| o_O.Q said: [...] sure you can say that we can see the universe expanding out from a particular point but that does not naturally have to follow from a singularity expanding [...] |
An expanding singularity is just one out of many possible explanations for what was going on at the big bang. We still don't know if singularities even exist. But that's why such things are calles theories. For the big bang it doesn't matter so much. Technically it didn't evolve from a singularity, because a singularity would require the existance of something in some form. Some say the big bang formed out of vacuum fluctuations, which at first thought makes a lot of sense. Given an infinite amount if time, the probability for a whole universe developing out of nothing lies at 100 %. The only problem is that the big bang very likely cannot have appeared because of vacuum fluctuations, because you need space and time for that. For all we know, the existing of that stuff started right with the big bang. So there was no space where vacuum fluctuations could have happened. Not even a little.
Of course there are other explanations. Some suggest that space and time are infinite and the big bang happens over and over. Some say there are multiverses and we are just one out of many. I personally like the idea of us living inside a black hole. For anyone inside a black hole, the forming of it would look pretty much like what we think of the big bang today. Inside a black hole you come to believe that this black hole is everything there is and there ever will be, as any form of information will never leave it and any form of information entering it will look like something appearing out of nowhere - like vacuum fluctuations for example. But of course that would open a whole lot of new quetions we can't probably ever answer.
It's fun to think about stuff like this. But yeah, science can't prove it and no one ever said that it could. That doesn't mean that we need other explanations from religion or something though. We just don't know what happened back then and have to deal with that. End of story.
Oh, and just a little fun fact: The big bang theory was first introduced by a catholic priest by the name of Georges Lemaître. Which really shows you that science and religion do not neccessarily exclude each other. Everyone is free in what he decides to believe in. Be it god or the flying spaghetti monster. I believe in the latter and I am looking forward to endless spaghetti goodness after I die. However, those things don't have a place in science. It's also pointless to try and compare the two. Religion and science are two completely different things. You can choose to take part in both, no problem, but you should not mix them up. Science does not even try to explain everything. It only solves one problem at a time. And for the most part, the solution to one problem brings up a bunch of new problems. But it's importan to be as objective as possible, as that's the only way we can ever describe what the hell is going on around us. For the most part we don't have a clue. Compared to the middle ages we seem so advanced and knowing. But in reality we know next to nothing about the universe we live in. So we and our children still have a lot to do in the future. But in the end, science showed itself as a very successful technique to understand the world around us. Without Einstein we wouldn't sit at our computers or smartphones right now and talk about that kind of stuff, as computers directly use the theory of relativity. And that's just one of many and very practical examples that show the advantages of science and why we should continue to follow that path.
At this point I don't even know where I'm going with this so I'll just stop. But I felt like writing down my thoughts and whatnot. So yeah.
tl;dr: Believe what you will, but there is no place for believing in science. Complete objectivity is impossible of course, as Heinz von Förster once said: "Objectivity is the mad assumption that there can be an observation without an observer". But yeah, science is as close as it gets.
Official member of VGC's Nintendo family, approved by the one and only RolStoppable. I feel honored.
