by headcircus » Mon May 14, 2007 4:38 am
Hey there.. really great question, I ask it all the time!
I have asked this of myself and I happened to have found this frayed printout from when I was 13. It is just this rambling.. I would sit down and just type and type... and only now I can look back on it and say that in 18 years my philosophy has not changed; only the words (symbols) I choose to express it are more based on some schooling. Granted, i take it where I can get it.
Without something else to compare the universe to, measurements like "above", "outside" and "next to" are impossible. And so the question you are asking is impossible to answer if we view the universe in its traditional context. its the same as asking what was "before the big bang". Neither of these questions are possible to answer because you cannot ask what is next to "everything". Or what is above "everything".
Although, some real thinkers out there think that the universe is not everything, especially in brane-theory. Which means the question CAN be answered if the universe is demoted from "all that is" to, "just another slice of bread".
So...
If you are asking in the context of the universe being what we traditionally think of as "everything we know of", then the concept of "outside" doesnt make any sense.
But if we do what every meaningful philosopher, scientist and inventor has done in the past thousand years; and look beyond traditional viewpoints established by ignorance... then you may come to find that the universe is *not* all that is, and thus can have "outside of" and in fact, it may be the same revelation we have about our earth. That it is not the center of the universe, rather in some random place in some random galaxy.
And so, the universe could be, well... just as random. We are getting obsessed about out "universe" and god might be saying "oh, its just another universe, don't get all caught up in yourself."
But, having said all of that, you find that you are still stuck with what even Brane theory cannot begin to answer. What is beyond all the universes? Where does it end or begin?
So, this is where science breaks down into art. At the fringes of these concepts that seem to defy us are where we cannot use pedestrian logic to explain it. We *could* use math if we knew what the math was, but all we have are the sublime.
At these extremes of thought, the "sublime" is the only way to bridge the gap. (that which seems to exude a sense of awe in ways that are beyond description but strike deep; horrible or beautiful both.)
So to answer your question truly means to go beyond and enter a world that is devoid of math; devoid of science and devoid even of philosophy. It is devoid of all human experience!
The uncomfortable part of this is that the experience cannot be translated into logic or science usually. Thats the sucky part. But, people have these experiences all the time, and although the questions cannot be answered on paper, per se, they can be "felt" and that goes a very long way towards your goal.
That is, until the day comes that we do figure out the math for it all... We all know the answer will be "42" we just don't know the left hand side.
The avatar is an 11-cell (hendecachoron) (Computer model courtesy of Carlo Sequin, UC Berkeley, styled by Jaron Lanier)