What is the scariest scientific concept?

[Molydood]

Something that always freaks me out is the idea that time has no end, every time I think about it I get properly wierded out.
Recently I started trying to get my head around the start of time, either there being one or not being one, and that's almost as bad.

The qustion is, are there any scientific concepts/topics that freak you out? What about trying to think about the boundaries of the universe? etc

 

[Borek]

Human being descendants of apes?

Not that it freaks ME out, but for sure the idea is a pain for many.

 

[Wallace]

The fact that increasing knowledge only ever increases the number of things we are aware of that we don't know. It freaks me out that there are so many things we know of (like the constants of nature) whose explanations may be eternally beyond our reach.

 

[Lacy33]

Infinity, zero, nothingness.

 

[Dadface]

E=mc squared
It doesn't freak me out but I know its scarey for many people.

 

[Dadface]

Human being descendants of apes?

Not that it freaks ME out, but for sure the idea is a pain for many.

What freaks me out is that I'm rapidly evolving in the opposite direction.

 

[Borek]

That is, you devolve?

 

[Andre]

The evidence construction of preconceptual science

http://www.junkscience.com/images/nq050606.gif

 

[Monique]

That were all destined to decompose.

 

[Blenton]

That 13.7 billion years of particle physics has boiled down to this thread.

 

[leroyjenkens]

Recently I started trying to get my head around the start of time, either there being one or not being one, and that's almost as bad.

I think there has to be a beginning of time. If time has always existed infinitely in the past, the time would still be going in that infinity before us and we'd never reach this point in time where we exist.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

The idea that at some point I will simply cease to be. When I was little I laid in bed one night thinking about what it would be like to die and freaked out. I ran out of my room crying and telling my mom that I didn't want to die. Probably freaked her out. My grandmother then decided to tell me about the afterlife and such mumbo jumbo. Not much of a comfort there.

So pretty much anything that reminds me of my finite existence. Other than that its all just interesting ideas to ponder.

 

[Oerg]

The idea that at some point I will simply cease to be. When I was little I laid in bed one night thinking about what it would be like to die and freaked out. I ran out of my room crying and telling my mom that I didn't want to die. Probably freaked her out. My grandmother then decided to tell me about the afterlife and such mumbo jumbo. Not much of a comfort there.

So pretty much anything that reminds me of my finite existence. Other than that its all just interesting ideas to ponder.

hey, I used to think about this too! It was a pretty scary thought for a kid. Sometimes when my mind wanders for long enough I occasionally remember my finite existence and it would give me the shudders.

 

[qspeechc]

Yea, the thought that, one moment you are a thinking, feeling, conscious life-form, and the next... nothing. No after life, no nothin'.

But the scariest scientific idea must be the atomic bomb, I mean, come on...

 

[Pattonias]

The idea that at some point I will simply cease to be. When I was little I laid in bed one night thinking about what it would be like to die and freaked out. I ran out of my room crying and telling my mom that I didn't want to die. Probably freaked her out. My grandmother then decided to tell me about the afterlife and such mumbo jumbo. Not much of a comfort there.

So pretty much anything that reminds me of my finite existence. Other than that its all just interesting ideas to ponder.

Wow, I had the exact same experience when I was about five or six. I ran to my grandmother crying that I didn't want to die. It gave me a great deal of comfort when she told me that she was not worried about dieing, and that I shouldn't worry about it either.

Grandmas (Nanas) are awesome.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

Wow, I had the exact same experience when I was about five or six. I ran to my grandmother crying that I didn't want to die. It gave me a great deal of comfort when she told me that she was not worried about dieing, and that I shouldn't worry about it either.

Grandmas (Nanas) are awesome.

Interesting. I believe I was about that age aswell. I wonder if there are any studies on the age that people begin to be aware of their mortality.

 

[B. Elliott]

Funny, I can't remember the exact age, but I also had a very similar experience. I must have been around five because of what I remember about my surroundings. What must have seemed to come out of nowhere (I was a quiet child) I one day randomly told my mother that I don't want to die. She looked at me with a strange look on her face and asked why I was thinking of such a thing. I had no clue. All I know is that at the time it was the most weighty, epic thought I ever had, and it scared the hell out of me.

 

[magpies]

AI taking over the world and grinding people up to feed to other people in the matrix.

 

[ideasrule]

Strange, I don't remember being afraid that I was going to die. Maybe I never thought about it; maybe I got used to the idea that everything has to die and had no reason to think I was exceptional. Still, I do think death is a scary concept: death of Earth, of the Sun, of the universe, etc. make me wonder why time is such a killer.

 

[Evo]

Hmmm, I remember thinking about dying and found the idea that you would just blink out of existence, be nothing, no thoughts, no memories, just nothing, to be comforting.

 

[lisab]

I still get an uncomfortable feeling, when I think about death. I'm atheist, so I believe this is it...period. I have to live the best life I can, because I only get this one shot.

Tick, tick, tick...time is passing. Wow.

 

[turbo]

For those who were brought up Roman Catholic or similar, you may recognize the gut-sinking feeling when you realize that you might have been lied to all the time, and that your existence is not pre-ordained nor controlled by your belief system. Shortly after, you should be able to extend such feelings to ALL belief systems. Not a great thing to confront when you are 12 or so, with no support system.

 

[rootX]

I remember getting scared about dying around 6-10. I would get even more scared about losing my parents.

Now, I don't care about dying as far I keep on pursuing my dreams until the very end which are obviously more important now than the life/(health :shy:). But then, I don't have any belongings or close relationships.

 

[Sorry!]

I don't ever recall being afraid of death. As far back as I can remember I've always been ok with dying and that was it no more life to me.

Any scientific concept that's used to devlop ways of hurting humans I'm scared of... Science is a really powerful tool and the methods it develops to cause injury/death will be the best possible (which IMO is extremely bad).

 

[Borek]

I think most people are not scared of being dead, they are scared of dying. Especially with all miracles of the medicine, allowing to make this process as long as you wish.

I was less than 10 then, and on this particular day school didn't start at 8 a.m. (my English fails me - no idea how to word it properly, my first lesson on that day was on third or fourth lesson? Period?) My dad was also at home, working at the university had its perks. I remember I jumped into my parents bed (now it would be inappropriate, incorrect, whatever) and we had a long talk. No idea why we drifted to dying, but he told me we will all die eventually - and I started to cry. I was so devastated I had to pass school on that day.

 

[slider142]

Dying and of course the inescapable heat death.

 

[Monique]

The most fascinating concept for me has been that there will one day be only a single human being left in this world. I've always dreamt about a post-apocalyptic world and wondered what it would be like to wander through cities that don't have a soul in them (something like the movies 28 days later, or I am legend). It's one of the reasons why I could enjoy living in Detroit, while other people would probably only feel misery.

 

[Sorry!]

The most fascinating concept for me has been that there will one day be only a single human being left in this world. I've always dreamt about a post-apocalyptic world and wondered what it would be like to wander through cities that don't have a soul in them (something like the movies 28 days later, or I am legend). It's one of the reasons why I could enjoy living in Detroit, while other people would probably only feel misery.

I've always wondered about this too lol. It actually seems to be pretty interesting as long as it's not from some sort of radiation that will make me sick :P.

There's a game called Fallout 3 for PS3, you should play it.

 

[Molydood]

The most fascinating concept for me has been that there will one day be only a single human being left in this world. I've always dreamt about a post-apocalyptic world and wondered what it would be like to wander through cities that don't have a soul in them (something like the movies 28 days later, or I am legend). It's one of the reasons why I could enjoy living in Detroit, while other people would probably only feel misery.

There is only one left, we are all holograms, did nobody tell you?

:-)

 

[Jobrag]

The scariest concept for me is the idea that sooner or later the human race will cease to exist, I don't really mind that the scientific progress that we've made will go, other species will be able to repeat them, but the idea that all art that humans have ever made will disappear makes me very sad. One day Handel's Messiah will have gone forever think about it for a minute and then pour yourself a large drink to get over the moment.

 

[Kronos5253]

I never bothered worrying about death. It's inevitable. I don't really get sad over death, or the passing of loved ones either. I learned to celebrate life, not mourn death. It's going to happen no matter what, whenever possible, so why worry about it? Rather, celebrate the life that was lived. That's not to say you can't shed tears over the loss of a loved one, but then I don't believe that when we die that's it. I believe in an "afterlife" for lack of a better word, but not in the sense that most other people think of it.

Anyways, to the OP:

The human potential, because I believe that we don't know when to stop, and by the time we do, it's too late.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

Final exams.

 

[chemisttree]

That the entire universe could very likely be a hologram. Oh, and the dyin' thing too.

 

[lawtonfogle]

Funny, I can't remember the exact age, but I also had a very similar experience. I must have been around five because of what I remember about my surroundings. What must have seemed to come out of nowhere (I was a quiet child) I one day randomly told my mother that I don't want to die. She looked at me with a strange look on her face and asked why I was thinking of such a thing. I had no clue. All I know is that at the time it was the most weighty, epic thought I ever had, and it scared the hell out of me.

For me it was a bit more of a rude awakening. I was young, probably 5 but I'm not sure. My parents were watching a WWII film, and it was focusing on the Nazi invasion of some place at one point. I happened to start watching it (my parents may not have noticed or didn't think I knew what was going on), and before long there was a scene where a Nazi kills one woman holding her child. You hear the shot, the mother falling, and the baby screaming. A few moments later, you hear another shot and then completely silence. Not only was that the first time I comprehended death, it was the first time I ever felt rage and a desire to kill someone else. The way I acted after that happened worried my mother that the scene permanently damaged me... she was probably right.

As to the topic of this thread... that no where I have ever seen does science allow for free will. Either things are predetermined, or they are chaotic. Either way, no free will, only an illusion of it at best.

 

[Sorry!]

For me it was a bit more of a rude awakening. I was young, probably 5 but I'm not sure. My parents were watching a WWII film, and it was focusing on the Nazi invasion of some place at one point. I happened to start watching it (my parents may not have noticed or didn't think I knew what was going on), and before long there was a scene where a Nazi kills one woman holding her child. You hear the shot, the mother falling, and the baby screaming. A few moments later, you hear another shot and then completely silence. Not only was that the first time I comprehended death, it was the first time I ever felt rage and a desire to kill someone else. The way I acted after that happened worried my mother that the scene permanently damaged me... she was probably right.

As to the topic of this thread... that no where I have ever seen does science allow for free will. Either things are predetermined, or they are chaotic. Either way, no free will, only an illusion of it at best.

Sciences on a grand scale are pretty determinate... i.e. if you throw a ball we know where it will go and how fast along every point it is travelling. On a microscale it's not like that at all... to my knowledge at least. I think sciences of the brain/mind will have to be done on the microscale and I don't think we've even started climbing up that mountain just yet... (maybe we're at altitude 2m on a 5000 m mountain lol :D )

 

[Monique]

Either way, no free will, only an illusion of it at best.

I don't agree, the mind is very powerful.

 

[f95toli]

topics that freak you out? What about trying to think about the boundaries of the universe? etc

Yes, some results from experimental psychology on "human nature". For example Milgram's "torture experiment" or one of its variations, or perhaps the more famous (albeit perhaps scientifically less sound) Stanford prison experiment.

Physics does not "freak me out" anymore, I guess it is simply because I am used to "weird" concepts in QM etc by now, having worked with them for a few years,
But the results of Milgram's experiment is actually scares, even though I am quite cynical when it comes to humanity.
They actually reproduced the original experiment in a recent BBC documentary and it is one of the most unsettling things I've ever seen on TV.

 

[Monique]

Yes, some results from experimental psychology on "human nature".

That's actually the first thing that came to my mind, people like Mengele. Something that truly scared me recently was this wikipedia entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unnecessary_Fuss" . I know animal research is important, but the thought of deliberately inflicting brain damage to baboons and laughing about it really made me sick.

 

[Redbelly98]

Something that always freaks me out is the idea that time has no end, every time I think about it I get properly wierded out.

If we believed that time itself had an end, that would bother me more.

A few somewhat related things that are weird to me, but only if I spend too much time thinking about them:

We have a small number of stable subatomic particles. The positively and negatively charged ones are so utterly different in their properties, and that somehow allows them to combine to form a variety of elements from which stars, planets, and life can be formed. (For example if protons and electrons had roughly the same mass, would there be large atoms? If so, would it be as easy to ionize them as it is the ones we actually have?)

Our solar system had to come along later than others, so that it could contain heavier elements (that formed from fusion of H and He in earlier stars) from which life can be formed.

Our planet's orbit is located within a narrow range, so that water can exist in a liquid state and life (as we know it) can form.

 

[Loren Booda]

Lying in bed as a young child, I used to see "atoms" in the dark. Apparently one was alive and would chase me through my nightmares, until it grabbed my neck and I whited out, hopefully to wake up.

Years later, I realized its humility by recognizing that it was now merely insect scat.

 

[f95toli]

That's actually the first thing that came to my mind, people like Mengele.

Well, yes. But we can quite safely regard Mengele and other famous "monsters" as anomalies. The reason why I find Milgram's experiment so unsettling is that it shows that most of us (something like 70-80% according to these experiments) are capable of doing things that we would normally regards as horrible, the only thing needed is that someone who we regard as an authority figure tells us to do it. Note that we are talking about "normal" people, not e.g. people who've had some sort of traumatic experience or have some sort of psychiatric disorder. It seems to be that way our brains work.
Moreover, there doesn't seem to be a clear patter for who are able "resist" this influence meaning none of us can say for sure that we would never do these thing.

It is also entirely possible that if the test subjects were all members of this forum the percentage that would "go all the way" would be even higher than the average, the reason being that the rationale for the "shock therapy" given by Milgram was that it was suppose to help science, meaning people who think science is important (member of this forum) might be more inclined to go along with it.

 

[leroyjenkens]

Well, yes. But we can quite safely regard Mengele and other famous "monsters" as anomalies. The reason why I find Milgram's experiment so unsettling is that it shows that most of us (something like 70-80% according to these experiments) are capable of doing things that we would normally regards as horrible, the only thing needed is that someone who we regard as an authority figure tells us to do it. Note that we are talking about "normal" people, not e.g. people who've had some sort of traumatic experience or have some sort of psychiatric disorder. It seems to be that way our brains work.
Moreover, there doesn't seem to be a clear patter for who are able "resist" this influence meaning none of us can say for sure that we would never do these thing.

I think that results of that experiment would vary greatly depending on where and what era you do the experiment in. You can't conclude all people are like that just from one experiment.

 

[DaveC426913]

Lying in bed as a young child, I used to see "atoms" in the dark. Apparently one was alive and would chase me through my nightmares, until it grabbed my neck and I whited out, hopefully to wake up.

Years later, I realized its humility by recognizing that it was now merely insect scat.

The "atoms" your were seeing were insect scat?

What? Floating around above your bed??

 

[Sorry!]

Lying in bed as a young child, I used to see "atoms" in the dark. Apparently one was alive and would chase me through my nightmares, until it grabbed my neck and I whited out, hopefully to wake up.

Years later, I realized its humility by recognizing that it was now merely insect scat.

I'm trying to think of something funny to say here but I can't do it. Man you said insect scat was floating around your head and I can't think of anything funny what's wrong with me today. :(

 

[Pattonias]

This isn't related, but one night when I had a fever I was lying in bed and as clear as day, with my bed lamp on, thought I saw myself walk into the middle of the room with a huge ruck sack in his/my back. He/I turned and stared at me while I was looking right back at him/myself.

He stayed after I blinked and spoke. I think I blacked out but the next morning I woke up and everything was normal. A friend later told me that I had "waking dream". I had always thought that was something for movies, but apparently you can have a dream that is so convincing that you actually have no idea that you are asleep as is the case in most dreams.

That was probably one of the scariest moments I have ever experienced. I still remember it vividly to this day. I imagine a psychologist would have a field day with the contents of the dream.

 

[DaveC426913]

This isn't related, but one night when I had a fever I was lying in bed and as clear as day, with my bed lamp on, thought I saw myself walk into the middle of the room with a huge ruck sack in his/my back. He/I turned and stared at me while I was looking right back at him/myself.

He stayed after I blinked and spoke. I think I blacked out but the next morning I woke up and everything was normal. A friend later told me that I had "waking dream". I had always thought that was something for movies, but apparently you can have a dream that is so convincing that you actually have no idea that you are asleep as is the case in most dreams.

That was probably one of the scariest moments I have ever experienced. I still remember it vividly to this day. I imagine a psychologist would have a field day with the contents of the dream.

That is a hallucination, brought on by fever.

 

[Loren Booda]

I'm trying to think of something funny to say here but I can't do it. Man you said insect scat was floating around your head and I can't think of anything funny what's wrong with me today. :(

Actually, the "atoms" were my retinal rods firing from photons in the near-dark, the one that chased me during my early years might be described as a very threatening "black hole" (or was derived from a stay in a cabin with scary knotholes) and the eventual change of its image into insect scat (while dreaming, now under control in my hand, yuck, but just that of an insect) made it more ridiculous than dangerous.

 

[DanP]

The qustion is, are there any scientific concepts/topics that freak you out? What about trying to think about the boundaries of the universe? etc

Gravitation.

 

[Pattonias]

That is a hallucination, brought on by fever.

Yep, one of the many things that make high fevers so much fun.

 

[Molydood]

Thanks for all the comments :-)
I am quite surprised there were not more about time and also maybe other things like particle duality (or more generally the quantum world) or the vastness of space or, or, or...
:-)