I am inside the universe, and therefore can't be an outside observer.

As I mentioned in some other post and quoted Carl Sagan, we are made of the stuff of stars.

The latter, but only as of late.. This winter I went outside on the coldest, stillest night of the year, to experience ‘minus 4 Fahrenheit.’ At 2,500 feet, clear and with no humidity, the stars didn’t even twinkle. I thought, ‘I’m standing in Ten Forward,’ with a view into space about as good as any … and perhaps for the first time, felt a part of it

"The act of thought is life comprehending it's own essence." Wilhelm Reich, M. D.

That's actually a very good question..... I am going to have to dig it for a while. The obvious quick before thinking comment could be "How can one be an outside observer from the inside" ..... No, this question is much more profound than that....

That’s like a neuroscientist is just the brain trying to figure itself out....Or something lolol

I think we and the universe are one. All energy is connected and is only one photon. All space and time are one point. All the rest is only an illusion.

"For physicists, the distinction between past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion." -Einstein.

“I regard consciousness as fundamental and matter as derivative from consciousness." – Max Planck, theoretical physicist who originated quantum theory, 1918 Nobel Prize in Physics

If I'm outside of the universe then am I not god?

We come from the stars. We are pieces of the universe. A universe which through random chaotic quirks and processes has led to us having consciousness and an ability to see our situation.

It's purely accidental and incredible. There is no greater difference than the difference between life and non life. Consciousness and a rock. But it means nothing.

Outside. The intellect is not bound by the laws of nature as are creatures that are ruled by instinct

We are living on Earth, so we are in the universe. We would be a piece of the universe observing itself.

I am a piece of the universe observing and interacting the rest of the universe and myself as much as I can, That is what life is about.

Semantic wordplay.

We obviously do not exist outside of the universe. Seems like an artificial question.

Definitely a part of it, but I am merely a grain of sand.

Off topic: Cool Strat in your main pic. And is that a Mustang bass or a Musicmaster bass in another of your pics? I’m a bassist and I love short scale basses.

The universe being defined as all existence, I am part of the universe because I exist. When religious people set their gods outside the universe, they are really admitting that their gods do not exist.

The latter.

It depends on the quality of the weed. ?

A tiny spec

I know logically that I am just a piece of the universe observing myself, but my human problem? of thinking in duality separates me and I feel like I am observing the universe as an outsider. Me and it or me and them. The state of observation itself implies separateness. When I observe myself I have to separate myself from myself in order to do that....lol. Mouthful.

Neither.
I'm a biological entity on this planet.
Grandiose phraseology is nice, but only means something to us.
We may be " star stuff"..... So is shit.

We all sit in Plato's cave without any possibility to escape and see the universe from the outside. It's like sitting in an windowless airplane without ever having seen it from the outside.

A piece of the universe

my answer would be, a very small piece. As in the universe is a huge dinner service and our galaxy is just a handle on one of the teacups.

Quantum Physics. Indeterminable or equally true, until the box is opened. Fortunately / unfortunately the is no being opening the box to see which is which.