Rou

I debate science with the uninformed, uneducated and willfully ignorant all the time. I find it amusing in many respects.

Recently, during a.... discussion... about the creation of the universe, I had a quick thought. It occurred to me that I finally understood the stumbling block many people have to the concept of the Big Bang.

It was nothing. The concept of it at least. It seems easy to grasp, but it's really not. When I tell someone that nothing existed before the big bang, at least nothing in any terms that we would know, they tend to picture the wrong thing.

They picture empty space. But space isn't nothing. Space is something. It has dimensions and properties that we understand. Just as it's difficult to imagine infinity, it's equally difficult to picture true nothingness.

The big bang wasn't just the creation of the matter in the universe, it was the creation of the rules that govern universe. Before the Bang, there was no time, no width, no length, and no height. All of the matter and energy that would become the universe was condensed into a single point. There wasn't anything outside the point. It's not like you could be outside it and see it sitting there. Or that it glowed white. The point was all there was. Then... BANG.

Suddenly... things began. Suddenly, there was time. Things had size, because there were dimensions for them to have size inside of.

The concept of before the bang requires there to be some sort of measurable event. There isn't. At least, nothing that we, inside this universe can understand. It's too far outside the frame of reference.

If you really need it, I say that we don't know and will probably never know. But for fun, try to wrap your head around m-theory. 11 dimensions is enough to make your head hurt. However, the short version is to try to envision our little universe floating around in a big pot with other universes. An infinite number of them. Some of them are 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4 dimensional. Now.. imagine our pre-bang universe bumping into another one inside this giant pot. Suddenly, the universal equivalent of kinetic energy surges into our tiny dot of energy. Too much energy to be contained. BANG. I don't think it's any more likely than conventional nothingness, but I do have to say, it's got a flare for the dramatic. Plus, if you feel insignificant in the grand scheme of this universe, it'll draw you even further to think of this just being one of an infinite number of universes. Technically... mutli-verse at that point? Not really uni.

No, there really isn't a rant here. Just a thought.