| Dreaming Of Pandora |
07-03-2010 10:19 PM |
Where Is The Center Of The Universe?
The answer to a question like this is actually quite weird and sort of funny.
The center is nowhere and everywhere (believe it or not). There is no center of the universe and there is. Yes, weird but bear with me.
Think of a balloon expanding. The skin of the balloon is stretching and getting larger just as spacetime does in the universe. The balloon isn't expanding outwards from the skin of the balloon, it's expanding from inside the balloon, the center of the balloon is the point from which it expands out from. So a tiny person standing on top of the balloon can never get to the center, because you can't get to the inside of the ballon by walking on the outside. But, there is a center to the outside of the balloon. (You can try and do this yourself): If you were to mark any point on the balloon with a spot using a marker or pen and then deflate the balloon and stretch it out so the skin of the balloon can be placed flat on the floor, you'll see that it is always in the center, no matter where you marked the spot on the balloon.
Putting this is terms of the universe, we can't reach the center of the universe as it is not located on spacetime (or on our 3 dimensions). Our Universe is very much like a balloon, it all "inflated" from somewhere and everything that is matter and energy is on the "skin" of the universe. But there is a center to the skin of the universe and it can be anywhere you choose.
So if anyone says "You're not the center of the universe", tell them "Yes I am!" and for that reason I just mentioned. :)
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