kolaida Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Okay, can someone please help me? I looked through the other topics and not sure if this is the same as super symmetry or not..... I'm really confused. I've been seeing this guy and today we met up and he was telling me about some documentary coming out in September that science (also peer reviewed) will show (from three different trips and measurements) that the Earth is actually the center of the universe (guess some line might be bisecting the earth exactly). Anyway, he claims that this will prove that there is a a God or some Supreme Being ( he currently does not believe in one, but is apparently pretty agnostic). Anyway, I hope that made sense because I'm really confused and am not sure what to think. I know I don't want to debate or argued with him, and I also don't want to start believing in God and don't want to date someone that does. I also want to have some idea do the reasons why this wouldn't guarantee the existence of a god. I honestly thought of the science section of Ex-C as my date was still talking about this. Can someone please shed some light on this? I really am kind of at a loss right now regarding the whole thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravenstar Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 I have heard that every point in the universe is the centre.. I have NO idea how this works… maybe BAA does. I'm still trying to visualize curved space… from a discussion months ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Marty Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 I have heard that every point in the universe is the centre.. I have NO idea how this works… maybe BAA does. I'm still trying to visualize curved space… from a discussion months ago. The way I understand it, because everywhere we look the universe is expanding away from us, there is no defined "center", and for all intents and purposes, any given point in the universe is and could be the "center". It is nothing more than that, and certainly nothing that science can "prove". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RogueScholar Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 This guy is full of schyte. The Earth isn't even the centre of the solar system. Regarding super symmetry, the ony conceivable way that we may be able to entertain ideas that use super symmetry concepts will via the large hadron collider at higher energies. It has not been turned back on yet, so a no go there as well. Also, earth shattering information is typically published in peer reviewed journals and then subjected to years of debate, challenge and verification before it ends up in science documentaries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mymistake Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 These guys are getting confused. There is a huge difference between the universe, all that is in our portion of the cosmos, and the VISIBLE universe which is all that WE can see. Earth is the center of the visible universe because it is defined by what we can see. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoubtingNate Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 These guys are getting confused. There is a huge difference between the universe, all that is in our portion of the cosmos, and the VISIBLE universe which is all that WE can see. Earth is the center of the visible universe because it is defined by what we can see. bingo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thurisaz Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Ayup. As far as we can tell, the universe is some 15 billion years old (give a little, take a little). It follows, then, that no matter how big it really is, we can look as far as 15 billion lightyears into "out there". Even if we would seem to be the center of the observable universe, maybe the thing is really 300 gazillion lightyears across and we're far out at the edge? The "reasoning" that guy claims is about as rock solid as someone saying "sun and moon look pretty much equally big in the sky so they are"... or even better someone covering her eyes with her hands and then claiming that you don't exist because she can't see you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bornagainathiest Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Hi Kolaida! Perhaps you'd like to ask your friend why astronomers and cosmologists use these? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copernican_principle "In physical cosmology, the Copernican principle, named after Nicolaus Copernicus, states that the Earth is not in a central, specially favored position in the universe." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmological_principle Please take note of the three (3) implicit qualifications and two (2) testable consequences of this principle, K. I've summarized the meanings into one-liners for you, in italics, ok? Qualification 1. Observers of the universe means any observers, anywhere in the universe - not just human observers located here on Earth. To quote Andrew Liddle,"...the cosmological principle [means that] the universe looks the same whoever and wherever you are." Thus, there is no center, no edge and no particular location is preferred over any other. Qualififcation 2. The physical laws and constants (speed of light, atomic weight of the elements, etc.) observed by any observer anywhere will produce the same effects everywhere. There is no preference in nature. It works the same way everywhere. Qualification 3. Apparent differences in large-scale physical structures (galaxies and galactic clusters) appear to 'average out' if sampled on a large enough scale, yielding a homogeneous (uniform) foamy texture of clusters and voids. Therefore, no place, location or region can be considered to be the center of the universe. The two testable consequences (homogeneity and isotropy) are currently well supported by the data. But to be even-handed about this, please note that in the section entitled, 'Criticism' five possible exceptions are cited. Only further observations will tell us if the cosmological principle needs revising or abandoning. Thanks, BAA. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mango Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 There is a video at the below link which explains the issue in a way so non-scientists can understand the issue. http://www.universetoday.com/111561/where-is-the-center-of-the-universe/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bhim Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 FYI, supersymmetry is a theory in particle physics which postulates that every bosonic particle has an (as yet undetected) fermionic partner, and vice versa. Not sure how you can get from there to claiming the earth is the center of the universe. But BAA has expertly described why the latter is not correct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravenstar Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 Well, that makes more sense.. thanks guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExCBooster Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 Yeah, what everybody else said, basically. Since everything we observe has to come to us at the speed of light in a vacuum or slower, we can only see out in space (and therefore back in time) as far away as the first information from the beginnings of the universe. So, there is a "horizon" of sorts, regardless of how big the universe actually is. Saying that Earth is the center of the universe is just as crazy as sitting on a boat in the middle of an ocean, and seeing that the horizon is just the same distance away on all sides, then concluding that the boat is in the exact center of the world, and all you see is all that exists. It just looks like that, because it's the limits of your observable space. The true size of the universe, including parts that may lie outside this "horizon" is a matter for some debate, and something astrophysicists and cosmologists are hotly pursuing, right now. The hilarious part of using this "horizon" to peg the Earth as the center of the universe to me, is that if you DO take a really good, careful look at the very edges of what we can see... it's possible to determine the age of the universe and some of the very early conditions, to an insanely small margin of error. The universe is 13.77 Billion years old (give or take a half percent.). Which quickly dispatches the most literal Christian interpretations, which an Earth-centric view would seem to suggest... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gall Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 This guy is full of schyte. The Earth isn't even the centre of the solar system. Regarding super symmetry, the ony conceivable way that we may be able to entertain ideas that use super symmetry concepts will via the large hadron collider at higher energies. It has not been turned back on yet, so a no go there as well. Also, earth shattering information is typically published in peer reviewed journals and then subjected to years of debate, challenge and verification before it ends up in science documentaries. When it comes to peer review of physics papers more like decades of debate. That is the beauty of this universe we know so little about it so there is so much candy to talk about still. I love it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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