DiscoverBig ThinkOur universe keeps expanding. But why? | Lee Cronin
Our universe keeps expanding. But why? | Lee Cronin

Our universe keeps expanding. But why? | Lee Cronin

Update: 2025-09-12
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**🌌 What If the Universe Expands Because of… Selection?**


Sounds wild? It is. But maybe it’s not nonsense.


Let’s dive into this provocative idea — that **life, selection, and novelty** might be *fueling* the Universe’s expansion.


### 🌀 The Setup: A Universe in Motion


The Universe, as far as we can tell, has been **expanding** ever since the Big Bang.


Not just drifting outward — **accelerating**.


But **why** is it expanding faster?


And what’s it expanding *into*?


(Trick question — probably *nothing*. There’s no “outside” to space-time.)


### âť“ A Bigger Question: What If Selection Drives Expansion?


Now for the bold idea:


> **Could the Universe be expanding because of selection?**


Not natural selection in the Darwinian sense, but a **broader concept**:


- Wherever **matter interacts**,


- Wherever **patterns emerge**,


- Wherever **choices are made**,


there’s **selection** — and selection may be the engine of **novelty**.


### 🧠 Here’s the Thought Experiment:


1. **Big Bang** happens → universe starts expanding.


2. **Complexity arises** — atoms, molecules, stars, life.


3. **Life generates novelty**, explores possibilities, selects paths.


4. **Selection** becomes embedded in physical processes.


5. That selection might be **linked to the flow of time** — and maybe even **fuels the expansion**.


Think of it as:


> **The more selection, the more expansion.**


Wherever *stuff* interacts and selects — from particles to consciousness —


**space inflates** to accommodate complexity.


### 🔄 But What Even *Is* Time?


Time, in this view, isn’t just a backdrop — it’s **active**, driven by **irreversible change**, the one-way arrow of causality.


And if time is real — and not reversible — then maybe **selection through matter** is what keeps the clock ticking.


And keeps the cosmos stretching.


### 🔬 Is It Testable?


No, not yet. Maybe not ever.


But maybe we’ve been asking the wrong questions.


Instead of:


> “What force is driving expansion?”


Try asking:


> “What role does *novelty* play in the evolution of the cosmos?”


### 🧬 Life as Localized Selection


If selection per unit volume = life,


then maybe **life isn’t separate from the cosmos** — it’s just **one expression of the Universe’s selection process**.


That means:


- Even if no humans exist,


- Even if no Earth exists,


- **Wherever there’s interaction, there’s selection.**


And **where there’s selection… the Universe expands**.


### 🤯 Final Thought


This isn’t settled science. It might even be nonsense.


But **isn’t it thrilling** to wonder if your thoughts, your choices, your very existence


are *not just observers of the cosmos* —


but **contributors to its expansion**?


> What if we’re not just in the Universe…


> **What if we’re part of what keeps it growing?**


Folllow this Podcast for daily Episodes



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Our universe keeps expanding. But why? | Lee Cronin

Our universe keeps expanding. But why? | Lee Cronin

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