bilglik 6

330 Bilgilik
But that is not to say that just because the universe is infinite, there are not a finite number
of things in it.
That may sound a little counterintuitive but let me show you what I mean. Believe it or
not, there are different kinds of infinity when it comes to our universe.
Three possible scenarios could be true: a flat universe, a spherical one, or a hyperbolic
universe. Allow me to explain. In a flat universe, if we were to form a grid to broadly
represent reality, everything would
seem fairly standard. All the lines would either be parallel to each other, or perpendicular.
An infinite universe of this variety would simply extend outwards in all directions forever
and ever. This is a little boring, so I won’t spend too much time on it.
However, this is a lot like what we perceive the universe to be. For the most part, all lines
of direction appear straight to us.
We can distinctly see the planets and stars around us, and we notice no real curving or
warping. However, this is not the only way that the lines can be drawn.
Consider for a moment a black hole. You may immediately notice the strange rings that
appear to run around its equator, as
well as across the top of it and along the bottom. This is something of an illusion. There
are no rings across the top or bottom of this black hole.
What you are seeing is the equatorial ring that’s on the other side of the black hole.
However, due to the powerful gravity of the black hole, the light that is hitting it is
not bouncing off upwards or downwards into space. Instead, the rays are curving towards
us, as the black hole’s gravity pulls them in.
You are seeing the top and the bottom of that ring at the same time. Light being bent by
gravity…
what do I mean by that? Actually, this is an excellent example of our second kind of
universe.
In a flat universe, all the lines that make up reality are fairly straight. But what if we were
to come up with a rule – all the lines must instead curve towards
each other? There is only one way such a universe could be drawn, and that is in a sphere.