Atheistic explanations for the Big Bang?

[plum]

This definitely is a philosophical question, since the time/space outside of this theory cannot be theorized about scientifically. Since (assuming it happened) things expanded exponentially at insane temperatures in the first fraction of a second, one must assume that something happened on a macrocosmic level that was analogous to a hydrogen bomb exploding. And did something come from nothing? I find that hard to accept. Before the universe really began, it must have been a long dormant highly condensed ball that was triggered by something, no?

 

[plum]

It's hard to imagine how it would stretch back into infinity. We are learning that the nature of existence is such that it doesn't seem to like singularities and infinities. Such concepts are likely remnants of religious thought.

I find the theory of there being a finite number of "bubble" universes in a multiverse, with nothing much in between them, an amenable way of resolving these paradoxes. How these bubbles form, expand and contract is something perhaps beyond our understanding, but it makes slightly more sense when you imagine things this way.

 

[Dissident Dan]

The idea of a beginning of time itself seems absurd, but infinite past is also incomprehensible. I favor the latter. Perhaps our perception of time is incorrect.

 

[plum]

Originally posted by Dissident Dan
The idea of a beginning of time itself seems absurd, but infinite past is also incomprehensible. I favor the latter. Perhaps our perception of time is incorrect.

Infinite time is a concept that is not worth exploring, but the idea of finite time by our standards serves the purpose of our vision of time quite well, and we need not be ashamed of this.