How did the universe begin?
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This is always going to be a tricky one to answer. Firstly, one could argue that the use of the word "began" is slightly incorrect, as time itself could, for all we know, be a property exclusive to this universe. That would render any talk of a time before the universe as null and void. But, if we were to leave this argument to one side, I think we can pretty much say with some degree of certainty that the universe was created via "the big bang." There are three main observations of the past century that have led to this explination (please remember when responding that I am attempting to simplify these points as much as possible). Firstly, the universe is expanding (evident by blueshifting and redshifting light spectrums), leading to the conclusion that, at some point, things must have been much closer together. Secondly, the big bang perfectly explains the abundance of helium and other nuclei like deuterium (an isotope of hydrogen) in the universe. Thirdly, astronomers can actually observe the cosmic background radiation (the afterglow of the explosion) from every direction in the universe. These three main points of evidence (they are far more conclusive then I have been able to put across here) point pretty conclusively to a large explosion that happened right at the beginning of our universe. This is the big bang. 2
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The universe began the moment you were born and it will end the moment you die. Everyone you have ever met or will meet is an actor and every experience you ever had or will have is just a prop used in this play called "Your life". What you've come to call the universe is merely the boundary of the stage on which each scene is played out. Enjoy the rest of the show and remember to turn your cell phone off. 1) That assumes that is had a beginning. If prefer to believe that it simply always was there. 2) Caution - I also believe that I will never die. Since half the people who have ever been born are alive right now. That means that 50% of all humans have not died. That's the group I want to be in. Just letting you know... "Caution - I also believe that I will never die. Since half the people who have ever been born are alive right now. That means that 50% of all humans have not died. That's the group I want to be in. Just letting you know..." Where did you pluck that number from? Current estimates state that around 100 to 110 billion people have ever been born, making it far closer to 5%. Seriously, you are going to die. 1
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The universe started from NOTHING (not even space or time) it started as a QUANTUM entity (from Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle restates the conservation laws as near constants rather than true constants). When start to apply The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle to The Big Bang Singularity it is known as a QUANTUM GENESIS theory or as QUANTUM COSMOLOGY. But what is absolutely critical to a spatial big bang is the passing quote restated here by Carl Sagan that "space is finite yet unbounded". This spatial manifold is the key to a spatially based big bang. Recently Stephen Hawking threw in towel in favor of a quantum genesis theory. This Is The Critical Space
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"I believe it was some diety or force which acts outside what humans perceive as logical." Do you have any evidence that it was a diety? A force is one thing, but a conscious entity? You'd definitely need some backing information that would indicate a higher being's involvement if you want to pass that off as a plausible answer. |
