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My Problem With The Big Bang Theory by Mario De Benedittis
I have a problem with the big bang theory. Not with the entire theory, but only with part of it. Not with the “big” part. Not with the “bang” part. But with the “the” part.
I don’t think that the big bang was a unique event. How did the universe change to a dynamic state from a steady state? Why did the big bang happen? More specifically, why did it happen exactly when it did, and not, say, 10 seconds earlier?
For now, lets assume that it (something) happened. Presently most scientists agree that one of two things will happen. One, either the universe will continue to expand indefinitely. Or two, the universe will eventually collapse back into itself. I propose a third option.
Before I suggest the third option it will be necessary to redefine the universe somewhat. Today most scientists agree that the universe is about 16 billion years old. Three decades ago, when I was in high school, most scientists agreed that the universe was about 9 billion years old. How did the universe age 7 billion years in 3 decades? I believe the rapid aging had something to do with the invention of the Hubble Space Telescope. The fact is that the universe did not change, our perception of it changed. Let me redefine the universe by classifying it into two categories. The part that is perceivable and the part that is not perceivable. As telescope technology improves, naturally the perceivable part will increase and the not (yet) perceivable part will decrease.
I would feel better if scientists would, instead of saying that the universe is about 16 billion years old, say that the universe is at least about 16 billion years old. Scientists saying that the universe is 16 billion years old is slightly, only slightly, less ridiculous then Christian fundamentalists saying that the universe is only several thousand years old. (If the data doesn’t fit the hypothesis, well then that’s just too damm bad for the data.)
Enter black holes. The latest scientific thought is that every galaxy (including our own Milky Way) has a black hole at its center. It is believed that the a black hole weighs about one half of one percent of the total weight of the galaxy. It is also believed that black holes exist in two conditions, active (accumulating matter/energy) and inactive (not accumulating matter/energy).
Now back to the third option. Let’s call the part of the universe that is presently perceivable the local universe. Let’s call the part(s) of the universe that is not presently perceivable the remote universe. I theorize that the local part of the universe will expand into a remote part. At any given time a black hole may accumulate enough energy/matter that it transforms into what we call a big bang. Sooo… rather than call it “THE” big bang, I suggest we call it The Most Recent Local Big Bang.
Now a simple true or false question. If time and space are infinite, not only has every possible event occurred, but every possible event has occurred an infinite number of times. True or false? What is your answer? My answer is false, because not all infinities are of equal size. Take, for example, the set of whole numbers and the set of irrational numbers. Both are infinite, yet the set of irrational numbers is infinitely larger than the set of whole numbers.
Enough of physics. Let’s change the subject to metaphysics. In the beginning…, there was no beginning. Demarcations of time, just like numbers, are a function of human awareness. Do not confuse time with human perception of time. The universe is analog, not digital. Though we humans find it extremely useful to quantize (measure) and quantify (count) things. Time exists so that things don’t all happen at once. Space exists so that things don’t all happen to you. The universe is a perpetual motion device, but like an irrational number the universe may be non-repeating.
So how did you get here? In the beginning there was “THE” big bang (yeah right). Physics begot chemistry. Chemistry begot biology. Biology begot consciousness. Consciousness begot mathematics. Mathematics begot...
Really I disagree with the preceeding paragraph. I believe consciousness is as fundamental a part of the universe as time, space, energy or matter are. It’s a question of whether time/space/energy/matter (stuff) evolved into consciousness. Or did consciousness evolve into stuff? Did consciousness invade the local part of the universe from a remote part just as the stuff may have? Or…???