Anyway, forgive my layman's question here, but was there a particular reason everyone assumed the original idea-that both the universe and number of stars are infinite and that the stars are evenly spaced-HAD to be true? It seems like the problem is only a problem if you assume that has to be the case. Couldn't it just as easily be that the universe is infinite but the number of stars in it is finite, or that the stars are not evenly spread out? Why didn't they simply re-examine the underlying premise when this particular paradox reared its ugly head instead of assuming it HAD to be true and working with that?
Again, this is just my uneducated self asking a question that I'm sure has a good answer, but I'm not physics-savvy enough to figure out, so please be gentle