I'm sorry, I've completely lost where in any of this religious faith actually counts for anything at all.
I like my metaphysics with a sprig of logic; what business does faith have in an argument?
The universe-as-a-whole (which contains time) is different from the universe-within-time. The difference is equivalent to the difference between the set of positive integers and the sequence 1,2,3,... . The latter begins at 1, while the former merely has a lower limit at 1.
We clearly need to distinguish between the atemporal universe and its temporal counterparts, since by 'universe' I mean the former and you don't. Let us, for now, call the latter the cosmos.
Whether or not a singularity ocurred at the big bang is both debated and irrelevant, since this would merely be a beginning for the cosmos and not the universe. For the universe, the big bang is simply the lower corner of some parameters.
Sigh...
No. Time - well, Space-Time, since you bring Einstein into it - is an internal part of the universe's structure. The Big Bang is not where the universe began, it is merely a subdomain in which some parameters approach zero from our perspective. It is no more true to say that the universe began there than to say the unit circle began at (-1,0).
You might want to google 'block universe' and stop referring to the bible everytime you're in danger of having to think logically.
The core of religious belief is that God created the heavens and the Earth.
The core of science is to figure out how.
No. Why should there be any need for a creation? Time being, as it is, part of the struture of the universe, it is senseless to talk about a time before it, or even the universe changing. It doesn't. The universe _is_. It always has been.
There is science and there is metaphysics. There's no need for magic sky men.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm sorry, I've completely lost where in any of this religious faith actually counts for anything at all. I like my metaphysics with a sprig of logic; what business does faith have in an argument?
You think religion counts as an explanation? Seriously? Faith is an explanation now? Screw that.
No.
No.
No, no, no.
The universe-as-a-whole (which contains time) is different from the universe-within-time. The difference is equivalent to the difference between the set of positive integers and the sequence 1,2,3,... . The latter begins at 1, while the former merely has a lower limit at 1.
We clearly need to distinguish between the atemporal universe and its temporal counterparts, since by 'universe' I mean the former and you don't. Let us, for now, call the latter the cosmos.
Whether or not a singularity ocurred at the big bang is both debated and irrelevant, since this would merely be a beginning for the cosmos and not the universe. For the universe, the big bang is simply the lower corner of some parameters.
Is this now understood?
Sigh... No. Time - well, Space-Time, since you bring Einstein into it - is an internal part of the universe's structure. The Big Bang is not where the universe began, it is merely a subdomain in which some parameters approach zero from our perspective. It is no more true to say that the universe began there than to say the unit circle began at (-1,0). You might want to google 'block universe' and stop referring to the bible everytime you're in danger of having to think logically.
The core of science is to figure out how.
No. Why should there be any need for a creation? Time being, as it is, part of the struture of the universe, it is senseless to talk about a time before it, or even the universe changing. It doesn't. The universe _is_. It always has been.
There is science and there is metaphysics. There's no need for magic sky men.
I was getting worried for a minute there, but to your credit you did seem to get the hang of them towards the end.
Goomail, Moogle, Screwyouihavelotsofmoneymail....