My question is for Mr. Hawking:?

Question

My question is this. In your book, you theoretically explain the beginning of the universe, the cause and effect, et al. As you will agree, all things have a beginning. Thus, I am interested in knowing your theories of what took place before your explanation of the beginning. Despite what one's beliefs are, big bang, etc., what was the prelude to that? What was the cause of space? How did space begin? In this vast universe that you have written so much about, what began that?

Answer 1

Sorry, I'm not Mr. Hawking, but I have read Mr. Hawking and taken a few college-level physics courses. So until he posts his answer, I'll substitute a few of my thoughts, if that's ok.

The Big Bang was what scientists might refer to as a "singularity." Scientists can study things that happened from the time just after the Big Bang up to the present. However, the mind-boggling idea of all the stuff in the entire universe compressed into one tiny point at the moment of the Big Bang makes that moment--and all the moments (if any) BEFORE the Big Bang impossible to analyze by any of the tools we have at hand. Keep in mind that the post-Big Bang era is currently at over 13 billion years in length, so there is quite a bit of interesting stuff to study and be amazed by!

The fact of the singularity at the Big Bang tends to elevate "first cause" questions to the metaphysical level. There are a variety of explanations out there that attempt to come to grips with the "big" (or perhaps "biggest") picture. See "multiverse," "singularity," "black hole," "first cause," "relativity."

Answer 2

Joanne, I am not Mr. Hawkins, but I can tell you that the whole idea of time and space has been a conundrum that has been speculated on since Eistein. And basically what it comes down to, is 'what came first, the chicken or the egg'?' With our understanding in things as they are right now, I don't think if is yet possible or even feasible to mount a theory on what came before the Big Bang, if their even was one. Some astrophysicist and quantum physicist are now even starting to doubt that. I looks like to me that Hawkins is right and that space and time was and always is there, with no beginning or ending. We are not noteing the beginning, but just the changes time and space go through.

Answer 3

The "Theory of Multiplicity" which asserts at every microsecond or smaller point in time multiple events occur creating infinite time lines into the future. That is to say that as infinite as the universe is in size it is as infinite in alternate realities (outcomes).

My mathematically unproven theory is that these alternate realities are connected. For example a the energy sucked into a black hole(s) in our reality is actual funnelled into another reality where it could be the energy/matter source for the big bang in a brand new time line. Call it cosmic recycling. It would have no beginning, It will always have been.

Answer 4

Time starts at the beginning of the universe. Space starts at the beginning of the universe. Matter starts at the beginning of the universe. Everything starts at the beginning of the universe. There can be no before the beginning of the universe.