Philosophical Implications of the Size and Age of the Uni(Multi)verse

The size (and age) of the universe induces within me both awe and a feeling of incredible insignificance. Here’s what I wrote about the universe some years ago,

Our galaxy contains more than 100 to 400 billion stars and there are more than 100 billion galaxies in the observable universe. All this is in a observable universe that is about 93 billion light-years across and almost 14 billion years old. (The universe is larger than its age because it has been continuously expanding since the Big Bang, meaning the space between objects is constantly increasing, allowing the observable universe to be much larger than the distance light could travel in the time the universe has existed…)

And there may be an infinite number of universes or the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics may be true or we may be living in a computer simulation or … Needless to say, all of this is largely incomprehensible to me.

Now some philosophers have dismissed our worries about the universe’s size. Thomas Nagel wrote,

Consider next the argument that our lives are absurd because we live in a tiny speck of a vast cosmos, or in a small sliver of time. Nagel argues that neither of these concerns makes life absurd. This is obvious because even if we were immortal or large enough to fill the universe, this would not change the fact that our lives might be absurd.

I agree that being immortal or larger (by being able to travel to and experience much of the universe) doesn’t assure us that life is meaningless or insignificant but they would go a long way to eliminating my feelings of dread. Being so small, essentially invisible, lends itself to this feeling of unimportance. It’s not like we are the center of the universe as we thought in medieval times. In fact our entire galaxy, immense beyond comprehension is itself essentially invisible from a cosmic perspective.

I find these thought devastating. I remember thinking of my little world as a child as being so central, so big, so important. Yet I find that in the vastness of space and time it’s hard to maintain that illusion. What of my parents and teacher and what they taught me on this infintisimally small speck of earth? What of my relationships, my hopes, my fears? How can anything anyone does be that important? Just watch one of these videos and let the size (much less the age) of the universe sink in. We are smaller to the universe than a subatomic particle is to use. Scroll out as the earth, solar system, galaxy, and local group disappear. Doesn’t it seem we disapper too?

And if we add the age and trillions of years of future to our consideration, what difference does it make what any of us do and think? Yes, its worse if we have psychopathic people rather than good people running around. And yes I try to live as best as I can, enjoy myself, help who I can, etc. But there is something extraordinarily disquieting about the size and age of reality. Maybe in the end we just have to take consolation in this fact. No more worries about all the stupid things we worry about.

Nonetheless there are always counter arguments here. Would I feel better if the entire universe was the size of the earth? Would this even make sense since you can always ask what is beyond the age. Would I be comforted if the medieval view that the earth is the center of the the cosmos surrounded by the stars and the heavens beyond them? Maybe. But then again perhaps the universe has to be infinite in space and time.I just don’t know.

Still watching these videos fills me with feelings I don’t even know how to put properly into words. What I feel is that the universe science has revealed to us is inconceivable to me and all talk of explanation much less salvation is a fool’s game.

Here’s another great video with a slightly different take,