Essays

Consider for a moment what we know about the universe in which we find ourselves. Einstein showed that the speed of light appears constant to all observers. As a consequence, different observers can have different observations depending on their relative circumstances.

One of the strangest of these circumstances is that as one approaches a Black Hole the increase in gravitation causes time to slow down. In other words, in a very dense gravitational field it seems to take longer to traverse space.

Suppose one could conclude from this that the speed of light varies depending on the gravitational density that it traverses, with the speed slowing with more dense gravitation. Observers in each circumstance would measure the speed of light the same, but only because they are in the corresponding gravitational field when they make the measurement.

Experimenters showed that Einstein’s theory was correct by measuring the positions of stars when the light passes close to the sun. During an eclipse of the sun the stars in the background can be seen because the sunlight is blocked by the moon. Sure enough, the position of the stars appeared different because the light was slowed as it went through the heavy gravitation of the sun and thus appeared to be bent.

Let us propose one other supposition: that the speed of light in a zero gravitational field is infinite. In other words, not only does the speed of light slow down when gravity increases, but the speed of light goes up when gravity decreases to the point that if there is a “hole” in space where there is no gravity, light will cross it instantly. Thus there will never appear to be a gravitational “hole” in space because we cannot observe light crossing that “hole.”

This means that to outside observers the points on either side of a gravitational “hole” seem to be right next to each other because light transits between them instantly. Meanwhile, the points separated by an equal distance of high gravitation appear to be very far apart because it takes light so long to transit between them.

This creates an interesting phenomenon. Suppose at the center of the universe, all of the surrounding mass creates a situation of extremely high gravitation. As a consequence, anything that approaches the center of the universe appears to be traveling across an extremely long distance, even though we would logically think that things get closer together at the center of the universe. At the center of the universe, things that are actually close together seem to be very far apart because the very high gravitation causes light to slow down.

Conversely, if we think of the universe as a ball in empty space, the edge of the universe is a region of extremely low gravity because it is so far from matter. In that extremely low gravity the speed of light approaches infinity. As a consequence, anything that approaches the edge of the universe appears to be traveling across an extremely short distance, because light traverses it almost instantly. Even though we would logically think that things at very distant places on the edge of the universe are extremely far apart, even things that are on opposite sides of the edge of the universe will appear to be close together because light travels at an infinite speed at the edge of the universe.

Even though we think of the edge of the universe being the surface of a ball, light travels at an instant along that edge, so everything on the edge appears to be in the same place. In other words, from outside the universe the edge no longer seems curved in a convex sense, but rather seems curved in a concave sense. What this means is that the infinite magnitude of empty space in which the universe exists appears to anyone inside the universe as if it is a single spot because everything on the edge of the universe is infinitely close to each other.

Thus we have a universe in which the edge and the infinity of empty space extending around it appear to be in one tiny spot. Meanwhile the center of the universe, because of the intense gravitational force at the center, appears to be almost infinitely vast. At the center of the universe, even though the distances at the center may be extremely small, because the speed of light slows down so much in an intense gravitational field, the distances appear to be very large because it takes so long to traverse.

Thus the universe is actually inside-out. To anyone inside the universe the vast edge of the universe appears to be a single small spot while the single small spot of the center of the universe appears to be a vast expanse. To anyone inside the universe the center will appear to be a place that becomes ever larger as you approach it, as if it was the edge; meanwhile to anyone inside the universe the edge will appear to be a place that converges to a single spot, as if it was the center.

There cannot be anyone outside the universe because everything outside the universe has no gravity and thus light traverses it instantly, thus it appears as a point. Every point outside the universe is infinitely close to every other point outside the universe because light traverses that distance instantly.

Conversely, the center of the universe appears to be a vast surrounding space because the closer we get to the center the greater the gravitation and thus light slows down to where we appear to be traveling an infinite distance. The faster we go the higher the gravitation we encounter and thus the slower light travels. Two objects traveling toward the center of the universe become closer and closer together but because light travels slower and slower between the two objects, they appear to be farther and farther apart.

Thus the universe is actually inside out because the inside appears to be the outside and the outside appears to be the inside simply because of the behavior of light in a gravitational field.