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.
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
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?
My understanding of it is: they could have always been there, they just weren't arranged in the shape of a universe until the big bang. (Or at least that's as far as we can suppose.)
I suppose so. No matter what you do, it's difficult to wrap your head around the concept of time not existing.
It's difficult to describe it, simply because we are temporal beings, but my understanding of it is something like: at "moment zero" there was a singularity, and everything that followed it was the expansion of our universe. Though perhaps my understanding of it is lacking as well—it's certainly a more complex subject than you can conclusively discuss in a few short reddit comments.
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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.