this post was submitted on 23 Jan 2024
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Showerthoughts

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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. A showerthought should offer a unique perspective on an ordinary part of life.

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[–] Neato@ttrpg.network 2 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Infinite, sure. But the universe doesn't have infinite. There are SO many english words that just putting them together randomly it's still effectively impossible to generate a work of Shakespear.

And even with as much tech as we can imagine, the universe is finite to our reach and especially to our time. The odds of randomly generating Shakespear is so low even using a processor the size of the sun, the heat death of the universe might happen first. It's theoretically possible, but so is a planet that spontaneously generates made of nothing but cheddar cheese.

[–] Laticauda@lemmy.ca 4 points 9 months ago

I don't think you quite grasp how a hypothetical works.

[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

the universe is finite to our reach and especially to our time

Some of the smartest people alive don't think so...

Big Bangs can be sequential, an endless cycle. Even in a "heat death" there's still black holes that over trillions and trillions of years will keep slowly getting closer to each other until eventually they combine.

The real heat death of the universe is one super massive black hole, and on a long enough timeline something will eventually happen which makes it spit all that matter and energy back out. Or even weirder, the inside is the new universe likely with random ass physics.

Like I said, the monkeys arent literal. It's a way to explain that infinite means everything

[–] Neato@ttrpg.network 3 points 9 months ago

That's incorrect. The universe is infinite. But without FTL travel we can't access anything but the observable which is finite.

In heat death even black holes will evaporate. There is no anything ultimately in heat death. Just particles flying every way getting farther apart.

Also there's not even a theoretical way to survive a big crunch, big bang cycle.