I used to be sitting at my desk right this moment, looking at my espresso, and I had a type of “existential disaster” moments—the type that makes you have a look at your personal palms and marvel in the event that they’re even actual. I began digging into some previous physics notes, and I got here throughout a indisputable fact that truthfully appears like a glitch within the Matrix.
What if I instructed you that each single human being on this planet—all 8 billion of us—might match inside the quantity of a single sugar dice?
I do know, it feels like one thing straight out of a sci-fi film or a late-night Reddit rabbit gap, however the math really checks out. All of it comes all the way down to the bizarre, hole nature of the atoms that make us up.
We Are Actually Fabricated from Nothing
To know how 8 billion individuals can slot in your hand, we now have to take a look at the atom. Once we have been youngsters, we have been taught that atoms appear like little photo voltaic techniques with a strong heart and little balls orbiting round it. However that mannequin is a bit deceptive as a result of it doesn’t seize the dimensions of the vacancy.
Right here is the breakdown of why we’re mainly “ghosts” product of organized vitality:
The 99.9999999% Rule: An atom is roughly 99.9999999% empty area.The Stadium Metaphor: When you expanded an atom to the dimensions of an enormous soccer stadium, the nucleus (the half the place nearly all of the mass lives) can be the dimensions of a small marble sitting on the 50-yard line.The Electron “Flies”: The electrons can be like tiny gnats buzzing across the very highest seats within the stands.The Void: All the pieces between that marble and people gnats? Completely nothing. Simply empty area.
Once I first wrapped my head round this, I spotted that every little thing I contact—my keyboard, my telephone, even my very own pores and skin—is only a assortment of tiny factors of matter separated by huge distances of void.
The Weight of the World (Actually)
So, if we took a “vacuum cleaner” for the universe and sucked all that vacant area out of the atoms of each individual on Earth, we might be left with simply the nuclei and electrons.
The consequence? Your entire human race would shrink all the way down to the dimensions of a sugar dice.
However don’t let the dimensions idiot you. Since we haven’t misplaced any of our precise mass, that tiny dice can be unimaginably dense. I did some checking, and that little dice would weigh roughly 5 billion tons.
To place that into perspective, that’s about the identical weight as 900 Nice Pyramids of Giza. When you tried to select up that sugar dice, you’d be attempting to raise a mountain.
Why Don’t We Fall Via the Flooring?
If we’re largely empty area, why don’t our ft simply cross via the bottom? Why doesn’t my hand go proper via my espresso mug?
It’s not as a result of we’re “strong.” It’s due to electromagnetic repulsion. The electrons in your atoms and the electrons within the chair you’re sitting on are each negatively charged. Since like fees repel, they push away from one another.
Ugu’s Observe: You aren’t really “touching” something. You’re simply feeling the invisible pressure fields of trillions of atoms pushing again towards you. We’re floating on a cushion of electrical fields!
Why This Issues for the Metaverse and Past
You may marvel why I’m speaking about quantum physics on a tech and metaverse website. To me, that is the last word proof that actuality is programmable.
If the bodily world is 99% empty area and ruled by electrical alerts, the road between “bodily actuality” and “digital actuality” begins to get very blurry. Within the Metaverse, we construct worlds out of code; within the bodily world, nature builds worlds out of empty area and vitality.
Understanding the “vacancy” of our world makes the thought of residing in a digital simulation really feel quite a bit much less like a conspiracy principle and much more like a logical conclusion.
The Stats: A Fast Take a look at the Density
It’s humbling, isn’t it? All the pieces we’ve ever constructed, each conflict fought, each masterpiece painted—it’s all only a tiny quantity of matter dancing in an enormous void.
At any time when I really feel overwhelmed by the dimensions of the world, I remind myself of this sugar dice. It adjustments your perspective on what’s “strong” and what’s “necessary.”
I’m curious—if we’re largely empty area held collectively by vitality, do you suppose our consciousness is tied to the matter or the area between it?
