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Eternal Return – What do You Think?


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Synchronicity

'Eternal return' is one name for the theory that the universe has existed many times before: it ends in a Big Crunch, or Big Rip, or Big Freeze, and then there's a Big Bounce and the Big Bang happens again and everything restarts, ad infinitum.  Frankly, the idea terrifies me and I worry about it a lot: I wouldn't want to live this life again, let alone any others, if reincarnation is real (and I'd like to think it is but, despite being Buddhist, I'm not certain).

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_return

 

The theory has probably come about because people can't conceive of a time when the universe didn't exist, so prefer to think of it as cycling indefinitely.  But I hate the idea. ☹️  I'd love to hear others' interpretations of this, to set my mind at rest.

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Guest Invisible Pumpkin

Not to say reincarnation is real, but let's suppose it is. How would you or we know that we weren't here already (and had a good time, or not). As I don't remember any other life before this one, this one is the one that matters to me, however, sometimes I think I have changed so much with time that maybe it can count as a "new me", but that's more of an emotional thing than something else.

 

Not to say the theory is real, but what if it was? It wouldn't change anything, would it? I mean, let's suppose it is real, do we remember a previous universe? I don't.

 

I'm guessing we all can rest despite not knowing if it's truth or not. Doesn't change the present, won't change the future, and won't create another universe, or... 

 

 

eh...

 

Could it? :P Can we? :P 

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i dont care and it doesnt matter at all

what if the theory is true or its false? at the end of the day does it personally affect your life? i bet not. then why care? youll only worry yourself more by thinking such pointless things

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everywhere and nowhere

The idea of the Universe ceasing to exist terrifies me much more. Fortunately, I do believe in forces beyond the material, so even then we will continue existing as droplets in the Ocean.

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Queen Snowfall

I mean, the theory's technically possible, but so are a lot of things. Yeah, that does sound kind of bad, but I wouldn't worry too much about it. You might want to look into some stuff about physics and how the universe is predicted to continue. For my fellow massive nerds out there, can I recommend PBS Spacetime on YouTube? They give really good information, and they cover all kinds of things like General Relativity as well as the end of the universe that you're talking about.

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9 hours ago, sevan said:

i dont care and it doesnt matter at all

what if the theory is true or its false? at the end of the day does it personally affect your life? i bet not. then why care? youll only worry yourself more by thinking such pointless things

That's what Buddha said about gods.

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I heard when the Buddha was asked too many questions about reincarnation, he would tell his disciple to concentrate on meditation. Regardless wether there is an afterlife or not, our present moment is better spent focusing on what we're doing right now than pondering too much on what comes after death.

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Synchronicity
On 8/12/2022 at 2:07 PM, Queen Snowfall said:

I mean, the theory's technically possible, but so are a lot of things. Yeah, that does sound kind of bad, but I wouldn't worry too much about it.

You're right, it's pointless worrying about it – but I know about it, and it scares me.  This life has been horrible and I don't want to live it again, ever (also, I keep getting déjà vu).

 

I suppose I just want to know that this is the first time the universe has existed.  All of the evidence suggests that it is.

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On 8/12/2022 at 1:28 AM, Synchronicity said:

The theory has probably come about because people can't conceive of a time when the universe didn't exist, so prefer to think of it as cycling indefinitely.  But I hate the idea. ☹️  I'd love to hear others' interpretations of this, to set my mind at rest.

But it still had to start at some point. There had to be a first Universe that got everything started.

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Synchronicity
18 hours ago, coolshades said:

But it still had to start at some point. There had to be a first Universe that got everything started.

Exactly!  But some people think the universe has always existed and just keeps cycling.

 

I thought of this theory myself and then found out it was acually a 'thing'.

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Alaska Native Manitou

Not all physicists agree. I recommend reading The Big Bang Never Happened by Eric J. Lerner.

 

In short, the Big bang theory was created by Georges Lemaître, a priest trying to make biblical creation sound scientific. Unfortunately he succeeded, & now scientists who can't overcome their preconceptions are stuck patching the holes with deus ex machina concepts such as "dark matter" & "dark energy."

 

Drowned out are the voices of physicists who believe that the universe is essentially stable, without a beginning or end.

Edited by 2SpiritCherokee Princess
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19 minutes ago, 2SpiritCherokee Princess said:

In short, the Big bang theory was created by Georges Lemaître, a priest trying to make biblical creation sound scientific.

I didn't know about this, but it makes so much sense.  I've always told people that to me the Big Bang could have been what occurred when God said "Let there be light," so it's not incompatible with creationism.  I assume Lemaître said the same?

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I think over the last few decades or so it's been a growing thought among scientific circles that we do more or less exist in a state of eternal return. That even after our universe "dies," it will one day reform. Our universe being the product of a previous universe's demise.

 

However, I don't think that all matter would exist in a state of replay. Events wouldn't just repeat themselves infinitely like exact copies. I think it's fair to say there won't be another you and me having this same conversation in the next universe after ours. If matter were to theoretically exist on exact repeat, then it would rasise some very tough questions, such as why a universe would exist in a timeloop.

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Lord Jade Cross
18 hours ago, 2SpiritCherokee Princess said:

Not all physicists agree. I recommend reading The Big Bang Never Happened by Eric J. Lerner.

 

In short, the Big bang theory was created by Georges Lemaître, a priest trying to make biblical creation sound scientific. Unfortunately he succeeded, & now scientists who can't overcome their preconceptions are stuck patching the holes with deus ex machina concepts such as "dark matter" & "dark energy."

 

Drowned out are the voices of physicists who believe that the universe is essentially stable, without a beginning or end.

 

18 hours ago, coolshades said:

I didn't know about this, but it makes so much sense.  I've always told people that to me the Big Bang could have been what occurred when God said "Let there be light," so it's not incompatible with creationism.  I assume Lemaître said the same?

I cant remember the country (I think Rusia or China?) that had created an undeground supermagnet which was used to repeatedly compress atoms until it got a reaction and they found that when pressure was applied, you can actually create a new particle out of it, which for irony or convenience, was named the "god particle". Now if that were true, it would essentially explain that in a state of absolute nothingness, there was a concentrated enough amount of atoms which then gave way to god particles which eventially mutated to form what we are now

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