Chapter 10 - The End of Everything

Have you ever wondered how the universe was going to end, or is it even going to end?

There have been many discussions about what the end of the universe will be like. Most ancient mythologies suggest that the universe will end in a chaotic fire, where everything is burned. A different theory suggests that instead of the universe expanding, it will do the opposite and every galaxy will crash into each other in the middle of the universe destroying everything. It is now generally accepted that the universe will continue expanding until the density of energy decreases to tiny amounts. Then, matter will have no energy to move and so the heat will drop to absolute zero killing all life forms and in the end destroying the universe.

Interestingly, it is still debated whether or not intelligent life can survive the end of the universe. If the universe does freeze to below the freezing point of water, humans must abandon their frail mortal bodies in order to survive. We can either transfer our consciousness to machines or, we can become pure consciousness. This seems quite unusual to me, considering life as we know it requires a human body and a consciousness, but in the future, will it be possible to abandon the human body and just become pure consciousness? And if we can become body-less minds, is that going to be enough to either find a new universe, or at least exist until another universe that can harbour life springs into existence?

Surprisingly, physicists hypothesize that these “creatures” can exist and will be able to think. The main difference is that there will be little energy to think and so processing thoughts will take a long time. So the time it takes to think of something may take billions of years. Even though this seems like a long time, it’s all subjective. A million years with these conditions will be like a second in the warm conditions of our environment. So, since these “creatures” should be able to exist for billions of years, they may regularly see new universes budding into life.

I am wondering, how do you think the universe will end, or how would you like the universe to end? Do you think that then end will be anytime soon, or do you think that the universe still has billions of years and so the inhabitants of Earth do not even need to worry about its affects on us? Personally, I think that the universe freezing to death makes the most sense. The universe is expanding at an accelerated rate and shows no signs of stopping. In billions of years, it is very possible for the universe to freeze. I sometimes wonder though, when the universe will end. I know that the end is not actually predictable and can happen anytime. To me, the universe can end any second.