I want to destroy the universe, but with no
ill thought in mind. I just want to see what would happen.
I'm not really concerned about all the new-bourns that wouldn’t have a choice, or the kids in Somalia that are dying from horrendous diseases. If you twisted this act a certain way, cocked your head, and bent over a little this would seem like the greatest act of philanthropy ever. Curing humanity of the "human condition".
I am fairly carefree about the politicians, and the communists running about trying to earn their bread -- it would seem like just another day to them. Businesses would flourish for one last day, stock markets would boom for one last fateful second, people would still be plotting, and people would still be sobbing. Millions would not think much of themselves, and still even more would think too much of themselves. I just find it kind of ironic that the senseless masses would never see something like this coming. Perhaps a few enlightened individuals could have conceived a catastrophic event like this happening unexpectedly, but by and large many would be unprepared.
Destroy the universe. Several interesting questions arise when contemplating such an act. We'll just assume that I've got some device capable of doing just that, and we won't worry about the technical details. But lets think moral, sociological, and ethical problems one might face when considering destroying the universe:
“This node is marked for destruction”: Would I inform the world, and attempt to inform the universe of it's eviction or it's marked destruction date?
Well, two options here: Yes or no. If I were to inform the universe of it's certain death, would that change a thing? Would people try to stop me, or would everyone realize that there's more to life than their daily routine, their money, and material possessions. Would humanity bow at my feet for they knew I had absolute control and the ultimate deterrent for any war? Well, since neither world domination nor world peace were in mind when contriving this idea -- informing the world of its destruction wouldn't be in my best interest. As a last hatched sociological experiment, I might let the cat out of the bag. Perhaps I'd make a write-up about it on a website that’s very widely read like Everything2 or tell a few people and see how fast it makes headlines, or even if it does at all. See how disbelieving people are at the prospect of "no tomorrow".
How long would it take from beginning to end... destroying the universe that is?
Well, in my approximation, about 15 billion years. Allow me to explain. Since we have not yet discovered anything (in the 3rd dimension) that is faster than the speed of light, the rate at which one could make the universe collapse upon itself could not exceed the speed of light. The universe has classically been viewed as a sphere that has a radius of 15 billion (give or take 5 billion) light years. So in order for all 2.7E+31 cubic light years of space to be destroyed it would take about 15 billion years, assuming the collapse point were in the geometric center of the universe. 15 Billion years is just not good enough though. However, it has been noted that in higher dimensions the universe appears much smaller. If I could manage to destroy our universe from a different dimension, it might be a little more like smashing a proton, or splitting an atom, but this may only be achieved in any of the last 6 dimensions). Alternatively, the world has observed Superman exceed the speed of light as he traveled so fast that he went back in time. Note to self: Employ the services of Superman in endeavor of destroying the universe.
This kind of seems like a mass suicide. Are you nuts?
Well, nuts, not particularly. But I can't be certain. Genocide, some may cry. It's not like I would be targeting any specific race or species. The destruction would be rather indiscriminate. Men, women, dogs, even mosquitoes would be eradicated. Estonian, Russian, English, American, and Aborigines look no different in the eyes of flaming universal destruction. I'm not a bad guy; I'm just kind of curious what would happen. I don't know about you, but I'm highly curious as to what the end of the universe will look like. Well, until the Restaurant at the End of the Universe is invented, I will just have to stick with my current course of action.
What about the ethical and moral implications of this? You would be a murderer of universal proportions
Well this, too, is a very curious question. If I destroyed the universe, who would try me? Just what would that make me? A murderer, or a savior? Would I be looked down upon by God as the one that destroyed his creation, or would I be exhaulted as the ultimate answer to the human dilema? Surely if God wanted everyone to live God would interact in one of those creepy mirical ways -- lightning bolt striking me while walking down the street, 50 car pile-up whilst a leasurly stroll in the park, or even a faulty kill-switch on the ultimate destruction device that shorts out and kills it's creator. The bottom line is, if I destroyed everything in God's jurisdiction, would it really be in God's best interest to send me to hell? How long would it be before I rigged up some device that would destroy hell, making all hell break loose, or worse yet -- what if the devil employed my services to wage war on the holy army? If I destroyed hell, just where would that put me in the whole scheme of things? Perhaps someone would accidently let my soul slip through the cracks in the soul processing office and I'd be forgotton about for several epochs or until I learned my lession.
Not that any of this is truely feasable. Hell, I havn't even graduated college yet. Taking on the task of destroying the universe is a pretty big responsibility; I'd try, but I've got some circuits to study. It raises interesting
questions that beg to be answered. I'm no
satanist, and I do believe in God. I really wouldn't like to see the world go out in a blazing ball of glory (er, perhaps it
would be kind of cool to watch).
Disclaimer: I hereby state that I posess no such universal destruction device, and even if I did have in my posession that said device, I might only show it off at the science fair. I am no anarchist, and I am no satanist. These ideas are radical, for sure, but don't be offended. I'm just pondering