So, it’s not 42?

The more we learn about the universe, the more we discover just how diverse all its planets, stars, nebulae and unexplained chunks of matter really are. So what is all this matter doing in our universe, other than just floating in space?

Well, it just so happens that there is a theory that gives a kind of raison d’etre to our universe and all the objects flying through it. If true, it would mean that our universe is nothing more than a black hole generator, or a means to produce as many baby universes as possible. To learn more, we spoke to the man who came up with the idea.

It’s called the theory of Cosmological Natural Selection and it was conjured by Lee Smolin, a researcher at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics and and an adjunct professor of physics at the University of Waterloo.



  1. Dallas says:

    Yes, I concur with the findings and hypotheses.

  2. bob dobbs says:

    “The two most common elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity.” -Harlan Ellison

  3. orchidcup says:

    As the circle of knowledge expands, so does the Sphere of darkness that encompasses it.

    — Albert Einstein (1879-1955) Physicist and Professor, Nobel Prize 1921

  4. bobbo, the pragmatic existential evangelical anti-theist says:

    One should not confuse poetry with science, musings with an actual theory.

    There is no “reason” for the Universe. It just is, whatever it is. Free will makes it so. Even as limited as our free will is, nonetheless, it makes purpose at best only a metaphor.

    Yea, verily.

  5. god says:

    So, no one here reads Smolin, anyway. They graze Google for scraps.

  6. deowll says:

    I believe that it approximates certainty that none of the people posting to this blog have anything meaningful to say about the hypothesis including me.

  7. The Monster's Lawyer says:

    If we were not here to contemplate the universe and the universe existed, would it matter?

  8. So what says:

    Why does the universe need a reason?

    • Captain Obvious says:

      Uncle Dave: “Why is the universe here?”

      So what: “Where else would it be?”

  9. Glenn E. says:

    “Cosmological Natural Selection”? Poppycock. Ever since Darwinist branches of the natural sciences started getting more money than the astrophysical branches. The “star gazers” have been determined to tag their models and hypotheses with the “Natural Selection” badge. Kind of like how so many research proposals get guaranteed grant funding, if they add “Global Warming” or “Climate Change” to their titles. And so Cosmology has been pursuing the evolutionary model, of how things grow in space. Whether they be stars, galaxies, and now universes.

    Of course, the FACT that there is no way to test any of this speculation’s validity, doesn’t seem to discourage them from making a living at it. And just like that seeming endless pursuit of subatomic particles, in high energy (and high dollar) physics. Nothing of any practical value is ever likely to come from this “research”. It WILL, only put food on the table of those doing it.

    So basically, our tax dollars are subsidizing various scientists, who might otherwise resort to designing dirty bombs for terrorists. But our government doesn’t reveal that to us, anymore. They only wish the drone target the “religious” fanatic terrorists. Not the scientific terrorists. They might prove useful, to our own military. Just as the WW2 German rocket scientists once did. Never mine that they probably were Nazis.

  10. UncDon says:

    The reason for the universe is so that bored inter-dimensional beings have something to do with their free time, like make inferior evolved primates build giant gold-and-jewel encrusted buildings venerating the inter-dimensional beings and their superior evolved existence.

  11. Uncle Patso says:

    In quantum physics certain processes and reactions occur as probability waves which only collapse to a single particle/interaction when observed.

    What I wonder is whether anyone has done experiments which detail just how much intelligence/awareness is required to collapse the wave? I’m not sure how such experiments would work — show bubble chamber interactions to a chimp? Could a flock of chickens collapse a wave? An amoeba?

  12. Uncle Patso says:

    I’ve also wondered why, during the Big Bang, didn’t the entire hot dense universe didn’t collapse into a black hole.

    • Dallas says:

      What makes you think that is not what is going to happen?

      We are still in the “during” part of the big bang.

  13. Lymphnode says:

    This is seriously old news

  14. Na Asin Ennaah says:

    I’ve been working on a theory that I believe supports every observation and resolves unexplained phenomona, and puzzlingly, I can not find anything related to my theory on the Web. I would wish to devulge it, but am a little hestant. While it is primarily simple, it is also shocking. I thought to say that of my theory, that you’re not going to like it, and then quickly realized that sounds exactly like the line in the Hitchhikers movie. At any rate, if I don’t reveal what I’ve discovered, I’m sure it will be discovered eventually by those whom profession, and feeling that is only right that it be they, to do so. So, not today; not from me. I’m sorry. It’s awesome though. The science community is very close, yet I worry it will slip by them if they…. Hint: See the Universe inverse, and realize what is really moving and what is not. Good luck.


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