Are we honestly that small? (Philosophical)

Kurt_ · Post by **Kurt_** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 8:44 pm

Well I know I wasn't the only one disappointed when I read that topic.

Are we honestly that small? I mean, when you think about it, atoms may be invisible, and we may be made of billions of them, but with a microscope, we can see them. And atoms are tiny. Surely, there's something out there wondering this question that, when looking through a microscope fashioned in its own world can see individual quarks and electrons, but it is not an insanely small measurement. We're talking nanometers. 0.000000001 metres. Compared to the size of a star, or even our planet, that number dwarfs us astronomically.

And even though a star, our sun, even the Earth itself is unimaginably large, these are an insignificantly small part of our solar system, which is an insignificantly small part of our solar system, which is an infinitely small part of the universe. I mean, you can look through a telescope and see a neighbouring galaxy, and it is just a speck in your eye. It's so far away you'd die before reaching it, even at the speed of light.

We're definitely much closer to the smallest particle than to the largest object in the universe.

(Also able to be debated: Are we alone? Will we ever expand our colonies beyond our solar system? Will we ever find or meet or touch other life if it's not in our solar system?)

XCVG · Post by **XCVG** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 8:47 pm

What I do is not think about such things. It'll probably just give me headaches and peptic ulcers.

jjhammerstein · Post by **jjhammerstein** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 9:31 pm

Let's not be subjective here.
I look at it as such:
We are the biggest change this world may ever see.
There are things bigger, and there are things smaller, but they don't effect us.
We are as powerful as Gods in this world we live in.
Anything otherworldly has no effect on us, and is null and void.

Of course, there is other stuff, but realistically, I think my view point is most useful.

Post by **bicostp** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 10:05 pm

Yes we are.

(found on another website)

EDIT:

Kurt_ wrote:Are we alone? Will we ever expand our colonies beyond our solar system? Will we ever find or meet or touch other life if it's not in our solar system?)

I can say with almost certainty that we are not the only life in the universe. The universe is insanely gigantic. If our ball of rock can be close enough to sun to be warm without being fried, why can't it happen on other occasions? Life on other planets could be like ours, it could be simple bacteria, or it could be an advanced civilization billions of years older than our own. We don't know. But I don't believe they have visited us, like the crazy people on TV do.

Extraterrestrial colonies? Eventually. The next step is a moon base, which will be something like the IIS but with more room to work with. We got there with the technological equivalent of a wristwatch, so why can't we get there again with modern tools? Will we see a mars base in our lifetimes? I don't think so, but anything is possible.

Eventually we will contact life on another planet. That's just far in the future. Communications and spaceships can only travel so fast...

DJ711 · Post by **DJ711** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 10:08 pm

Maybe I should rename the title of my topic...Anyway, yes if you think about it we are super small. If we live in the earth that is in the solar system that is in the galaxy and then the universe which is goes on forever, we are just a min spec in the universe. So yes we are freaking small.

eurddrue · Post by **eurddrue** » Thu Jan 08, 2009 10:23 pm

bic those made me feel so insignificant I'm going to start cutting my wrists

weaponepsilon · Post by **weaponepsilon** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 12:06 pm

If you find it so depressing or you simply wish to look at it another way, go here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_J5rBxeTIk

Some of you younger folk may not remember...

jjhammerstein · Post by **jjhammerstein** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 12:31 pm

weaponepsilon wrote:If you find it so depressing or you simply wish to look at it another way, go here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_J5rBxeTIk

Some of you younger folk may not remember...

I see your Animaniacs, and raise you a Monty Python:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWVshkVF0SY

TAFKA_Cennar · Post by **TAFKA_Cennar** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 1:58 am

lol so what, where mostly nothing. atoms are made of some thing mostly nothing and that is made further to nothing and so on. even the biggest things are mostly nothing. I don't know if size matters. but yeah every things one big mostly nothing whatever. lol are we so small, that's relative

Rekarp · Post by **Rekarp** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 2:31 am

bicostp wrote: I can say with almost certainty that we are not the only life in the universe. The universe is insanely gigantic. If our ball of rock can be close enough to sun to be warm without being fried, why can't it happen on other occasions? Life on other planets could be like ours, it could be simple bacteria, or it could be an advanced civilization billions of years older than our own. We don't know. But I don't believe they have visited us, like the crazy people on TV do.

Agreed. Think of it statistically. If the universe is infinitely large then there are an infinite amount of chances that there is a planet exactly like earth populated with creatures exactly like this planet.

Kyo · Post by **Kyo** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 2:46 am

jjhammerstein wrote:
weaponepsilon wrote:If you find it so depressing or you simply wish to look at it another way, go here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_J5rBxeTIk

Some of you younger folk may not remember...
I see your Animaniacs, and raise you a Monty Python:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWVshkVF0SY

Only somewhat related, but while we're on the subject of awesome songs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oyz7e8iQ6Uo
feel free to ignore the video

Kurt_ · Post by **Kurt_** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 3:33 pm

Yay! I enjoyed the last one, and remembered the first one.

As a recurring theme of me derailing threads (often my own), here's a completely unrelated, but awesome, video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhjG47gtMCo

Because there's a large schism between stars and galaxies and such.

TAFKA_Cennar · Post by **TAFKA_Cennar** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 5:58 pm

Kurt_ wrote:Yay! I enjoyed the last one, and remembered the first one.

As a recurring theme of me derailing threads (often my own), here's a completely unrelated, but awesome, video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhjG47gtMCo

Because there's a large schism between stars and galaxies and such.

nice... and yeah every thing is made up of like infinity any way. so we are so large. I think we're large.

Kurt_ · Post by **Kurt_** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 7:09 pm

Actually, modern theory states that everything is made up of finite quantities of energy called quantums. Nothing is smaller than one quantum, as far as energy is concerned. This quantum theory explains many things about chemistry and atoms that can not otherwise be explained. (See: Photoelectric effect, Spectroscopy )

According to string theory, which is gaining popularity, what we once though of as the smallest particles, leptons (including electrons), quarks, and the like are made up of even smaller pieces of energy. Depending on the pattern that this energy forms (the "string"), it has different properties, such as mass. String theory is amazing stuff, look in to it. It also tries to explain things on the universal scale and beyond. How universes react with each other, what it would take to create a bridge between them, etc etc.

So, really, we're all made up of energy. Which is finite. Not infinite.

I say, compared to our size, we are small. However, I haven't done the math to prove otherwise. Take the known universe gif above, and think about it in reverse like this.

- Us (humans).
- Organs.
- Cells.
- Molecules
- Atoms
- Subatomic particles (protons, etc)
- Sub-subatomic particles (quarks, etc)
- Strings of energy
- One Quantum.

Post by **Triton** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 10:05 pm

planck constants and planck units