Agent asks about the beginning of eternity

[Realitycheck]

ALERT! ALERT! DRIVEBY RANT!

 

So ... if the universe was in bounce mode for all eternity, what happened at the beginning?

[Martin]

It's not a scientific question, Agent.

Philosophically you might want to argue about whether an eternal process has a beginning or not. I expect most philosophers would say no, it doesn't have a beginning. So even philosophically your question does not make sense.

 

Scientifically it definitely doesn't make sense. We have a model that goes from time = minus infinity to time = plus infinity. A universe that contracts, bounces, and then expands. There is no beginning anywhere in the picture.

A scientific model of the universe does not have to have a beginning, and this one doesn't. so your question is illogical and inappropriate to the thread.

[elas]

All science is philosophy. If you want to think about the beginning or the lack of a beginning, put the universe aside, it is but a pinprick in infinity.

Ask yourself what is the difference between absolute nothing and infinity and how do they co-exist. Newton did just that and concluded that the universe is corpuscular in nature; had Newton said that infinity is corpuscular in nature he would have been in closer agreement with one of the earliest versions of Christian belief which stated that God cannot rule all the universes in infinity; God created only seven universes of which ours is number three (Book of Mary).

It always amazes me that the earliest of story tellers understood infinity and Newton understood the structure of infinity, and we know that for every force there is an equal and opposite force and yet we do not put it all together in one simple explanation – 'dimensionless points of absolute nothing' must be separated by 'fields of something’ in order for dimensions to exist, so infinity is granular because a dimensionless infinity of absolute nothing is an impossibility.

It is worth noting that the percentage of the universe occupied by one particle is greater than the percentage of infinity occupied by one universe. The universe is insignificant and it is that insignificance that makes it all possible in that the universe does not greatly disturb the balance of infinity it is but one in an infinite number of universes. Ask yourself; to what extent does the behavior of one particle disturb the universe?

It should also be noted that seven universes is not a random number, it is the largest number of objects that can be assembled equal distance apart. They are all expanding and will one day form a single structure, so the storytellers could add another layer - ‘and I will build a new heaven and a new earth’.

Storytellers know that there story must have an element of believability so the numbers had to be carefully crafted if they were not to be ridiculed by the intelligentsia of those days; and if the intelligentsia were seen to be listening then the population at large listened in awe.