There is so much we don't know about the universe.
So much, in fact, that everything there is to learn about the universe will probably never be discovered.
Mostly because the universe is constantly growing and evolving, leaving us with new things to learn about the universe literally every day.
Constantly filling our minds with uncertainty, sometimes fear, about the otherwise vast unknown.
All of this makes all facts we've discovered about the universe all the more fascinating, whether or not we have even the slightest interest in science.
"What’s the most amazing thing about the universe?"
Our Brains Are Like The Milky Way
"A single human brain has as many neurons as there are stars in the Milky Way galaxy."
"Around 100 billion."
"Source: a neuroscientist filled with useless facts about the brain."- Afferent_Input
Where Our Deep Uncertainty Comes From
"This is one I thought about recently."
"I believe that Carl Sagan said that we, sentient entities, are a way for the cosmos to know itself."
"With this in mind, when we think about the end of our universe, whether it be through a big shrink, big cooling, or what have you, we get apprehensive."
"We probably will never see this end, many of us will be dead."
"Yet, we still get a cold fear in our hearts."
"We are also a way for the cosmos to fear it's demise."- TheClassyEngineer
A Little Perspective
"If you were on a planet 65 million light years away from Earth and had a really good telescope, you could see the dinosaurs."- Swimmergent
lisa simpson space GIFGiphyWhat Got Us Where We Are
"That every single random event since the dawn of creation."
"The birth and death of stars, planets and galaxies, the very genesis of life has led to you being here right now to ask this question."- Jesus_marley
There's Another World Out There...
"Imagine being transported to a parallel universe that was almost identical to our own."
"Somewhere out in the vastness of that universe, there is a tiny planet."
"This much is true in both universes."
"On this planet, there is a beach, and on that beach, there is a small stone."
"Once again, both universes are alike in this regard."
"Beneath that stone, however, there are several million grains of sand, and while they are all are in precisely the same location in each universe, one of them, a tiny speck of particularly clear quartz, hewn from a larger whole millions of years before, has a single atom that is positioned a fraction of a femtometer differently than its twin in the mirror dimension."
"You may think that such an insignificant difference would label these two universes as being functionally identical, and you would be right."
"In fact, they are so similar that the multiverse has long since combined them into one reality."
"That single atom in that tiny speck of sand on that lonesome beach on a distant planet merely occupies two spaces at once, seeming to an outside observer to vibrate back and forth at a predictable rate."
"That every atom in existence seems to do the same is probably a coincidence."- RamsesThePigeon
Loop Space GIF by xponentialdesignGiphySpeaks For Itself
"That it exists."- phillipsd001
The Age Old Question...
"It must be true that either it didn't exist, then it did."
"Or it has always existed."- realFraaErasmas
What Makes Our Brain Work...
"That somehow all the particles accumulated in a specific way and in specific quantities to give you conscious thought."- Sphyrwa
Stars Glow GIF by Erica AndersonGiphyThe Inevitable End...
That whatever our problems are, big or small, it won’t matter in 1,000,000 years (worst being a nuclear war or something). - Reddit
There are countless things about the universe no one will ever know.
But mysterious and, sometimes, unsettling as it may be, there's something oddly wonderful about the unending exploration and study to learn what is out there.
And all the discoveries we have yet to make.
What do you believe?
Is there a GOD in the sky?
Is he guiding us and helping us?
Life is really hard. Why is that is a big entity is up there loving us?
Atheists have taken a lot of heat for what feels like shunning GOD.
What if they've been right all along?
Maybe let's take a listen and see what they really think.
Redditor __Jacob______wanted to hear from the people who don't really believe all that "God" stuff. They asked:
"Atheists, what do you believe in?"
I'm waffling between G-O-D and nothing. So please give me some education.
911
Role Playing Reaction GIF by Hyper RPGGiphy"We need to look out for each other because help isn't coming."
cknipe
Peace Out
"More than 2 decades ago, a priest was giving a sermon in my church and he said 'our faith requires you to believe without question. Why call it faith if you have to ask questions?' I haven't returned to church. Not until my wedding day but you know what I mean."
asiangontear
Delusion
"When I was young I used to think that after death you would have access to a PC that you could see absolutely anything about your life. Stats, any question you had no matter how obscure, replays of moments, perspectives of others in relation to you. No matter what you wanted to know, if it was relatable to you, you could see it. I know it's silly, but as time goes on I just want it to be real, and I don't think I'd have any issue allowing myself to fall into that delusion."
eggwardpenisglands
I think nothing happens...
"Realistically, I think nothing happens. We literally experience nothing after death. Same thing that we experience before birth. We don't exist, so it's nothing. I think the tenant that we should follow while living is to try to be happy and healthy while minimizing the damage we do to each other."
"What I would LIKE to happen after death is whatever you believe in, exists. I think Christians should get to go to heaven if they truly believe in it, Hindus and Buddhists get reincarnated, and everyone else also gets to experience what they believe they will experience."
"'I would still experience Nothing. Maybe it's one of those things where at the moment of death their brain makes them experience what feels like an infinitely long moment in time where they experience their afterlife. I just think it would be neat for everybody."
Better_Meat_
Shrug
Happy GIFGiphy"Best advice I received from a dear senior on their way out. 'You win some, you lose some' shrug. Nothing divine, life is that simple and wonderful, accept it and move on."
Tune_Kindly
It all sounds pretty simple. Why are people so up in arms about Atheists?
Whatever
Bored Episode 15 GIF by The SimpsonsGiphy"I believe in a universe that doesn't care, and people that do."
imCIK
Cool with Empty
"Nothing. [Serious]."
rumblingtummy29
"I feel this way about death. When I was 5, my grandfather died and my cousin simple said, he is dead, that means you are gone forever. Everything ends up dying, even plants and animals. I'm now in my 40's and still have this simplistic view of life and death. People think I'm ambivalent to life and death but it's just what it is."
thepigfish82
puppet-masters...
"I think a lot of religious people struggle with the fact that we are all just swirling units of chaos. There is no grand plan or great orchestrator. I think that’s why people who are prone to religion are also susceptible to things like Q anon and the Cabal and all that. They REALLY want to believe that there is some almighty puppet-master who determines all of humanity’s fate."
Lngtmelrker
“we’re living in a society!”
"Just be a kind and empathetic person not because you’re worried about some cosmic justice, but because it’s the right thing to do. If there is some being that created us there’s no way they actually care about believing in it or adhering to some rules from over 2000 years ago."
"Also a big thing for me is that I find the idea that you need religion or the Bible in order to have morals and ethics pretty dumb. It’s pretty f**king clear that most evangelicals have neither. But my main thing is being a good person simply because, as George Costanza once said we’re living in a society!' If you’re only a good person in order to make it to heaven you probably aren’t actually a good and moral person."
conservative_genius
That's All
Circle Of Life Loop GIFGiphy"You're born. You live. You die. That's it. After you die you cease to exist, the same as before you were born."
serefina
Believe what you want. We're all here together. So let's focus there.
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Are we living in a computer simulation? That's a question that has fascinated many scientists for some time now. You can thank the philosopher Nick Bostrom for that, by the way.
He's the one who proposed in the Philosophical Quarterly that the universe and everything in it might be a simulation, a claim that has challenged humanity's perception of reality.
Not everyone is convinced, of course. Those who've pushed back against the suggestion think the claim is little more than a fantastical thought experiment.
But suppose we were. There'd be bound to be proof all around us!
People shared their thoughts with us after one Redditor asked the online community,
"If it ever turns out we’re living inside a simulation, what would’ve been an obvious clue in hindsight?"
"When random objects..."
"When random objects go missing and you could've sworn you had it with you, and then you never find it ever again."
PolarParadise
Or they are sitting in plain sight three days later and you know you checked that area like a hundred times!
"Seeing people you know..."
"Seeing people you know pop up in really random places where you wouldn’t expect to see those people. Like the simulation started reusing assets."
[deleted]
It's just a coincidence!
Or is it?
Who can say?
"My phone..."
"My phone reading my thoughts and sending me ads for things I don't even talk about or search for online."
nebulaniac
Nahhh... it's just using all of your data.
"Not finding..."
"Not finding obvious signs of life in the observable universe."
OffMyMedsToday
I don’t see how this would be an obvious sign. The universe has been around for billions of years. We’ve existed for a small fraction of that time. The chance of us existing at the same exact time as other intelligent life seems incredibly rare.
"Our memories..."
"Our memories do not feel more real than our dreams."
MysticalJoy
Uhhh... this hit me hard.
"The lazy physics..."
"The lazy physics where one model has been applied everywhere without distinction - such as the gravitational model for the planets. Take one basic idea and copy and paste it everywhere."
GoodAndBluts
I mean that’s just the basic coding in the game engine. I think maybe you’re thinking of how different civilizations with no contact came up with the same stuff, like pyramids.
"That one time..."
"That one time when I got so wildly stressed in grad school and had a severe derealization situation and was convinced we were living in a simulation."
[deleted]
Sounds about right.
Pack it all up, everyone. We've figured it out.
"The fact that..."
"The fact that truth is stranger than fiction."
read-it-on-reddit
We expect fiction to make sense. Reality has no such constraint.
"When you learn..."
"When you learn something new and it starts appearing everywhere."
Chemical-somewhere-six
That's just frequency illusion, a cognitive bias in which, after noticing something for the first time, there is a tendency to notice it more often, leading someone to believe that it has a high frequency of occurrence.
"Inconsistent dreams. I've had dreams about the same fandoms that have completely different alterations, and the only dreams I have that have a consistent universe are completely identical."
[deleted]
Or maybe people experiencing the exact same flavours differently. It could be some kind of bug.
We haven't even covered the fact that time slows down near black holes or the uncertainty, the fact that certain phenomena behave differently depending on whether they are observed or not! Much to think about.
Have some thoughts of your own? Tell us more in the comments below!
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When we are overwhelmed with many trials and tribulations in this crazy world, we want to escape reality.
With plenty of options to distract us, you would think we can tune out the world around us by immersing ourselves in virtual worlds like video games.
Or those who prefer a more sedentary escape can watch a movie based on fantastical places for their mental escape.
But not all fictional universes are enticing. Some worlds are downright terrifying and nightmarish that make us grateful about our champagne problems back on earth.
Curious to hear about hellish landscapes we should be grateful are not real, Redditor monarchmondays asked:
"Which fictional universe would actually be awful to live in?"
Gamers can take out their aggression by blowing things up. Yeah, don't wanna live there.
Hellhole
"Warhammer 40K wins by a mile."
"The vast majority of the universe is a complete hellhole. Even the 'normal' human worlds are depressing, polluted, slave driving, disease riddled, etc."
"There is only war."
"Obligatory RIP my inbox. Video link for those poor souls who aren't familiar with the universe:"
Grand Theft Auto
"The world of GTA would be terrible to live in. You'll have to live in constant fear of the maniacal psychopath who may or may not shoot you, run over you, or just straight up assault you."
Sugar Rush
"Candyland, the only thing to eat is candy and you would eventually be too fat unless you worked out constantly. And I assume there would be no actual water there either."
Most people enjoy superhero movies, but that doesn't mean we want to visit the places where the battles take place.
Sci-Fi Madness
"The Power Ranger Universe. Having a normal day and suddenly you're trapped in a giant pizza by a monster, then a bunch of spandex clad teenagers shoot lasers and a giant robot shows up that wrecks the entire downtown for the third time this month."
"Really any world with super hero(s). The everyday lives of the average joe is dependent on a few powerful beings and there's probably constant violence."
Scary Society
"The best thing say Superman could do for humanity is probably run on an enormous generator to meet the world's power needs and avoid f'king up the environment."
"In all seriousness though no sane society would allow an exclusive caste of magical beings to serve as judge, jury, and executioner. You can bet that whatever country can capture them first is going to get busy with a Manhattan project to understand and reproduce those phenomena and rightly so!"
Elements of some worlds depicted on TV and film are not that far off from reality – except the one inhabited by hungry, carnivorous naked giants.
Scary Anime
"Attack on Titan, most definitely. The war, the forced amnesia, constantly being at risk of being eaten by giant naked people, no thank you."
A Quiet Place
"Yeah the frustration and fear of it always being on my mind would be so intense I don't know if it would be worth being alive."
Encouraging Rape
"I'm gonna say the Handmaid's Tale. That country spent all their resources and time creating extensively branded torture infrastructure and getting nothing else done."
I love gigantic apes and lizard monsters, but they can most definitely stay on the screen.
When I saw Kong: Skull Island, I was terrified of imagining myself in that fantastical yet violent world.
Remember that dude who was SKEWERED by what he initially thought was an innocuous bamboo?
No, sir, that was a leg of a towering arachnid the poor guy was bamboozled into thinking was something else.
Fooled him once, and now he can rest in peace.
Yeah, I'm not mad about Skull Island being left out on my bucket list of places to live, let alone visit.
"Fun facts" come in all sorts of flavors. There are the truly fascinating tidbits, the scary facts, the unnerving elements of animal behavior, or maybe some rampant, unchecked societal issue bubbling under the surface.
But there is another class of facts: the comforting facts.
These brief informational gems are just nice to think about. They warm the heart and make us feel small in all the best ways. Unfortunately, they're not always the easiest to track down.
Lucky for us, Reddit exists.
JennyAndTheBets95_ asked, "What's the most comforting fact you know?"
Many people chose to share facts that improve self-esteem and mental health. These small mantras put things into perspective and remind us that we don't need to focus on everything all at one time.
In fact, we shouldn't even try.
What Thing
"No One Cares, so that embarrassing thing i did 10 years ago yeh don't have to worry about that" -- AppropriateWasher
"Yes. I mean, I can't even remember anything embarrassing that someone else did. So chances are they're not remembering my embarrassing moments either." -- miss_archivist
You Don't Know Your Own Strength
"Cognitive science fact - humans underestimate their ability to deal with untoward events."
"Helps me convince myself to worry less about the future."
Always With You
"You can lose your job, your property, your freedom, your good health, but as long as you are alive there is hope. And as long as you're alive they can not take away your reasoned choice."
Things Will Line Up
"There are lonely people out there wondering where I am and when I'll finally show up in their lives."
-- Echospite
Inching Away
"Honestly?"
"One of the most comforting facts for me is that every day that passes, the past gets a little further away. Every mistake, every time I've been wronged or wronged someone unfairly, every worry, my bereavement - it all fades slowly."
"New worries will come and old ones will grow - but the past is the past."
All Is Flux
"Nothing is permanent"
"So even if you have no hope, everything sucks, or you've fu**ed up, nothing is permanent."
-- jodeda3878
It Keeps On Turning
"Honestly?"
"One of the most comforting facts for me is that every day that passes, the past gets a little further away. Every mistake, every time I've been wronged or wronged someone unfairly, every worry, my bereavement - it all fades slowly."
"New worries will come and old ones will grow - but the past is the past."
The Best Way Forward Is to Celebrate
"People in my life that pass away wouldn't want me to be sad forever" -- Conscious-Bedroom-53
"A kid from my school died at 17 or 18, I always remember his mum saying 'it doesn't do my son any justice to die with him' " -- LurkieMcLurkerson
"Me and my friends have an agreement that the last one alive has to pay our tab at the pub. It's a race to the grave at this point lol" -- Doodle_Brush
Others went with the animal facts.
With so many various species crawling the earth, there are plenty of wonderful attributes that warm the heart.
It Takes a Village
"If a baby manatee is orphaned other manatees will raise it." -- Littlemisslarvae
"The simple fact that manatees exist makes me happy tbh" -- AlisConnor
"sighs in relief good... good." -- tpootz
The Rumble
"Cats purr at a frequency that can improve their bone density. I'm not entirely sure how accurate it is, but I love it."
"Now when my cat purrs my sister says how she (my cat) is improving her bone density and I find it super wholesome"
Hospitality
"The military in Turkey built little barracks for stray cats to protect them from the cold." -- Paginmin949
"TIL Turkey gets cold." -- EverGreatestxX
" 'We fight our battles differently than other countries. We train stray cats to fight for our country, and do spy work for us on the other side' "
Always Best Friends
"Dogs most likely dream about their owners. Either playing with them or annoying them. They're all good boys and girls." -- jodeda3878
"My dog dreams really dramatically all the time, legs 'running' and muffled barks. It's never occurred to me she might be dreaming of playing me. I love this." -- Lacarac
We're Like Puppies to Them
"Elephants think we're cute...at least something likes my looks cries"
Finally, some chose to think about science and the universe. This understanding even verged on the spiritual and religious dimensions.
Again, it was all about perspective.
Arranged and Deconstructed
"The first law of thermodynamics. It's my agnostic idea of life after death—the energy we and all the people we love are made of isn't destroyed when we die."
"We simply become less organized, but all that energy sticks around."
-- arkygeomojo
This Will All End
"Eventually the universe will die. Everything you've ever done, every humiliation you've received, every person you've hurt, all gone. Nothing will be remembered and neither will your mistakes. So enjoy life!"
-- FumazDev
Constant Community
"There is always someone looking at the moon somewhere, so if you're ever feeling lonely, just look at the moon and know that you have something in common with someone."
-- jkhelco
So next time you find yourself asked to share a fun fact during an ice breaker or team building activity, go with one of these. And be prepared to hear a relieved sigh from around the circle.
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