Something From Nothing?

The air in the balloon is not part of the analogy because it deals only in a 2-dimensional space. So there is no "inside the balloon" or "outside the balloon". There is only the surface and we can only go along that surface. Along the surface there is no edge, but it is still finite in extent. If you expand the surface it is not expanding into anything, it is just getting bigger.

Abshalom,The problem is you are putting the 2-dimensional analogy into a 3-dimensional space. The analogy is the surface of the balloon. There is no inside or outside, only the 2-D surface. The 2-D surface does not displace anything.

Abshalom,I read through the article and must admit I had a bit of trouble following it. It didn't really deal with the analogy, but a I understand it tried to explain a possible theory on the rapid expansion of the universe. It deals with string theory which is probably a bit too much to get into here.A clarification on the balloon analogy may be found here: http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~wright/cosmology_faq.htmlI have stolen a quote (about 2/3rds down the page):"This question is based on the ever popular misconception that the Universe is some curved object embedded in a higher dimensional space, and that the Universe is expanding into this space. This misconception is probably fostered by the balloon analogy which shows a 2-D spherical model of the Universe expanding in a 3-D space. While it is possible to think of the Universe this way, it is not necessary, and there is nothing whatsoever that we have measured or can measure that will show us anything about the larger space. Everything that we measure is within the Universe, and we see no edge or boundary or center of expansion. Thus the Universe is not expanding into anything that we can see, and this is not a profitable thing to think about. Just as Dali's Corpus Hypercubicus is just a 2-D picture of a 3-D object that represents the surface of a 4-D cube, remember that the balloon analogy is just a 2-D picture of a 3-D situation that is supposed to help you think about a curved 3-D space, but it does not mean that there is really a 4-D space that the Universe is expanding into."and via the balloon link:"The expanding balloon analogy for cosmological models is shown below at two different times. A common misconception is that the balloon is expanding into empty space that is "beyond the Universe" and that it is expanding from a single point in the center of the balloon. But the balloon analogy is a 2-dimensional model, and the center of the balloon and the space around are not part of the 2-dimensional Universe. In our 3-dimensional Universe, these points could only be reached by traveling in a 4th spatial dimension (not the time dimension of 4-D spacetime), but there is no evidence that this dimension exists. "Sidelined: Thanks for the link, it is interesting. But I think you may have us confused...