XPost: rec.arts.comics.strips   
   From: peter@tsto.co.uk   
      
   On 30/01/2026 17:03, Paul S Person wrote:   
   > On Fri, 30 Jan 2026 07:03:16 +0000, Peter Fairbrother   
      
   >> 10^80 hydrogen atoms is a good estimate for the observable universe. Of   
   >> course we don't know whether the universe is finite or not..   
   >   
   > I would thing the triumph of the Big Bang over the Steady State pretty   
   > much implies a finite universe.   
      
   Big Bang doesn't change anything as far as the finiteness of the   
   universe goes.   
      
   The observable universe is known to be finite, but as for the "whole"   
   universe - we just don't know. The "whole" universe is very likely very   
   much bigger than the observable universe, but as we can't ever see the   
   rest of it .. how can we be sure?   
      
   And perhaps we can't ever know whether the universe is finite.   
      
   There may be clues in the flatness of the observable universe, but then   
   there is no particular reason why the rest if it should have the same   
   curvature.   
      
   That said, there may be a reason we don't yet know why the observable   
   universe is so very nearly flat.   
      
   Inflation may (partly) account for how, but the weak anthropomorphic   
   principle is probably the best theory we have so far for why - universes   
   which are not nearly flat can't support thinking life, either because   
   they don't last long enough or because they aren't complex enough; so if   
   we posit thinking life, and cogito ergo sum, then the universe the   
   thinking life is supported by must be nearly flat.   
      
   But that presupposes many universes ...  does that remind you of   
   quantum-ness?   
      
      
   > Keeping in mind the mathematical nature of "infinite".   
    From the Latin finitus: "without end, bound or limit"   
      
   That may be confusing: the universe may be boundless but finite.   
      
   Eg perhaps it wraps around on itself like the surface of a balloon - it   
   has no boundaries but it has an actual size. Or it may be infinite,   
   without bounds, ends or limits, and talking about a measure of its size   
   is meaningless, as it is limitless.   
      
   Mathematically, it can mean either without limit, without bound, or   
   without end, depending what part of maths (or physics) you are working in.   
      
   Or informally, larger than any number.   
      
   Peter Fairbrother   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)