Why the Universe Has No Global Picture || Leonard Susskind

Описание: The universe resists being captured in a single, all-encompassing image because it is not a static object but a dynamic process. Everything we observe—galaxies, stars, and even space and time themselves—is in constant motion and change. Since light takes time to travel, looking farther into space also means looking farther back into the past. As a result, any attempt to form a complete “snapshot” of the universe is inherently fragmented, stitched together from moments that never truly coexist.

Another reason the universe lacks a global picture lies in the limits of perspective. Every observation is made from a specific location and frame of reference, shaped by the observer’s motion and the surrounding gravitational fields. According to relativity, there is no universal “now” that applies everywhere at once. What appears simultaneous from one viewpoint may not be so from another, making a single, objective view of the entire universe impossible.

The universe is also constrained by horizons—boundaries beyond which information cannot reach us. Due to the ongoing expansion of space, vast regions of the cosmos are permanently cut off from observation, no matter how advanced our technology becomes. These unseen regions may exist and evolve, but they can never be incorporated into a complete cosmic map. Our picture of the universe is therefore limited not just by knowledge, but by the structure of space-time itself.

Finally, on the deepest level, the laws of physics suggest that reality may be fundamentally probabilistic and relational rather than absolute. Quantum mechanics implies that properties do not have definite values until they are measured, while cosmology shows that large-scale structure emerges from countless local interactions. Together, these ideas point to a universe without a single global description—only many partial, overlapping views that collectively hint at the whole, without ever fully revealing it.