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Is there anything beyond the universe?

Michael A. Dingwall (michael_a_dingwall@hotmail.com)

There are indeed many mysteries that continue to baffle the mind. Where did we come from? Where are we headed? What will the future be like? These are just a few of the frequently asked questions. However, one that has been asked repeatedly is this – Is there anything beyond our universe? Is there?

There was a time when it was felt that the universe was eternal – that is, it was always there. Some felt that the universe was everywhere. As this was accepted as fact, there was really no need to consider anything outside the universe. However, within the past few decades, discoveries have been made which seem to challenge such views. It now seems that the universe, as we see and understand it, was not always there – it seemed to have started at some point in the very distant past. Now, if the universe started, what started it? And if it had a beginning, is there something beyond the “boundaries” of our universe?

The M51 Galaxy...

"Anything that is outside of our reality is, for us, not real. Science has never been able to prove the existence of anything outside of our universe – outside of our reality. The very concept is contradictory and far beyond the scope of us humans. Science cannot test for entities outside of reality. So, it is for this reason that, on the face of it, the conclusion that one must come to is that there is nothing outside of our universe. "

First of all, it is very difficult, indeed impossible for us at this point in time, to say with complete surety that there is something beyond the universe. This is for a very simple reason. The universe represents everything we know – or can or will ever know. Thus, the universe is our reality. If there is something outside of our universe, then it is outside of our reality.

Anything that is outside of our reality is, for us, not real. Science has never been able to prove the existence of anything outside of our universe – outside of our reality. The very concept is contradictory and far beyond the scope of us humans. Science cannot test for entities outside of reality. So, it is for this reason that, on the face of it, the conclusion that one must come to is that there is nothing outside of our universe.

However, can we really be sure of this? Just because we don’t have the evidence to indicate that something is beyond the universe does not convincingly prove that this is so. It may simply mean that we don’t have the evidence yet. After all, we only became aware of what appears to be the well-established fact that the universe had a beginning of sorts. But what could be beyond our universe?

It has been said that all space and time began with the universe. If this is so, then there was no space and time before the universe. It could also be said that there is no space and time outside of the universe. The concept of time, in particular, is very important to life, as we know it. Without time, nothing could happen. Yet, without time, our universe began. Are other universes out there being created, like ours billions of years ago? Again, we have no evidence of this, but can we safely rule out the possibility? If there are, are these universes similar to ours? If not, how are they different? Again, we can’t know, at least at the present time and with the lack of evidence, we have to come to the somber conclusion that this universe of ours is all there is to reality.

This is certainly a mystery that will remain with us for a very long time. Indeed, while we can never be too certain about the future, it seems that this will remain a mystery for us humans for as long as we are human. Solving this mystery demands that we humans step out of our reality, and this is a very difficult concept to understand – much less accomplish. That’s the thing with us humans – we have limits and one of those restricts us to our reality.

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