![]() 12/03/2017 at 09:49 • Filed to: None | ![]() | ![]() |
Given truly infinite time, and staying within the known laws of physics, what is the probability that anything will never happen? I can’t imagine that there’s ANY chance of something never happening on an infinite timeline, no matter how outlandish it seems. But at the same time, as long as life as we know it is still around, we should be able to choose not to do stuff.... Right? Or would we eventually develop an uncontrollable desire to experiment, just because we’ve already done everything else?
Maybe I’m not making much sense, but this has been bugging me lately.
![]() 12/03/2017 at 10:12 |
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As long as something doesn’t break the laws of physics, it’s theoretically possible. And yes on an infinite timeline at some point everything theoretically possible will happen at some point
![]() 12/03/2017 at 10:14 |
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Since we live in a universe with immutable laws and a finite lifespan, there are plenty of things that will never happen.
![]() 12/03/2017 at 10:15 |
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It’s still the morning, could have waited until lunch to post this. Lots of us have not had coffee yet.
![]() 12/03/2017 at 10:16 |
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Only at absolute zero.
![]() 12/03/2017 at 10:26 |
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In a long enough timeline, everything gets an LS
By definition, if time is infinite then everything will happen, eventually...
![]() 12/03/2017 at 10:29 |
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But if nothing happens, then that’s something, no?
To give you an analogy:
![]() 12/03/2017 at 10:30 |
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But then the thing that happened is it went to absolute zero... so that’s something, no?
![]() 12/03/2017 at 10:30 |
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If it was truly infinite time, probably. But let’s try to narrow it down a bit. If you’re talking about our known universe, and planet earth, we’re not looking at infinite time anymore. There are plenty of theories about the ultimate fate if the universe, but at some point it, and life as we know it, will end. That might be a very, very long time from now (general consensus is that the universe is 13.8 billion years old and it might take hundreds of trillions of years before it all ends). But there’s still a big difference between a really really big finite number and infinity. And I would say that even on that really long timeline, not everything is inevitable. Humans behave in a certain way, but there’s no guarantee that we’ll do every possible thing at some point. For one thing, there’s just too many possible things and not enough time.
![]() 12/03/2017 at 10:33 |
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Because the universe is rapidly expanding, less is happening with every passing moment. Eventually, the expansion will distribute all existing matter and energy so thinly that nothing happens anymore.
Heat death of the universe. Nothing left.
Have a Happy Holiday!
![]() 12/03/2017 at 10:34 |
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Your basic premise here is an infinite timeline, which is not reality. Since there is not infinite time (it began at a point, therefore was not before that point, and hence not infinite), there are plenty of things which will never happen.
![]() 12/03/2017 at 10:43 |
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Given enough time a fully functional LS engine will be formed by accident from asteroid collisions.
![]() 12/03/2017 at 10:45 |
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In the cars universe for instance, wouldn’t LS’ be naturally occurring?
![]() 12/03/2017 at 10:51 |
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depends on who’s interpretation of how the cars in the cars universe come to be. Personally i subscribe to the Torchinsky theory . This would still require a human to build the LS.
![]() 12/03/2017 at 10:53 |
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But in a long enough timeline, even stem cells will be made out of LS’
![]() 12/03/2017 at 10:54 |
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Does the universe continue to expand at absolute zero? Certainly.
![]() 12/03/2017 at 11:18 |
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On an infinite timeline anything will eventually happen, and something not happening is a thing that can happen, so given infinite time something will eventually not happen?
Does a set of all sets that do not contain themselves contain itself?
![]() 12/03/2017 at 11:21 |
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Which is also something!
![]() 12/03/2017 at 14:06 |
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Short answer, yes. Improbable things will eventually happen. That segues into really cool discussions of multiverse theory, miracles ect.
Technically you could phase through a solid object if your atoms aligned perfectly . It’s just so unlikely that it would “never” happen. Lot of cool stuff like that.