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Thatingles t1_j7v9ifz wrote

The chance is either zero or 100% and we don't yet know which. If there is one, finite, universe, it is simply impossible that it would happen, the odds are too great. If the universe is infinite, or if there are an infinite number of universes, the chance is 100% because that's just how infinity works (even something with a vanishingly small chance of happening will occur an infinite number of times).

No one knows which of these answers is correct.

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Kilharae t1_j7vb9lw wrote

I disagree with this. Not all infinities are the same. The Universe could be infinite, and yet, there could be infinitely more variations of you (IE not the same), as an example, than there is space to contain an exact version, even with space being infinite. Also, just because the universe is infinite, it doesn't mean any combination of particles is possible. Ultimately, we're all a function of our entire observable universe, so if there's an 'exact copy' of you living in a universe where a single star, a billion light years away has a slightly different property, and you're aware of it, then by definition, it's not an exact copy. So you'd have to look far enough for not only a copy of you, but a copy of your entire observable universe which was able to contain that copy and ultimately, I think even with infinite space, there's probably not enough room to contain an identical copy of our entire observable universe. Basically, there are infinitely more variations of our own universe possible, than the infinity of space can hold to reproduce it exactly. So I think it's infinitely more likely to see a variation than a copy.

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Thatingles t1_j7vemfo wrote

Nope. Infinity means infinity, not very large finite. All infinities contain infinite copies of you, no matter how long the odds. It's not an easy thing to think about, but there it is. What you have described is a very large finite universe, but that is precisely what infinity isn't. The difference between a very large but finite thing and an infinite thing is in itself infinite.

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Kilharae t1_j7vfhfk wrote

You should probably look into this more, because there are indeed different types of infinities, and some are larger than others. For instance, there are more numbers between 0 and 1 than there are integers going to infinity. I wasn't talking about finite space, I was talking about one infinity of variation, vs. another infinity of size. What I'm suggesting is that the infinity of variation is larger than the infinity of size. So even with infinite space, there may be infinitely more types of universes to fill that space than there is space itself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxGsU8oIWjY watch this video if you're curious to learn more.

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jaibhavaya t1_j7vixdj wrote

The difference in cardinality of infinities is certainly true, but also doesn’t change the fact that they are still infinities.

Take the example you brought up.

For ever single integer, there are an infinite amount of numbers between it and the previous integer. If you’re talking about traversing the numbers 0->1 in finite time, then of course you can find that you’ll never get to 1. However we aren’t talking about traversing universes in a finite amount of time. We’re talking about existence. The fact that I cannot traverse the numbers between 0->1 doesn’t prove the non existence of the number 2.

Thus, even if the types of infinities at play here mismatch, it doesn’t mean that elements within those infinities don’t exist. They’re infinite.

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Kilharae t1_j7vjnk6 wrote

But it doesn't mean they do exist either, if they were guaranteed to exist, then the infinities would be equal. If one infinity is infinitely larger than another, then you cannot say that the smaller infinity could contain the larger one. What I'm suggesting is that the infinite universe could be a version of this 'smaller' infinity. While the variations within each 'universe' could be considered the larger infinity. So, it's possible that the infinite universe, is not infinite enough to contain even every variation within a single universe, much less infinite copies of it.

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oswaldcopperpot t1_j7vf5cb wrote

Look at it this way. Even the same order of a deck of cards being the same would probably fill the observable universe. Adding a bit more information for even the smallest collection of molecules would start increasing the unlikely hood exponentially of having it duplicated.

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Kilharae t1_j7vgv54 wrote

I'm really not sure what you're trying to communicate here.

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