3w ago

You'll never see it coming

Memes @lemmy.ml

Chainweasel @lemmy.world

3w ago

82 21

77 comments

I'm not worried about this specific apocalypse, if only because there is literally nothing that can be done to prevent it nor stop it if it starts.
I'm far more worried about more localized, preventable, human-caused apocalypse like climate or nuclear war.
- Also, we won't see it coming and won't feel it happen. As far as deaths go, it's about as easy as it gets.
  
  on the bonus side takes Trump, Elon, Nigel and Tate with it.
- Exactly. Same energy as worrying about Earth being hit by a gamma ray burst - 🤷‍♂️
- I would be very glad if it was something only destructive to humans, and not the planet(s ecosystems).
  
  The dowvotes signal a trend against misanthropy, which is the only logical conclusion.
  Let me test this theory: We are a virus. An STD that is always lethal and should be eradicated for the planet's good.
  But also let me quote Dostoyevsky to end my point positively:
  “I have seen the truth; I have seen and I know that people can be beautiful and happy. ... I will not and cannot believe that evil is the normal condition of mankind.”
  
  Not all humans are bad and destructive, nor is the collective human race universally destructive. We have saved species from extinction and made great strides to protect ecosystems. Don't damn the lot of us for the crimes of the worst of us.

Wikipedia:
"threat
If our universe is in a false vacuum state rather than a true vacuum state, then the decay from the less stable false vacuum to the more stable true vacuum (called false vacuum decay) could have dramatic consequences.[5][6] The effects could range from complete cessation of existing fundamental forces, elementary particles and structures comprising them, to subtle change in some cosmological parameters, mostly depending on the potential difference between true and false vacuum. Some false vacuum decay scenarios are compatible with the survival of structures like galaxies, stars,[7][8] and even biological life,[9] while others involve the full destruction of baryonic matter[10] or even immediate gravitational collapse of the universe.[11] In this more extreme case, the likelihood of a "bubble" forming is very low (i.e. false vacuum decay may be impossible).[12] "
Also, of course there's a Kurzesagt
- Does this mean the laws of physics could just... Change?
  Hoping for the scenario that means FTL travel is possible and nothing else changes lol
  
  Irl physics patch is crazy
  
  yup. though if the laws of physics change then that also means the laws of physics holding your atoms together are gonna be blended up into a soup at the very least
  
  That seems wildly improbable. What are you going to push off of to get you to speeds faster than light? There could be gimmicky ways like expanding / contracting space, but thats not moving faster than light, thats space changing faster than light. Changing cosmic topology to allow stable wormholes could possibly do something similar, but that could just as easily mean that you and all other matter exist in the exact same location. That would be... not fun
- maybe you couldn't survive it but I'm built different
- I'm going to file this under the category of philosophy similar to "what if we're living in a simulation?" and "parallel universe" theory. As far as I'm aware we have no evidence that there's even such thing as a false vacuum, so this is all just speculation based on some theories.
  
  Yeah, if you need existential dread, a gamma-ray burst could end us in an instant too and they're confirmed to exist and much more likely.
- Well, that sucks.
- "We like to destroy the universe at least every couple of months."

How you know the Wikipedia article is good
- didnt need the wikipedia page. soon as I read a couple pop sci articles on this I was like "welp this shit sounds dangerous it was nice to know you all"
  
  I'm about as worried about this as I am about galaxy eating monsters. Not at all, really.
  I'm more bothered by our apparently non-existent ability to detect and divert asteroids. More than that, I'm terrified of our habit of using global cataclysm as a strategic threat. But at the same time I feel like a species that acts like this probably should end themselves like that. Russian civilians consent to nuclear apocalypse.
  So yeah, not very bothered by idea of false vacuum.

Luckily, this is the epitome of that Epicurus quote:
Why should I fear death? If I am, then death is not. If Death is, then I am not. Why should I fear that which can only exist when I do not?
- It's not the death I'm worried about. I just don't want to suffer leading up to it or put my family through some long drawn out ordeal watching me die.
  
  Well good news, false vacuum decay would kill everyone on Earth instantly with no warning
- You know how when you get put under for anaesthesia, and you don't notice the time you were gone? It's like a cut in the tape of life.
  What if death is like that, and BAM your consciousness re-emerges billions of years in the future the moment you die.
  But your consciousness is alone. And in pitch black nothingness. Forever.
  
  This is what I think happens. You don't experience death, you just reemerge on the other side, no matter how long it takes.
  The chances of your brain being created were infinitely small before you were born, but it still only took 14 billion years for it to happen.
  
  Entropy would end up taking your consciousness as well, so I doubt you'd be there, 14.3 billions years later, forever.
- Well, maybe it's because we mostly fear the WAY towards death, not the end of being a thing that is. Unless we get hit by a moving train...
- Why should I fear death? If I am, then death is not. If Death is, then I am not
  Death will be, so we will cease to be. Sounds like he is was whistling past the graveyard with that quote...
  
  And when you do, you no longer have to worry about it. In fact, you can't.

Subatomically dispersed at the speed of light is probably the best way to go. And no one would be left to mourn you.
- Beam be everywhere, Scotty!
- ♫♪♫ And we will all go together when we go ♫♪♫

Gamma Ray Burst
Sleep tight
- I'd much prefer death by a solar system wide tsunami of highly energetic particles then the slow, agonizing death march we're currently doing.
  
  I was gonna say it might be worse if you're on the opposite side of the planet that gets hit but I'll give you that one.
- Never trust a gamma ray burst

If our particular bubble of the universe has remained unmolested for 13.8 billion years, it is safe to assume it will continue to be for the next 1000 years.
- that's what the vacuum aliens WANT you to think
- Also it's not like assuming it will collapse in the next decade will make any difference other than having a harder time enjoying the time before then.
- i don't know quantum mechanics or much about particles. I watched a video on False vacuum decay, and it says if higgs change state it might change the laws of physics
  So can't it be that the universe had change of states of other particles maybe in past (billions year before life) that changed the laws of physics and so on.
- Until we build a particle accelerator that does something novel that even the rest of the universe never managed to do

I believe that it is possible that false vacuum decay has already begun, but so far away that it might not ever reach us.

Climate change.
- Every day, when I see or hear someone driving a gas vehicle. So like, all the time.
- Uh yeah, I sure hope it doesn't

Obligatory mention of the novel [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schild%27s_Ladder](Schild's Ladder) by Greg Egan.
Such a scenario would be interesting indeed.
- His books are always at least a little mind-bending
  
  He is exceptional at writing hard sci-fi that unnerves you.
  I'm moderately certain, whichever future timeline we move to, there will be aspects of Egan's works.
  Modern day Jules Verne, recommended to read at least one book of his.

Metastable equilibria.

Prions

Stop reading my mind!

welp this parallel universe goes down the drain too

Sounds like a great reason not to bother worrying about it to me.

77 comments