often considered fully within our own theoretical restraints. I love films like Interstellar and 2001 A Space Odyssey for addressing things like this. I think that one day (or someday) we may be able to push beyond our current knowledge and boundaries to discover these things. Im sure once upon a time, having a device in your hand which could connect you to any person on earth, would have seemed ridiculous.

    • Photo: Daniel Jolley

      Daniel Jolley answered on 21 Jun 2018:


      This is an excellent question – thanks for asking it!
      It is a little outside of my comfort zone to answer as a psychologist – so I agree with the other replies so far. I think if nothing else our curiosity to keep asking questions and pushing the possibilities of technology to enable us to further our understanding of the universe. We may never have all the answers, but I bet we (as humans) will keep on trying.
      Cheers,
      Daniel.

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