What is the universe made of?

[Adorkable]

Forgive me for posting in a thread that hasn't been active for more than 60 days (I saw the warning) But this conversation interests me. =p

The universe is made up of space, because without space you can't really have the stuff that the space occupies. I think it's that simple. It's like, do you spend time in a small closet full of a lot of junk, with no room to breathe? Of course not, nobody would do that- or you would die. Space lets *everything* be.... the reason Buddhists and certain religionists (as well as philosophers) emphasis emptiness, and 'Nothingness' and 'space' is because that's the very essence force that allows All to exist.

Now can space itself be considered a 'something?' I think that answer is more of a 'yes' and 'no' thing. If it was a 'something' like the corporeal matter was, it would just cause more clutter. But if it was a true negative, it would be a black hole that innately and purely got rid of the 'something.'

I think this also explains why the universe adores ambiguity and ambivalence-y and doesn't like neat, pat answers. It thrives on complication and 'Yes and no' answers and 'It depends' and Yes' if x meets y to the z axis but only if D isn't in the mood of scorpio under the water blue fall of the great mood provided that- then back to the original score of Plato - blah blah blah.

There's a larger picture here. The universe as a whole is mainly concerned with balance. The reason rpg games are so popular- it goes back down to the basics. A fire-type creature is strong against fire, maybe lightning too- but weak against water/ice. That's a very simplistic version of how the universe operates. Everything that exists has things that its both strong and weak too- and you can narcissitically improve yourself (be a 'boss') to be very strong, but if you do THAT then you will be vulnerable to liberalism and faggy working-together-ness. You can try to have no weaknesses, but upon doing so you will just be weak against teamwork. Of course the contrary is true, if you act too goody goody and 'hippie-like' then you will just become easy to prey to bullies and thugs. When you try to get really good at one skill, you are avoiding getting good at another skill...the balance is balanced around the balance. But it has to be this way: Because everything is at stake. Or you couldn't ever get what you wanted.

[Moss.]

Pancakes.

That are shot at triangles.

[pacdiggity]

Politicians.

[ShortStar]

Cheese.

[strike]

entire universe is babies.

but no, really, matter.

[ShortStar]

@Adorkable

I think old school tabletop PCs were so popular because of math and imagination.  You can't do X because of Y.  Its a bunch of if / else statements.

I also never understood why ice puts out fire in RPGs, wouldn't fire melt ice, but water puts out fire? Whatever.

As for space... space is a blank container.  If there is a planetoid around, that space can either contain a solid, liquid or gas.  Gas for atmosphere, solid for dirt and liquid for water.  Making them is a math equasion.  Making a planet is a physics equasion with gravity.

People and how they react are nothing but complex math problems. Passive people = 1. Aggressive people = 9. When their interacting, if their combine sum is over a 12 then there's a problem, if its under a 5, there's nothing keeping them together so they drift apart.  Then there's slight variations like your mood, your status and if you're just unstable. Plus there are adaptable people who can be a 9 or a 1 whatever the situation calls for.  Most would call it a type B or A personality.

Hardcore astrology can lay out all the math for you.

Everything is math.

[strike]

astrology, lol.

[Holkeye]

Taurus' leech seed beats Aquarius' water cannon.

[pacdiggity]

Everything is math.

... Only becuase we believe it has worked for us so far. And there's no real way to do that. Someone had the idea that the universe operates on mathematics, a language that humans either invented or discovered. We continue to use this system because we think that our physics make sense, but what if they don't? What if acceleration isn't a constant, and that the fact that it has been change in speed over time taken for every test is just a coincidence?

[Gracie]

"Curiousity killed the cat."

[ShortStar]

I'm sure humans aren't the only ones to discover math.  Aliens might have different words for one two and three, plus and minus, but its all the same. Their mental capacity might not be able to grasp it, just like many humans don't.

Gravity = sorcery.

[Acolyte]

Gravity = Force/mass

[pacdiggity]

I'm sure humans aren't the only ones to discover math.  Aliens might have different words for one two and three, plus and minus, but its all the same. Their mental capacity might not be able to grasp it, just like many humans don't.

I don't think you understood me. We didn't discover maths, we invented it. We expanded it and we believed in it. The only reason we continue to use it is because it has supposedely worked for us so far. Aliens aren't necassarily mathematical beings; perhaps they understand the universe in a different way that we don't have the mental capacity to handle. Take the indigenous Australian culture for example. Their societies lived for thousands upon thousands of years in desert, barren lands and limited food and water supplies. They didn't have maths, they had a different way of understanding the Earth and universe, which didn't destroy their lands. They had one word for one, and one word for many. And that is all they needed.
Sure, their culture may not have been as advanced as our's in our own eyes, but to them, we looked like the ones who didn't understand life.
So, the universe might be maths, and it might not be. Right now, there's no way we can tell. Deal with it.

[ShortStar]

I'm sure other aliens have discovered and invented math.  Chances are other planets will have Australian cultures, but they will also have specifics.  Kind of like there will always be people that think in general terms and those that speak in specifics.  Lazy and extensive.

[pacdiggity]

Lazy and extensive.

That sounds like slander to me. In any case, that is in no way what I was saying. There is no proof that maths is more advanced than normal thinking, it just makes sense to us. The idea of maths is human, and aliens most likely would not have invented it in the same way or form. You don't understand my cause; maths is not the only way of looking at the universe, and there is certainly no proof that it is the best. I'm educated in specialised maths methods and physics, and I think that it is wonderful, but I put forward this idea simply because we may have limited our learning by confining ourselves to mathematics. Earth's gravity might be 9.8 m/s multiplied by the mass of the object, but it might also be determined by the thickness of the frypan in Ms Walter's cupboard. My point being that their is no way to tell how the universe operates unless we ask it. And I think the universe is too busy to answer a question by people who limit themselves to numbers. If we gave another method a shot, perhaps we might be able to combine the methods together to have a better understanding of the universe. We might not. The point being that you don't know if you don't try.

[ShortStar]

I think I yeild to this conversation.

[Gracie]

We're all kidding ourselves. Nobody has the slightest idea about the town we live in let alone the universe. The universe is unexplainable - it will take intelligence and understanding far superior to that of any human being to even BEGIN to comprehend it. Math is a security blanket for humanity - we see it work 99% of the time so we assume it can explain everything. It can't. It won't. The universe is a big, bad, powerful thing and something as closed minded as human thinking is never going to understand it. Now eat your pudding and get to bed children.

[pacdiggity]

Quite sure that's what I was saying, just in not a forward choice of words. Also, it's 20 past 1 in the afternoon here. I'm not tired!

This conversation is about as useful as a $5 note at the cinemas.

[Gracie]

Thats very useful. £5 can buy popcorn and a large drink at my cinema.

BED NOW MISTER FOR BACK CHATTING.

[pacdiggity]

Big difference, Gracie. Five pounds is like 12 dollars here. $5 will get you a smack on the ass.

Fine, I don't wanna stay up anyway! You're not my real mum!

[Gracie]

Pff, I ain't that cheap bizatch.


I WILL BEAT YOUR ASS SO HARD, JUST WAIT TILL YOUR FATHER GETS HOME!!

[pacdiggity]

I don't care about this family! I'm going to London with my band and we're going to be famous! Just you see!

... I'll be good.

[ShortStar]

Cheese.

[Pokey]

Actually, the universe is mostly dark matter. and cheese.

[Dwarra?]

The universe was created when Carl Sagan decided to invent cake. Since he needed something to hold the cake in. Therefore the universe is made up of a giant convection oven.