Is the Big Bang Still Happening and Could It Lead to a Big Crunch?

[WannabeNewton]

Then all I can say is that comologists have always been using confusing terminology and analogies.
Their math may be precise, but their English descriptions of the fundamental concepts have
not been adequately clear (in the sense of "means exactly one thing").

Then learn the math.

 

[phinds]

Then all I can say is that comologists have always been using confusing terminology and analogies.
Their math may be precise, but their English descriptions of the fundamental concepts have
not been adequately clear (in the sense of "means exactly one thing").

To expand a bit on Mordred's excellent comment, I would add that most pop science, whether in book form or TV shows, goes even farther than is probably needed in terms of dumbing down explanations.

IN PARTICULAR, you will hear even good scientists say directly, or at least imply, that the Big Bang singularity happened at a point in space, but if you read their books or listen to their lectures it is clear that they know perfectly well that such statements are nonsense.

 

[Simon Bridge]

Then all I can say is that comologists have always been using confusing terminology and analogies.

Pop-science is usually misleading due to the need to dumb things down. The language you are being supplied here has been in use for something like a century so we are kind of stuck with it. Inventing a new language each time a student has trouble with the old one would just make matters worse.

If you want to live in Greece and understand Greeks you have to learn Greek - you can complain all you like about how hard it is to learn, how "illogical" it seems to you, but you still have to learn it. Some Greeks may also speak your language to some degree or even fluently so they may explain things to you but good translators are expensive... the free ones will have their own agendas so you will likely be mislead. You still have to use the Greek names for things that have been in use by the locals for generations.

Similarly, you want to live in the Physics world and understand physics then you have to learn the language of physics - which is called "mathematics". This will include labels, names for things, in a variety of languages that have been in use by the locals for generations. I know it's hard but there it is. If you rely on pop-science shows and dumbed down explanations, it's like using a cheap translator: you will get mislead.

English descriptions of the fundamental concepts have not been adequately clear (in the sense of "means exactly one thing").

If you expect English language words to mean exactly one thing you must be having a very hard time. There are no English words with only one meaning ... the more commonly used the more possible meanings. Even in a technical terminology, context has to play a role: there just are not enough words to go around all the things that need to be described.

This is a problem that has been around for as long as language has existed.
The terminologies that we use have been worked out to minimize the vagueness problem while allowing enough flexability for newcomers to be able to learn the field and for new discoveries to get added to the mix.