# Do black holes frighten you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 20, 2024, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-black-holes-frighten-you/997839 "2024-02-20T16:04:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2024, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-black-holes-frighten-you/997839/21 "2024-02-20T20:25:43Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > IIRC the time from when you cross the event horizon until you’re shredded even if made of scrith will seem subjectively to be nearly infinite in duration. > > That much gravity really does a number on time itself as well as space and matter. Not what I recall from Misner, Thorne, and Wheeler. Quite the contrary, even if you are not turned into spaghetti, you hit the singularity in a pretty short time, say 0.0001 seconds for a 30-solar-mass hole (the time will be proportional to the mass). ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2024, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-black-holes-frighten-you/997839/22 "2024-02-20T21:18:11Z")
If we’re going that direction, let’s go all the way. > **[Eater (novel)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eater_(novel))** > > Eater is a hard science fiction novel by American writer Gregory Benford. It was published in May 2000 by Eos. Heavy on the physics information, Eater describes humankind's encounter with a cosmic intelligence that comes in the form of a small black hole. > In the early 21st century, astronomers detect what appears to be a distant gamma-ray burster, a black hole engulfing another star many light years away. The data are bizarre and troubling, because only 13 hours later, a second burster appears, ... A novel featuring an _intelligent, malignant_ black hole. One that _demands sacrifices,_ at that. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2024, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-black-holes-frighten-you/997839/23 "2024-02-20T21:27:56Z")
Black holes don’t worry me, but I do spend many sleepless nights worrying about the eventual run-down of the Universe, when there’s nothing but uniform grey, in a mere 10^10^56 years… > **[Heat death of the universe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_death_of_the_universe)** > > The heat death of the universe (also known as the Big Chill or Big Freeze) is a hypothesis on the ultimate fate of the universe, which suggests the universe will evolve to a state of no thermodynamic free energy, and will therefore be unable to sustain processes that increase entropy. Heat death does not imply any particular absolute temperature; it only requires that temperature differences or other processes may no longer be exploited to perform work. In the language of physics, this is w If th... ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2024, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-black-holes-frighten-you/997839/24 "2024-02-20T21:38:04Z")
Pretty much every thing in the universe is going to pull you in. Every star. Every planet. Dwarf stars. Dwarf planets. Some sizable asteroids. Pieces of space debris. You are like a single bit in giant supercomputer. Your sector may have been unread for billions of years, but someday a process will flip you. Sleep tight. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2024, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-black-holes-frighten-you/997839/25 "2024-02-20T21:59:11Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Pretty much every thing in the universe is going to pull you in. In all fairness, it’s not just the star/planet/black hole’s fault. You have mass, and your mass is doing its share of pulling. It would not be an exaggeration to say that black hole is falling into you. (Although it would be an exaggeration to say your contribution to the process was significant.) ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2024, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-black-holes-frighten-you/997839/26 "2024-02-20T22:01:59Z")
In one sense there’s nothing particularly strange about a black hole, at least from a long distance, except that you can’t see it directly. Most black holes glow brightly because of the intense heat generated by infalling matter still outside the event horizon, but the event horizon itself is very nearly black, except for weird quantum effects called Hawking radiation. But black holes are ordinary and non-frightening at a distance because they’re nothing more than massive bodies whose gravitational force diminishes as the square of the distance just like with anything else. It’s at the event horizon and beyond that very weird things happen. Time is slowed by gravity as seen by a distant observer, and the event horizon is the point where time stops altogether. What happens beyond is a matter of speculation but for the relevant equations to be meaningful one has to postulate that spacetime is so distorted that the time dimension and the spatial dimension to the singularity change places. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2024, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-black-holes-frighten-you/997839/27 "2024-02-20T22:45:25Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > IIRC the time from when you cross the event horizon until you’re shredded even if made of scrith will seem subjectively to be nearly infinite in duration. To an outside observer, it will take an infinite amount of time. To you, the one falling in, it’ll be all too brief. And don’t struggle; that’ll just make it even briefer. ---
**Author:** ![sunacres](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@sunacres](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunacres)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2024, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-black-holes-frighten-you/997839/28 "2024-02-21T01:10:00Z")
I certainly take comfort in the time intervals between major extinction events on Earth, but oddly I also find it very satisfying to contemplate how insignificant the complete destruction of Earth would be amid the scale and grandeur of the universe. I guess some folks are worriers, and some aren’t. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2024, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-black-holes-frighten-you/997839/29 "2024-02-21T01:15:10Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Pretty much every thing in the universe is going to pull you in. Every star. Every planet. Dwarf stars. Dwarf planets. Some sizable asteroids. Pieces of space debris. Gravity is responsible for everything. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2024, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-black-holes-frighten-you/997839/30 "2024-02-21T01:15:48Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Black holes admittedly _are_ weird things. But what makes them go is not any different qualitatively than the gravity that keeps your butt happily in its chair rather than floating haplessly around the room. You could even live on an Earth sized shell around an Earth mass black hole and enjoy Earth-like gravity. Or a smaller black hole with a smaller shell. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2024, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-black-holes-frighten-you/997839/31 "2024-02-21T01:43:41Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > Gravity is responsible for everything. Agreed. We’ll be charging them too. (You made me quote Python. I cannot forgive you for this.) ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2024, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-black-holes-frighten-you/997839/32 "2024-02-21T01:55:46Z")
‘ear? Is that rat tart? ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2024, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-black-holes-frighten-you/997839/33 "2024-02-21T02:09:22Z")
They’d only frighten me if I was close enough to one where I might actually have a chance of being caught in one. And I would absolutely love the fact that I had the chance to be in such a situation. ---
**Author:** ![Karen\_Lingel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karen_lingel/32/18649_2.png) [@Karen\_Lingel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karen_Lingel)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2024, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-black-holes-frighten-you/997839/34 "2024-02-21T02:18:29Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > In all fairness, it’s not just the star/planet/black hole’s fault. You have mass, and your mass is doing its share of pulling. Oooh, more motivation for diet and exercise! ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2024, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-black-holes-frighten-you/997839/35 "2024-02-21T08:53:03Z")
Nah, black holes are pretty awesome. In fact I’d jump into one myself. Under the proviso that I was immortal and facing the heat death of the universe. In that case, I think there’s a pretty good chance I’d be fired out of a white hole on the other side, with a fresh new universe to explore. And if not, better that than dissolving into a bath of warm photons. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2024, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-black-holes-frighten-you/997839/36 "2024-02-21T09:15:35Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > I once read an article that there’s a black hole at the center of our galaxy. That also low-key disturbed me. On the contrary, you should be glad that we have a black hole at the centre of our galaxy. It acts as a gravitational focus for all the stars, gas, dust and other objects which form our galactic neighbourhood, and keeps it all together. If the galaxy were smaller, or less massive or dense, then the various elements created by fusion and other processes would become dispersed and fail to form into planets. It may even be the case that supermassive black holes formed early in the history of the universe, and gathered material around themselves to become galaxies; if so then we owe our existence (at least in part) to black holes. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2024, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-black-holes-frighten-you/997839/37 "2024-02-21T21:05:28Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > > [@LSLGuy](#): > > > > IIRC the time from when you cross the event horizon until you’re shredded even if made of scrith will seem subjectively to be nearly infinite in duration. > > To an outside observer, it will take an infinite amount of time. > > To you, the one falling in, it’ll be all too brief. And don’t struggle; that’ll just make it even briefer. D’oh!!1! 🤦‍♂️ Thanks for the correction. > [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > > [@LSLGuy](#): > > > > So you mean even the weirdness comes in an irreducible quantum. Which gives you solace? > > Infinities bother me. They’re so…big. Either I just pulled off a really great whooshing allusion, or you pulled off a really great whoosh. I’m not sure which. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2024, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-black-holes-frighten-you/997839/38 "2024-02-21T21:14:03Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Either I just pulled off a really great whooshing allusion, or you pulled off a really great whoosh. I’m not sure which. Actually…I think we both did. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2024, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-black-holes-frighten-you/997839/39 "2024-02-22T23:03:09Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I don’t get creeped out by the “deep hole” aspect. More by the “infinitely small infinitely dense” singularity at the middle. You might be in luck (maybe): [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/HRir6-9tsJs/maxresdefault.jpg "What if Singularities DO NOT Exist?") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRir6-9tsJs) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2024, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-black-holes-frighten-you/997839/40 "2024-02-25T17:36:54Z")
Yeah, I think that everyone pretty much expects that, once we eventually figure out quantum gravity, it’ll turn out that the core of a black hole has a finite size. But we haven’t figured out quantum gravity yet, so we really don’t know. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-black-holes-frighten-you/997839.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-black-holes-frighten-you/997839.md?page=3)