How old is the universe?

[Old Seer]

How can one get it working if everything is an illusion. If that were true, it would be an illusion to think everything is an illusion. It may be nothing more then one can consider things beyond (or outside of)reality. In the world of  lies science fiction can do anything, we are living to much in the grasp of it. It's like two mirrors facing each other, the images in each are infinite. There may have been a happening of the "first lie" that opens the way for all other lies thereafter. If the first lie worked for the first liar then those deceived are is still subject to the first lie and dependence on lies becomes the practice.   

[Icarus]

Perhaps a relevant read for a subject such as  this thread..............

[Tank]

What is the title of the video. YouTube won't show it where I am.

[Asmodean]

If there's only one  object (lets say one atom) it can't be relative to anything. Relativity can only come into existence if there's another object. 

Untrue.

There is a distance between your spleen and your pituitary gland. It takes time for blood to get from your pinkie to your left lung.

Oneness does not imply uniformity.

What is certain.
We don't know what the universe is for.

Because it "just is." To the best of what we can demonstrate, there is no intent behind it. So, we may not know what it is for because there is nothing to know in that regard. In that case, it is what I tend to call an invalid question. (What is the colour of bitter? Why am I me? such-like)

[zorkan]

Because it "just is." To the best of what we can demonstrate, there is no intent behind it. So, we may not know what it is for because there is nothing to know in that regard. In that case, it is what I tend to call an invalid question. (What is the colour of bitter? Why am I me? such-like)

What is the point of anything, like what's the point of that child?
One explanation was given by Dawkins. A child is a robot for its genes.

What's the point of the universe is not an invalid question.
It might also have an underlying survival intention.

I've found a reference to Dirac's measurement for the age of the universe.

https://www.nature.com/articles/250460a0.pdf

"Dirac's theory begins with the question: what is the age
of the Universe expressed in some naturally occurring
units? A fundamental unit of time is the interval required
for light to cross a characteristic atomic dimension, say
10- 13 cm. Then the age of the Universe comes out at about
10^39  in these units."

This may have been revised to 10^40.
My estimate is 10^42.
 

[Old Seer]

A singular object in the universe has no distance to anything. 

[Dark Lightning]

Because it "just is." To the best of what we can demonstrate, there is no intent behind it. So, we may not know what it is for because there is nothing to know in that regard. In that case, it is what I tend to call an invalid question. (What is the colour of bitter? Why am I me? such-like)

What is the point of anything, like what's the point of that child?
One explanation was given by Dawkins. A child is a robot for its genes.

What's the point of the universe is not an invalid question.
It might also have an underlying survival intention.

I've found a reference to Dirac's measurement for the age of the universe.

https://www.nature.com/articles/250460a0.pdf

"Dirac's theory begins with the question: what is the age
of the Universe expressed in some naturally occurring
units? A fundamental unit of time is the interval required
for light to cross a characteristic atomic dimension, say
10- 13 cm. Then the age of the Universe comes out at about
10^39  in these units."

This may have been revised to 10^40.
My estimate is 10^42.
 

Show you work, Albert! 

[billy rubin]

the life span of a cavendish banana plant approximately 18 months.

we are not metric in america. what is the age of the universe in cavendish bananas?

[Dark Lightning]

This reminds me of the news article that cited the size of an incoming asteroid in terms of giraffes. If that ain't a non-sequitur, I don't know what is.

And if you don't believe me, Giraffes

[Asmodean]

A singular object in the universe has no distance to anything. 

Very untrue. In a singular object Universe, there is still distance between the sun and Proxima Centauri B. By much the same token, there are distances between the "surface" of the object and its various innards, "everything2 is some distance or other from its center of mass, geometric center and such-like.

If there is nothing outside that object, the distances from within it to without it may be meaningless, but that's not the same as to say that a singular object [that is the] Universe has no distance to anything.

What is the point of anything, like what's the point of that child?

That child "just is." Outside a usually-narrow circle of acquaintances, it has no point to it.

One explanation was given by Dawkins. A child is a robot for its genes.

I think it's slightly backwards (or rather, a case of a causal loop describing the continuation of humanity)

The issue here is that you can hardly generalise this way when talking about that child. That specific individual may be gay, infertile, career-obsessed or any number of other forms of evolutionary/genetic dead end.

What's the point of the universe is not an invalid question.

If you demonstrate intent behind it, I may agree with you. If you do not - not. Having certain functions does not a purpose make. It could, but not necessarily so.

It might also have an underlying survival intention.

Or it might not. It's moot at this stage.

"Dirac's theory begins with the question: what is the age
of the Universe expressed in some naturally occurring
units? A fundamental unit of time is the interval required
for light to cross a characteristic atomic dimension, say
10- 13 cm. Then the age of the Universe comes out at about
10^39  in these units."

This may have been revised to 10^40.
My estimate is 10^42.

Right... Why not use Planck time at that point?

I mean, I suppose - it just seems to be a pretty useless exercise. The resolution of the unit of measurement is not suitable for what is being measured.

[billy rubin]

This reminds me of the news article that cited the size of an incoming asteroid in terms of giraffes. If that ain't a non-sequitur, I don't know what is.

And if you don't believe me, Giraffes

i didnt believe you, so i looked it up. youre not bullshitting.

what is it with america that we cannot seem to grasp numbers?

maybe im different, because my head is hard-wired to remember numbers. but the metric system is so crying simple. even in publishing we automatically reached for a pica ruler when we needed to look at a galley sheet. we just ignored the inches and points.

i used to collect vintage and odd rulers, because systems of measurement were interesting to me. i had rulers that measured in fractional inches, or in millimeters, or picas and points, or decimal inches, or in feet but only on USGS 7.5-minute quadrangles, in sonic intensities on geophysical sonograms, and so on and on. old rulers, new rulers, cool rulers . . .

then i was flooded, five times, and learned not to collect things.

but now i live on a hill, and so own ten or eleven motorcycles. and i still have a set of antique cast iron balance beam weights, used in singapore a hundred or so years ago for dispensing opium.

i cant help myself.

[Dark Lightning]

We've become a nation with no patience for learning, to an alarming extent.

[billy rubin]

that is indeed alarming, if its as simple as that.

i work with my kids on understanding the world. i ask them stuff like, what happens to the air temperature in a cloud when the wind forces it up and over a high ridge? where does rain come from, and why now? why is there a ring around the moon on cold nights? i make them know worthless things, like the value of pi or atomic numbersof common elements, just so they have the familiarity to know what they are if the occasion arises. i ask them why that matt daemon movie, the martian, was so stupidly wrong about air pressure.

shit like that. stuff that makes you think about where and when you are.

mostly they just humour me, really. but theyre doing okay. they know more than me about lots of other stuff.

[Asmodean]

We've become a world with no patience for learning, to an alarming extent.

Fixed it.

There is an occasional holdout here and there, but overall, it has become a bit of "trust in Google" situation... Trouble is, Google is full of shit with some occasional good information floating about. If you don't know how to source properly and have very little incentive to learn... Well... Here we are. "The masses" are getting ever more shallow and less informed, while thinking themselves ever more educated.

[Tank]

We do have a Fixit Fairy