5 ms·

Does anyone else ever think about some unseen space monstrosity taking us out in the blink of an eye?

evulhotdog 4y ago
Yes, and it’s absolutely terrifying. I know at that point I wouldn’t feel anything but it’s depressing to know that everything you have, and will ever know, could be destroyed in an instant.
- marton78 4y ago
  Do not despair, in all likelihood you're just a Boltzmann brain anyway.
  - sockaddr 4y ago
    But I can remember last Thursday!
- POPOSYS 4y ago
  But that is life - you will die at the end. This is not a reason to be depressive, there is a way to find freedom accepting the volatile nature of everything. Enjoy your life, do not harm anybody and do positive work.
- nsonha 4y ago
  Not sure of the math but definitely not an instant, at that scale.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - MichaelZuo 4y ago
    At 10% the speed of light, an object would traverse the distance of the diameter of the Earth in ~ 0.04 seconds. Which almost certainly would be too quick to be perceived by anyone.
brundolf 4y ago
I think (somebody correct me if I'm wrong) that all we really need is our sun, and to not be swallowed in a black hole or something. Eg. if we lost our own black hole, or a hole got punched in our galaxy (not where we are), or our solar system got slung out of the galaxy (intact)- we'd be fine, right?
- wahern 4y ago
  There are other interstellar objects like comets, asteroids, planets, and dwarf stars roaming around that could take us out at any moment, directly or indirectly. A blackhole isn't much different than any of those in terms of consequence. The same process that would fling a blackhole around can fling anything around, and in theory primordial blackholes could be as small as most of those other objects.
  - barbazoo 4y ago
    Is there a chance that there's something out there so fast that we wouldn't see it coming early enough, and big enough to significantly impact us? Like 2023 BU earlier this year that almost hit us less than a week after discovery.
    - 20after4 4y ago
      Yes it's one of the most significant existential threats to life on earth. Probably #2 after self-inflicted environmental destruction.
      - theyamo 4y ago
        Nuclear war is probably more likely.
    - wahern 4y ago
      The chance is >0, but beyond that it's just speculation--some of it very fancy, but speculation all the same. For example, for awhile there was a theory that mass extinction events were correlated to the solar system's orbit as it passed through the galactic plane. That model, which is now largely rejected (per Wikipdia), predicted periodic relative increases and decreases in event rates across time spans down to several millions of years, but pinning down hard numbers was highly suspect even then--among other reasons, our solar system has only completed a couple dozen orbits since forming. We just don't know enough to be able to say anything reliable except in broad, abstract terms with little meaning or substance. I'm squarely in the multi-planet advocacy camp, but IMNSHO if I or anyone else starts throwing around figures, conclusions, or even deductions, beware.
wahern 4y ago
Elon Musk has organized his entire business empire around that fear. (Or at least the parts of his empire that were deliberate.)
POPOSYS 4y ago
There is a much higher probability that some human monstrosity will be taking you out in the blink of an eye.
skywal_l 4y ago
It's possible but improbable. When the Andromeda galaxy and the milky collide, there will be comparatively very few actual star collisions because galaxies are mostly made of empty space. There is a much higher chance of being hit by an object that comes from our own solar system because it would have the same trajectory, speed, etc. I mean those things are following us permanently! And we know this because it already happened.

Yes, and it’s absolutely terrifying. I know at that point I wouldn’t feel anything but it’s depressing to know that everything you have, and will ever know, could be destroyed in an instant.

marton78 4y ago
Do not despair, in all likelihood you're just a Boltzmann brain anyway.
- sockaddr 4y ago
  But I can remember last Thursday!
POPOSYS 4y ago
But that is life - you will die at the end. This is not a reason to be depressive, there is a way to find freedom accepting the volatile nature of everything. Enjoy your life, do not harm anybody and do positive work.
nsonha 4y ago
Not sure of the math but definitely not an instant, at that scale.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- MichaelZuo 4y ago
  At 10% the speed of light, an object would traverse the distance of the diameter of the Earth in ~ 0.04 seconds. Which almost certainly would be too quick to be perceived by anyone.

brundolf 4y ago

I think (somebody correct me if I'm wrong) that all we really need is our sun, and to not be swallowed in a black hole or something. Eg. if we lost our own black hole, or a hole got punched in our galaxy (not where we are), or our solar system got slung out of the galaxy (intact)- we'd be fine, right?

wahern 4y ago
There are other interstellar objects like comets, asteroids, planets, and dwarf stars roaming around that could take us out at any moment, directly or indirectly. A blackhole isn't much different than any of those in terms of consequence. The same process that would fling a blackhole around can fling anything around, and in theory primordial blackholes could be as small as most of those other objects.
- barbazoo 4y ago
  Is there a chance that there's something out there so fast that we wouldn't see it coming early enough, and big enough to significantly impact us? Like 2023 BU earlier this year that almost hit us less than a week after discovery.
  - 20after4 4y ago
    Yes it's one of the most significant existential threats to life on earth. Probably #2 after self-inflicted environmental destruction.
    - theyamo 4y ago
      Nuclear war is probably more likely.
  - wahern 4y ago
    The chance is >0, but beyond that it's just speculation--some of it very fancy, but speculation all the same. For example, for awhile there was a theory that mass extinction events were correlated to the solar system's orbit as it passed through the galactic plane. That model, which is now largely rejected (per Wikipdia), predicted periodic relative increases and decreases in event rates across time spans down to several millions of years, but pinning down hard numbers was highly suspect even then--among other reasons, our solar system has only completed a couple dozen orbits since forming. We just don't know enough to be able to say anything reliable except in broad, abstract terms with little meaning or substance. I'm squarely in the multi-planet advocacy camp, but IMNSHO if I or anyone else starts throwing around figures, conclusions, or even deductions, beware.

wahern 4y ago

Elon Musk has organized his entire business empire around that fear. (Or at least the parts of his empire that were deliberate.)

POPOSYS 4y ago

There is a much higher probability that some human monstrosity will be taking you out in the blink of an eye.

skywal_l 4y ago

It's possible but improbable. When the Andromeda galaxy and the milky collide, there will be comparatively very few actual star collisions because galaxies are mostly made of empty space. There is a much higher chance of being hit by an object that comes from our own solar system because it would have the same trajectory, speed, etc. I mean those things are following us permanently! And we know this because it already happened.