just something thats been bothering me for a while

[Squeek]

A friend of mine had an interesting theory about the universe that kinda relates to this, so I'm gonna post it.

He told me one day his theory based on the Big Bang.  I wish i could draw this but I cant.  Basically, he said that the big bang was a singularity collapsing.  This was the end of the universe, so the beginning of another.  When the Big Bang erupted, it generated hundreds of galaxies and pushed them all out into the universe it had created.  The halaxies work like a rubber band.  Depending on the velocity they were shot out from the explosion at, they would go farther.  But, when they reached a spot too far from the origin (the faster it moves, the farther the spot), the would begin to return to the center of it all.  All of the galaxies would collide at the same time, thus reforming the roots for the explosion.  When the Big Bang erupted again, the galaxies would be fresh.  Nothing about them would be the same, because the galaxies merged inside the singularity in the center of it all.  This is his theory of the Ice Age and the Dinosaurs' extinction.  He beleives that these worlds simply moved into another galaxy, or that the other world came to ours in the middle.  They ended because the universe collapsed again, and began due to the explosion.

Did you get all that?  Kinda confusing....but think about it.  This guy's only 16  >.<   That's some pure genius thinking right there.

Wow. I posted in Integral Philosophy!  What is going on here?  Hehe.

~Squeek

[Nightfall]

quote:Originally posted by Squeek

Did you get all that?  Kinda confusing....but think about it.  This guy's only 16  >.<   That's some pure genius thinking right there.

That's pretty impressive for a 16 year old. There have been some phycists who have addressed this particular problem, no less than Stephen Hawking himself. So it's not a trivial problem easily dismissed. But Hawking and Penrose got together and did a paper on this very theory and basically proved mathematically that if the universe did get enough energy to contract, it would end in a thump, not a bounce.

But like I said, that's impressive for a kid of 16.

[Nightfall]

quote:Originally posted by Tom

The idea of God just freaks me out physically. I have a gut reaction to the idea. There was a time when I thought that people who believe in God were brain-dead creatures who somehow managed to cross streets without getting hit by traffic. The idea of God will always disturb me unless I can track down the reason why that is.

Humm, interesting. Why do you think you react this way? I'm sincerly very curious.

There was a time I thought like you : religious people, specifically christians are brain dead and when asked a question of "Why...?" I could never get an answer.

Yet now I've been exposed to a whole new world in the area of philosophy. I was way shortchanged when people either couldn't or wouldn't answer my questions because some of the greatest thinkers the world has ever known were religious and specifically christians. I think of Blaise Pascal the father of the modern computer. Thomas Acquinas, Newton, Agustine, CS Lewis, and more recently I've discovered probably one of the greatest writers of the 19th century GK Chesterton. The line is long of great thinkers who didn't take anything on "faith" but thought about issues and actually wrestled with the idea of God, good and evil, and the human plight.

[Nightfall]

quote:Originally posted by James S

To stick a bit of Quantum theory in here, consider that our universe is not just one universe, but a multiverse. A possibly infinite number of parallel universes where something somewhere is different to our own.

Hi, maybe you could elaborate a little on this for me? How does quantum theory support the idea of a multiverse?

[Tom]

The problem is that I do not know the reason for my reaction. It could be just that God, the Easter bunny, and Santa Claus were are given to me as equally real. That would put an adult who believes in God in the same category as one who still believed in Santa Claus. What helped most was the understanding that most people who say they believe in God do not appear to actually believe in God, based on observation of what they say and do.

[Spirit_Gurl]

quote:Originally posted by MJ-12

Your questions are assuming that creation is static and not continually evolving and changing. Also, I find the way you come on here demanding answers from people, and not only that, but answers that instantly satisfy you and your belief system, very selfish. Find your own answers then.

im sorry you feel that way, but in another perspective, keeping your opinions and answers to yourself is selfish too. and, your assuming that im assuming blah blah blah, and you dont even know me.

[Nightfall]

quote:Originally posted by Tom

The problem is that I do not know the reason for my reaction. It could be just that God, the Easter bunny, and Santa Claus were are given to me as equally real. That would put an adult who believes in God in the same category as one who still believed in Santa Claus.

But you do believe in spirit(ual) things?

quote:What helped most was the understanding that most people who say they believe in God do not appear to actually believe in God, based on observation of what they say and do.

Ahh, I agree with you here. That was one of the reasons I stepped out of the church as a teen.

[Spirit_Gurl]

quote:Originally posted by Spirit_Gurl



won't this life we're living now be lost among everything else?

my point is, will our souls ever feel like this? bored?
wont we someday, somewhere, have expirienced all there is to expirience? lived in all the life forms possible to this and anyother universes, known and unknown? we have eternity. it might take a while, but it would eventually happen.


then what'll we do?

[Spirit_Gurl]

Well I guess we could always have another Big Bang and start a whole new type of universe with totally different laws of physics and matter so we are once again challenged to the hilt----
making our lives here in this world meaningless.

[xx(]

thanks for being so polite, by the way timeles! []
you have a great day too!
[8D]

[Spirit_Gurl]

nonono! i was serious! i knew you were joking!

but i mean, if all theses big bangs keep recreating, then wont this life on earth be pushed further and further back.......become meaninglkess? forgotten?


sorry you thought i thought you were rude...[:I]

[Spirit_Gurl]

I celebrate passover. []

but...... what happens after everything else? it just....doesnt... make... sense...


[xx(][xx(][xx(][xx(][xx(][xx(][xx(]

[James S]

The fact that it doesn't really make sense is probably because you are struggleing to understand an infinite concept with a finite mind, or more to the point a finite and fixed perspective.

If you were in a position to be able to take in the entirety of time-space at any given moment, you would probably understand a great deal more about what you are asking, and what the answer might be.

As it is, we are all in the same situation. None of us are able to provide a more complete answer, as we are all limited in our perception. At best we can only give guesses or opinions.

James.

[Euphoric Sunrise]

It's 11:30pm and i'm not reading this whole thread so i'll just reply to the original post. I'm sure what i say will have been covered already, but ah well.

I base my ideas on my few beliefs. I believe we have a spirit and i believe we can do wonderful things with our spirit. Perhaps one day i can reach a state where my spirit will leave my body forever, in circumstances different to death. I don't know where i'll go, but i do think it is possible to go there. Maybe it will be an actual physical existence, maybe i'll become a shadow, a cloud, a tree, but i do think that whatever i become, or wherever i go, i'll be happy and i'll be at peace. Maybe i won't even think, but no thought would be a wonderful thing. Of course i hold no belief in this, it's an idealistic view. Perhaps i'll actually go to Heaven or Hell.
Or perhaps, as you say i will keep reincarnating forever.
My point is the only time i see this thought of never-ending time becoming a problem is if when you reincarnate (if that's possible) you remember your other lives and realise you are actually just living throughout time in different bodies.

Thinking about this all has confused me though, so what i just said probably makes no sense. I think it's not worth trying to answer the questions like these though. I think the best thing to do is to just live, explore, seek answers to complex questions practically instead of through words where it is impossible to come to any sort of conclusion. I have confused myself even more as i have been typing this, so i'm going to stop now. []

[drastr]

Hi there Spirit Gurl.

You are in a spiritual crisis...and because of this, no one is going to be able to GIVE you the answers you're looking for.  I think the answers are inside you, and it's up to you to find them.  I think everyone has felt, at some point in their lives, the same way you feel.  I thinks it's good to feel that way.  That may seem like a twisted comment, but to overcome that feeling, and find your answers, or at the very least, to find the path to your answers...... Well, I belive that must be the most beautiful feeling in the world.  The exact opposite of the hopelessness you're feeling now. And so...no one can tell you what is right.  When you are ready, you'll KNOW what is right.  You'll feel it, and it may feel like you've always known it.

Life is a journey, it's up to you to design it and complete it.  You're only going to get out of it what you expect to get out of it, both physically and spritually.  I wish you the best of luck.

[Euphoric Sunrise]

You're right timeless, i did say that, but i must have been confuesd because that's not what i meant. What i meant is that i don't think it's worth trying to answer questions like these in writing or by just sitting around thinking about it. It's good to discuss the question, but not try and answer it. I absolutely think people should try and answer the question, but i don't see how trying to answer it in writing or simple thought without experience is going to help.
Discussing it is a great thing to do though. That way people can exercise their beliefs and ideas and hopefully, resolve any issues they had when asking the question, if any.
I probably wasn't clear in my last post since it was around 1:00am when i wrote it, not to mention the subject at hand is a baffling one to me []

[James S]

The more I think about this question, and think about Spirit_Gurl's need for deeper understanding of this puzzle, the more I think that I really haven't got a clue!

I've always thought of myself as someone who can grasp some pretty complex stuff. Ask me something about quantum theories, cosmic string theory or early galaxy formation, time-space relationships or subspace / superspace concepts. I'll give you an answer. The answers to Spirit_Gurl's questions however have me completely stuck! I do feel through they belong in the realm of belief systems. There are no theories here, only ideas and opinions. From them we can possibly extract something that feels right to us, but there are no conclusive answers.

Tia,
I'm sorry if this sounds like a dumb question, but are you simply curious about the idea that we've possibly been here and done this all before, and what could be the meaning of all we do, or is there something deeper, something behind all of this that your looking for that is really important to you?

Thinking hard....
James.

[Tom]

As part of another thread I found an answer: fractals. A small simple pattern is repeated and expanded. The result keeps getting more interesting, not less, and greater than the sum of its parts. Lives are like fractals and no individual life is meaningless. They are all essential to the pattern. Either we look very close at a single life or step back to see an overall pattern.

[Spirit_Gurl]

james, im not just curious. i need to know.

[James S]

Fair enough Tia, I don't see anything wrong at all in that.

Having thought about it though, I honestly have to say I don't know what the answer is, or even if there is an answer.

One idea does come to mind - Robert Bruce has spoken of his kundalini experience, where the culmination of kundalini meditation brought him to a place where his consciousness was at a higher level, where far more knowledge of the universe was available to him.

For an idea of what kundalini is, have a look through this post:
http://www.astralpulse.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1016&whichpage=2&SearchTerms=kundalini%2CKundalini
Look for Robert Bruce's post.

This is apparently not an exercise to be taken lightly, as it has potentially bad side effects, and can take a lot of time and effort to achieve, but it might be a way of finding for yourself the answers you seek that are beyond our understanding.

As a personal view on your subject, in brief, I don't believe we are caught in endless repetition of our existence, and we have a choice as to what we do and where we go when we are not inside our physical bodies. I don't believe our lives, in any of our incarnations are meaningless, as like here on earth, I carry knowledge and memories that are precious to me. I believe that the astral planes, where our souls reside when not in a host body, are separate from the physical universe we exist in, and therefore not subject to the birth or death of the universe.

I can't say anymore than that without a more specific question, and I sometimes feel that knowing the right question to ask is as difficult as finding the answer.

Don't stop looking or asking Tia. Your inquisitive mind will open you up to more possibilities that you can dream of. Don't be frustrated though, because on the way to finding the answers to the big questions, you will learn so much more than if you never wondered.

James.

[Spirit_Gurl]

a question- can you be bored yet happy at the same time?

if there's a question, there's an answer.

[James S]

That depends entirely on how you interpret boredom.

In terms of the concise meaning of the word, as you would find in a dictionary - no. The state of boredom is a negative feeling. Boredom typically comes about as a form of frustration from doing something tedious.

Happy boredom could be called contentment.

James.

[Maverickk]

Spirit Gurl,
What do you do for fun?  Where are your friends?  Do you go to church?  Do you love your parents?  Do you spend time with your family or extended family very often?  Do you ever go for walks?  Have you ever done any spontaneous action that has resulted in you being happy?  Im bored at times so i get up and, if nothing else, talk with my grandpa, best friend, take a walk and smell the roses, SLEEP, or do something completely spontaneous just becuase i felt like it.  Life is full of empty time where you can substitute enjoyable activites.  You could try going to church or reading the Bible.  The point im getting at is you need to just look around you with a more positivie attitude to see what you want to see and become aware of the answers you want.  Also, answers dont come right away, thats for sure.  Sometimes you never truely understand the things you want to know until your too old, or its too late.  Just keep your chin up and live life day by day appreciating the fact that you_are_alive and you have the opportunity to experience these things.  Dont take it for granted or you will regret it.

[Nay]

Against my better judgement, and the fact I don't need my head ripped-off and paraded around for all to see......

Sprirtgurl, why don't you stop worrying sooooo much on your never ending boring life and death... and live for the moment..

And frankly, I think you just love to hear yourself talk, but I must admit you do it well with all those big words and the deep subject matters......OH MY GOD, I just had an epiphany!!!
You should take drama class!! I am serious too, not sarcastic...You have alot of emotions going on in your growing body and I think it would be a great outlet for you to explore those realms....what cha think??  What are the chances you were an actor in your other boring lives?....hmmmmmmm, I think I just opened another can of worms...I am OUTTA HERE.....

Nay.....

May the reaming of my butt commence...[xx(]

[Spirit_Gurl]

remember, i have the uncanny ability to sound more upset online than I do in real life.

that said....

Do you think that living here would ever get boreing? that after millions and billions and trillions of years of centuries of living , we will have just done everything? I mean, by then this life will just be another worthless distant memory among other thousands of distant lives and memories. or will it?
Will we keep reincarnating forever? I dont believe we will ever become one with god, so what else will happen? our souls just kinda sittin around not doing anything forever and ever and ever and ever....
or will we keep reincarnating? forever and ever and ever and ever....
won't this life we're living now be lost among everything else?
would it be better to live a worthless existence, then die and become a worthless, bored soul? or be better to cease to exist completely? would it ever come to the point where our souls would want to choose the latter? I mean, our soul's lives have NO END. maybe a beggining, but there is no middle. a google years (a one with 100 zeros after it) will just be another wink of time. another big chunk of life that will be lost forever.
my point is, will our souls ever feel like this? bored?
wont we someday, somewhere, have expirienced all there is to expirience? lived in all the life forms possible to this and anyother universes, known and unknown? we have eternity. it might take a while, but it would eventually happen.
our lives as Tia and enderwiggin and James and Tom, etc... will seem meaningless mixed in with everything else.

then what'll we do?