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After watching the James Webb telescope launch the other day, I had a revelation that came to me as a bright white light. It came from the heavens.
The experts say the Universe is 13.8 billion years old. Yet many believe the Universe may have the potential to last for an infinite amount of time. Given that, probability would suggest to get the best estimate of the average age of something, you would choose the half way point, which would be the items age divided by 2. Let me give an example.
A human lifespan in the UK averages out to about 80. So, to get the best estimate of a human age, the most accurate prediction with the minimum error, given no other information, would be 80/2, or 40. If you were placing bets, and you said someone was 20, with no other information, and I said 40, I am more likely to be closer to the true age than you are, since more of the population would be closer to my estimate. Make sense?
The same applies with the Universe. But in this case, the potential age of the Universe is unending, so infinity/2 is still infinity. Accordingly, the most likely age of the Universe is inifinity, with infinite confidence. Therefore, the maths would suggest that to say it was 13.8 billion years old would be infinitely improbable. Or, in laymans terms, 100% wrong!
Your thoughts?
The experts say the Universe is 13.8 billion years old. Yet many believe the Universe may have the potential to last for an infinite amount of time. Given that, probability would suggest to get the best estimate of the average age of something, you would choose the half way point, which would be the items age divided by 2. Let me give an example.
A human lifespan in the UK averages out to about 80. So, to get the best estimate of a human age, the most accurate prediction with the minimum error, given no other information, would be 80/2, or 40. If you were placing bets, and you said someone was 20, with no other information, and I said 40, I am more likely to be closer to the true age than you are, since more of the population would be closer to my estimate. Make sense?
The same applies with the Universe. But in this case, the potential age of the Universe is unending, so infinity/2 is still infinity. Accordingly, the most likely age of the Universe is inifinity, with infinite confidence. Therefore, the maths would suggest that to say it was 13.8 billion years old would be infinitely improbable. Or, in laymans terms, 100% wrong!
Your thoughts?
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