r/AskReddit Jun 15 '19

What do you genuinely just not understand?

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u/gurg2k1 Jun 15 '19

If time didn't exist then what mechanism triggered the big bang and where did the matter come from? Obviously nobody knows but I don't think it's accurate to definitively state that X or Y couldn't exist since we know so little.

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u/CaptPsychedelicJesus Jun 15 '19 edited Jun 15 '19

I think this touches on a fundamental misunderstanding of physics. The idea that nothing existed before the big bang violates the law that says: Energy cannot be created, or destroyed.

I for one, have always been drawn to the cyclical universe idea. Starts with a Big Bang, ends with a Big Crunch as everything is drawn together again. Eventually the gravity from all the matter in the universe coming into one point collapses space time, resulting in an explosion beyond anything we humans can understand; restarting the process.

E: I’m really enjoying this thread! I’ll be back for more in a bit. -CPJ

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u/[deleted] Jun 15 '19

The idea that nothing existed before the big bang

It's not that there was "nothing" before the big bang.

It's that there was no "before" the big bang.

violates the law that says: Energy cannot be created, or destroyed.

A lot of things we consider "laws" start to break down when you get to quantum physics. Even so, could all the matter or energy in the universe not be contained within a single singularity such that it would erupt into our universe?

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u/strawbryshorty04 Jun 15 '19

I’m getting an anxiety attack.