In the Beginning . . .

Been thinking about the 'why' of the establishment of the concept of
time, as in timelines, Big Bang Theory, the various calendar systems,
etc. What started me on this kick was listening to the audiobook version
of Ann Coulter's "Godless", in which she goes on at great length about
evolutionary theory as opposed to Creationism and Intelligent Design.
(Interestingly, to me, she seems to make the core question of the
controversy a political dispute rather than a matter of religious belief
or Biblical interpretation. Fascinating.) In any event, she seems to
support the interpretation that the Earth has been in existence only
6000 years, in accordance with the Christian bible's Book of Genesis,
rather than the billions of years that scientific evidence indicates.
The essence of her argument is that there isn't enough 'time' in that
relatively short life span for evolution to occur, and most lifeforms
are too complex to have evolved by 'accident'.

Rita...

Does Coulter actually support the notion the world is only 6,000 years
old? I didn't know she was an expert on evolutionary theory or that

davesvideo...

In case you haven't noticed, she is a certifiable loon.

Rita...

Oh, I had noticed all right and I guess she is indeed a card carrying
member of the most nutty of the religous right wing.

she was so far gone as to believe the Bible is a scientific text.

Fred Ghadry...

It surprised me too. She's way over the top most of the time, but this
casts grave doubt on *all* of her work.

One branch of my thinking about this led me to ask why is it necessary
for there to have been a fixed beginning. This is almost certainly a
philosophical question, not a scientific question, and definitely not a
religious question. It leads to an examination of cosmology, cosmogony,

davesvideo...

Yet as you point out, the Genesis and Big Bang concepts have
similarities. The Hindu cosmology an the other hand says that the past
is infinite and fits better with the "Steady State" theories which had
some popularity in the past.

existence, origin beliefs, and the ultimate fate of the Universe. That
last one is interesting, because in our basic belief system, if there's
a beginning, there must be an end. Most scientific concepts (Big Bang
theory, relativity, quantum mechanics, etc) must work under the
constraints of "a model that combines three-dimensional space and
one-dimensional time into a single construct called the space-time
continuum, in which time plays the role of the 4th dimension. According
to Euclidean space perception, our universe has three dimensions of
space, and one dimension of time. By combining the two concepts into a
single manifold, physicists are able to significantly simplify the form
of most physical laws, as well as describe the workings of the universe
at both supergalactic and subatomic levels in a more uniform way."

How convenient. And how consistent with the concepts of 'beginning' and
'end'. All paradoxes are neatly solved and all questions answered. But
what if there is NOT in fact a beginning or an end? We are all so used
to the idea of a beginning, whether it's the Big Bang theory or the
Genesis version, that there *must* be an identifiable point before which
there was 'nothing' and after which the process which led to our
existence today 'began'. Physicists can and do theorize, but all of
their theories are based on that single assumption; this is certainly
reasonable and should not be taken as a criticism of their efforts. But
that assumption is purely an assumption -- unproven and perhaps unprovable.

So far, I am unconvinced that any sufficient reason has been shown to
explain the 'beginning'. The limits of our beliefs and belief systems
seem to require that such a thing exist, but there is no empirical proof
of the theories.

Islander...

There is nothing in the Big Bang theory (or the Genesis story for that
matter) that defines the beginning and/or end of time. Both identify a
point in time when something happens, but there is nothing to indicate
that time did not exist before that event. Likewise, there is no end of
time. Time is merely a metric.

In the case of the Big Bang theory, we have identified a point in time
when the creation of our universe began. Whether or not there will be
another point in time when it ends is not known and perhaps we will
ultimately learn that the universe is expanding infinitely. Even then,
there is nothing to preclude a repeat of the whole process. There is
also nothing to preclude the existence of other universes, perhaps
beginning (or ending) even now as we blunder along trying to understand.

Golden State Poppy...

You are a philosopher, Fred. My mind cannot grasp the concept of
infinity. I and most humans need a beginning and an end which is
probably why we have them, even though we don't agree on the time line.
Most thought provoking essay.