Does the Universe Exist if We're Not Looking?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion explores the philosophical question of whether the universe exists independently of observation, focusing on the implications of observation on existence and reality. Participants engage with concepts related to existence, observation, and the nature of the universe.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Exploratory

Main Points Raised

  • One participant questions if the universe exists solely because they are observing it, suggesting that without an observer, it may not exist as a defined entity.
  • Another participant asserts that their existence is independent of observation, implying that the universe exists regardless of whether it is being looked at.
  • Some participants propose that if the universe were not observed, it might not contain any defined objects or events, existing instead as undefined masses.
  • There is a challenge to the idea that the universe would care about observation, with a participant arguing that it existed before any observers and questioning the nature of existence without discernible entities.
  • One participant mentions the behavior of electrons as particles when observed and waves when not, suggesting that observation can influence reality, but questions if this applies to the universe as a whole.
  • A later reply humorously references the idea of being unseen, indicating a playful engagement with the topic.
  • Another participant notes a shift away from philosophical discussions, indicating a boundary on the types of discourse allowed in the forum.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express multiple competing views regarding the relationship between observation and existence, with no consensus reached on whether the universe requires an observer to exist or if it exists independently.

Contextual Notes

Some arguments depend on interpretations of observation and existence, and there are unresolved philosophical implications regarding the nature of reality and the universe's definition.

!Jon Snow!
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Is the universe my own? I mean the whole of it, because I am the observer. If I was not there to observe it, would it exist at all?
 
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I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure I exist whether you are looking at me or not.
 
I guess It would exist, but not as a universe. It would not have any 'thing' in it at all, just undefined masses of undefined unknowable's.
 
!Jon Snow! said:
I guess It would exist, but not as a universe. It would not have any 'thing' in it at all, just undefined masses of undefined unknowable's.

Why? Why would the univese care whether you are looking or not? Did the universe not exist before you were born? If it did not how did you GET here?
 
phinds said:
Why? Why would the univese care whether you are looking or not? Did the universe not exist before you were born? If it did not how did you GET here?


Why would it have the ability to care or not care at all? Of course it existed before I or you were born, but without an intelligent or dumb observer, there was nobody to think of it as a universe or something well-defined at all, with discernable substructure, discernable objects, discernable events or anything. You have the ability to care, to discern, to call something by a name, to grasp and behold. Without you or anything like you, what is the universe really?
 
Yeah this is very interesting to me as well. I understand that electrons are particles when they're being observed and are waves when they're not so in that case somebody observing something can change the nature of reality. I don't think this applies to the universe as a whole though.
 
"You can't see me!" I cried as I covered my eyes.
 
Sorry, but we don't do philosophy here anymore.
 

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