The Other Side Of Black Holes

Beyond engaging with subjective fascination or curiosity, there is little reason to even contemplate the nature of many cosmological bodies or phenomena, real or hypothetical, other than to use them as examples of what does or does not logically follow from something.  Among the most special cosmological entities is the black hole, a singularity (gravitational anomaly with an extreme pull) said to absorb matter and even visible light itself.  This puts black holes in the position of being unobservable in any direct sense.  Some people might misunderstand what I am saying to the point of straw manning me as if I said that black holes do not exist, but any rational reader should be able to clearly see that this is not the case.

However, individual people do not have any way of observing black holes on their own.  This fact, alongside the logical fact that perceiving something in the external world does not automatically means it exists, means that I--and other beings with my epistemological limitations--cannot know whatsoever if black holes actually exist.  The existence of black holes, if such a thing could be ultimately known, would still not establish what lies on the other side.  How could whatever natural event, material object, or nonphysical energy might wait on the other side of black holes possibly be known?  

Some actually suggest that black holes lead to alternate universes or perhaps serve as some other kind of spatial portal to a different region in our own universe (which may be the only one as it is).  There is a glaring problem with accepting this, though.  If a black hole truly is a portal to another spatial location, there would be no way to even muster sensory evidence by simply observing it from the outside.  Of course, sensory evidence proves only that one is perceiving something with the senses, as logic alone can prove things on its own.  There is also the inconvenient fact that, at the very least, most people cannot observe black holes anyway and thus they must rely on sheer faith if they believe in their existence in the first place.

What if a black hole does lead to a gravitational singularity that would obliterate any biological life form that was pulled inside?  Again, there is no way to know with absolute certainty from outward observations.  This is the very nature of visual sensory perceptions!  Even if one could look at a black hole from afar, seeing past the event horizon would remain impossible if the gravitational maelstrom does not even allow any trace of light to escape.  The concept of a black hole as described by scientists themselves would leave the phenomena invisible to ordinary human perception.

The idea of a black hole is nonetheless one that can inspire genuine awe at the hypothesized scale of such a thing.  It may have absolutely nothing to do with the core of philosophy and everyday life alike, but it can still serve as an example of where scientific speculation is distinct from what logic reveals about truth and possibility.  Black holes are similar to quantum particles and all sorts of other scientific concepts in that regard.  Understanding the difference puts one at a superior epistemological standing over those who truly think that appeals to authority and popularity verify scientific notions.