How big is the universe? Let's take a journey from Earth to the solar system, closest stars, the Milky Way, and the observable universe. Along the way we will stop by the Oort cloud, Alpha Centauri, radiosphere, Andromeda galaxy, Virgo supercluster, and Laniakea. After watching this video, you can think a couple things. Either - I’m this tiny, separate thing on a distant planet in the middle of nowhere special. I’ll live for several decades and that will be that. Or you may be thinking, wow, I’m a part of this unimaginably large, possibly infinite universe, that is potentially teeming with life. A part of this thing that I don’t really understand. A thing that, well, no one truly understands. A part of this planet, this node in the sea of space that is coming to life. and things can get very metaphysical after that. Within our current scientific understanding, it’s easy to feel alone in the universe. We believe that we are separate beings, floating around on a tiny rock in a vast and seemingly dead universe. This is an old and outdated paradigm that needs to be updated. We need to re-examine a few key assumptions and learn to let go of these old beliefs for ourselves and for humanity. I’ll be covering these key assumptions in future videos, but to give you the sneak peek: 1 – First, the idea that you are somehow separate from the universe needs to be obliterated. We are taught that we are individuals, separate from the world out there. Of course, with assumptions and beliefs like that, you will feel like a lost soul, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Although we feel that we are independent creatures roaming around, we’re not really separate. We’re not independent of the world we live in. We’re in an intimate, inseparable symbiotic relationship with the world we live in. Humans and nature are one in the same. We are actually a part of it - a piece of the whole. The universe is not outside of you - you're in it. You’re a function of the universe in the same way that one of your skin cells is a function of your whole body - a function of you. We are an aspect of the universe, so it doesn’t make any sense to set yourself apart and say you're an isolated object surrounded by a vast alien entity. You grew from that entity and you're inseparable from it. If you ever feel lost, just remember that the force that guides the stars, guides you too. You are a result of nature just as much as a star or planet is. 2 – The second key assumption that needs to be re-examined is our narrow definition of what life is. the distinction between living and non-living is a definitional difference. This division is actually just a concept in our minds, which is why there is so much debate on what is considered to be alive. For example, some say viruses are alive, while others say they are not. Our line between living and non living always seems to be moving. We used to think that we were the only intelligent, living things. Then we expanded it from ourselves to animals, insects, plants, cells, and now we are asking - Are viruses, bacteria, endospores (which can live without nutrients for millions of years – don’t grow, move, excrete, or do anything until the environmental conditions are right), and DNA alive in a sense? There is no clear consensus on what life is because there really is no clear line where you can say this is living and this is not. We have definitions of what we think is required for something to be alive, life as we know it, but it’s a very incomplete understanding of what intelligence is and what being alive means. What if life is more inherent and fundamental to the universe than we’ve assumed. The universe is not some static mechanistic material thing that we once believed it to be. It’s not a bunch of dumb matter floating around aimlessly. The idea of the universe being like a machine grew out of Newton’s ideas of a clockwork universe. We now know that the universe is not static like a clock – it is a process of constant change - of movement and evolution. The universe is more comparable to an organism than a clock. I’m not saying the universe is an organism - I’m simply stating that it behaves more like an organism than a clock. Could it be that the universe itself has some type of intelligence, awareness, or a different type of consciousness than our own? Is it possible that the universe is alive in a way that isn’t quite clear to us from our tiny perspective – in a way beyond our ability to comprehend? Kind of like how a cell in our body doesn’t know that it is part of a larger, more complex being. This idea ties nicely into the previous idea that we are not separate from the universe. If we are intelligent and alive and not separate from the universe, then it would be logical to conclude that the universe is also intelligent and alive in a sense. In my opinion, a living being cannot be the product of a dead universe. These topics will be covered in more depth in future videos.

• published: 29 Apr 2023
• views: 3104456