- #1
Just Wondering
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Hi Guys,
Just finished watching an episode of Through the Wormhole, where they discuss the Big Bang Theory. I must say I am left with a gazillion questions. Can someone please explain this to me as simply as possible? Remember, Einstein supposedly said: "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." I need someone who really understands it to explain these discrepancy's to me.
1. "The Big Bang started from nowhere and no when. "
What? If there was no space, or time for that matter, where and how the heck did an "infinitely dense singularity" appear? Never mind braneworlds and who knows what, there was no space for it to form. You need at least something for it to start forming in, don't you? I mean what happened to the first law of thermodynamics? And if it was really infinitely dense, how come we have a finite universe today? Doesn't the very term, "infinity", mean endless time, space, or quantity? The fact that we have, at least according to the BB theory, a finite universe, belies the fact that it was infinitely dense. Very dense, yes, we don't know how to calculate it, yes, but infinitely dense?
2. Inflation
The universe expanded from nothing, to billions of lightyears across, then suddenly slammed on the brakes, and then started picking up speed again to the accelerating universe we live in today? Really? Science can't come up with a better explanation for explaining the universe we live in today? What happened to Occam's Razor?
3. Raisin Bread
The analogy of a raisin bread baking in the oven is used to explain the uniformaty of the universe we see today. The raisins themselves represent the galaxy's. Now if the universe expanded really fast with inflation, and then slowed down, and the started expanding again, how the heck do galaxy's collide? The raisins inside the bread can never collide? The space between the galaxy's should always increase. So why are we heading towards Andromeda?
4. Observational data.
There are apparently many objects in the visible universe, which for example either proves that there are objects out there that are older than the universe, (For example HD 140283), or other data (Like NGC7603 and NGC4319) which proves we don't know enough about red shifts, to be able to make conclusions based on it.
I guess my question boils down to this. As I understand it, real scientists have to work according to the scientific method. This means a method of research in which a problem is identified, relevant data is gathered, a hypothesis is formulated from this data, and the hypothesis is empirically tested.
Feynman said the following on the scientific method.
I guess what he forgot to say was that you have to make sure the results can not be duplicated by another method. This is really important. Because no matter how smart or beautiful your results, if they can be proven to be attained from a different source, you can never say that yours is the only right answer.
Now I am a simple man, and if you find my questions stupid, and you feel the need to tell me how stupid I am, please don't bother. I already know that. If you on the other hand can explain to me in very simple terms why the big bang theory is the only possible right answer, and can not be explained by other, more simple means, I would be very grateful.
I have no need to demean the theory, I just don't understand why scientists insist on coming up with things like inflation and dark matter to explain a universe, which could just as easily be explained by other means.
So would someone who REALLY understands the subject, please explain it to me?
Just finished watching an episode of Through the Wormhole, where they discuss the Big Bang Theory. I must say I am left with a gazillion questions. Can someone please explain this to me as simply as possible? Remember, Einstein supposedly said: "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." I need someone who really understands it to explain these discrepancy's to me.
1. "The Big Bang started from nowhere and no when. "
What? If there was no space, or time for that matter, where and how the heck did an "infinitely dense singularity" appear? Never mind braneworlds and who knows what, there was no space for it to form. You need at least something for it to start forming in, don't you? I mean what happened to the first law of thermodynamics? And if it was really infinitely dense, how come we have a finite universe today? Doesn't the very term, "infinity", mean endless time, space, or quantity? The fact that we have, at least according to the BB theory, a finite universe, belies the fact that it was infinitely dense. Very dense, yes, we don't know how to calculate it, yes, but infinitely dense?
2. Inflation
The universe expanded from nothing, to billions of lightyears across, then suddenly slammed on the brakes, and then started picking up speed again to the accelerating universe we live in today? Really? Science can't come up with a better explanation for explaining the universe we live in today? What happened to Occam's Razor?
3. Raisin Bread
The analogy of a raisin bread baking in the oven is used to explain the uniformaty of the universe we see today. The raisins themselves represent the galaxy's. Now if the universe expanded really fast with inflation, and then slowed down, and the started expanding again, how the heck do galaxy's collide? The raisins inside the bread can never collide? The space between the galaxy's should always increase. So why are we heading towards Andromeda?
4. Observational data.
There are apparently many objects in the visible universe, which for example either proves that there are objects out there that are older than the universe, (For example HD 140283), or other data (Like NGC7603 and NGC4319) which proves we don't know enough about red shifts, to be able to make conclusions based on it.
I guess my question boils down to this. As I understand it, real scientists have to work according to the scientific method. This means a method of research in which a problem is identified, relevant data is gathered, a hypothesis is formulated from this data, and the hypothesis is empirically tested.
Feynman said the following on the scientific method.
I guess what he forgot to say was that you have to make sure the results can not be duplicated by another method. This is really important. Because no matter how smart or beautiful your results, if they can be proven to be attained from a different source, you can never say that yours is the only right answer.
Now I am a simple man, and if you find my questions stupid, and you feel the need to tell me how stupid I am, please don't bother. I already know that. If you on the other hand can explain to me in very simple terms why the big bang theory is the only possible right answer, and can not be explained by other, more simple means, I would be very grateful.
I have no need to demean the theory, I just don't understand why scientists insist on coming up with things like inflation and dark matter to explain a universe, which could just as easily be explained by other means.
So would someone who REALLY understands the subject, please explain it to me?
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