So what's the deal with the Big Bang Theory anyway?

Question

I am, in my own opinion, a relatively open minded person. I am also a Christain who still maintains that open mindedness, contrary to popular non-Christain belief. I started research on the Big Bang Theory and the event itself (the literal bang), and in my opinion it has been proven to be true. I had to scatch my head though because of this line, and I quote, "Prior to that moment there was nothing; during and after that moment there was something: our universe. The big bang theory is an effort to explain what happened during and after that moment." I thought Newton's first law of motion says an object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. So what acted on the universe to cause it to bang? I'm as open minded as the next guy, science says the universe began with "atoms",the bible starts the world with "Adam", so is there just a dark spot in science?

Even after all these answers and me doing more research, the point plagues me...if the universe was in a tiny ball, what was holding the universe? I've read it was in an infinite void, something about M-theory dealing with coliiding energies, some just says the universe has always existed. None of these answers help me understand the Big Bang theory. I don't see how scientist can sleep at night. :)

Answer 1

You're nailing it -- the mystery of existence. Time and space came into being w/ the universe (makes your head spin when we think it makes sense to posit a 'before' the big bang or, just as weird, 'what' is the universe expanding into if space doesn't existing 'outside'). No matter what we believe, we're left w/ the fact that something - god, process, whatever - always existed (I used to try and think about this when I was a kid and it would get me panicky). One zen master told us, very matter-of-factly, that if the universe ended, there would still be 'buddha nature' (god, tao, whatever you want to call it). THIS is the thing that has always existed and has no form, no energy, no time, no space -- and the realization that people have with a direct enlightenment experience is that this thing IS everything INCLUDING them.

Answer 2

Look into 'zero point energy'. particles and anti-particles pop in and out of existence all the time, then mutually annihilate one-another... so, for all intents and purposes, they are 'virtual' particles... they do not 'really' exist... EXCEPT when this occurs at the event horizon of a black hole, one of the pair might end up inside the event horizon, and the other zipping off into space as an 'actual' particle. Thus, there is reason to suppose that the same thing can happen to universes. Also... the energy-balance of the universe is 'zero'... there is no violation of conseration of energy.

Newton's first law of motion doesn't have anything to do with the initial moments of the universe. There was no explosion, such as a chemical explosion... there was an instantaneous expansion of 'space'. It was not the 'contents' of the universe that went 'bang' and exploded and were created... it was the universe itself that came into existence. Matter as we know it did not exist for quite a long time after the initial expansion. It was basically 'quark soup'. As the expansion went on, the universe eventually cooled... just like gas gools if you increase the volume that contains it... and simple elements began to form... mostly hydrogen, a little helium. Then, Newton's laws and gravity and such started to kick in.

Ha... just thought of something... look at this NOVA video: NOVA: Origins: Back to the Beginning
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8115867837891986758&q=big+bang

Answer 3

Actually, the Big Bang Theory doesn't really say that there was nothing before "the Bang." It just says that at one time in the distant past all matter which we can currently see, including that found in stars billions of light years away, was confined within a very small area.

It doesn't say how it got there or that it didn't exist before that point. That fact of the matter is that we just don't know what the universe was like before that point. People have posed various different hypothesis about what caused it to happen (such as the one posted by Mirage above), but so far they haven't really found a way to test those ideas.

Answer 4

Im in the same boat with you, I am a christian although i always question about certain things. The big bang theory according you what I know is that thge universe was a compacted primidorial soup of quarks and electrically charged particles. What I don't understand is that how does a molecular level blob consisting of only a few quarks and unknown particles (which if according to the big bang theory is supposed to be the immobile because the universe is not existential)interfere with newton's laws of motions and all of sudden turn into an infinite space. The big bang theory proposes an infinite space born of a finite enclosed space in which it could have never existed because there was no universe to begin with. You can tell that this isn't a withstanding theory because it leads to other unanswered questions and unthinkable porposals. My only theory is that time is endless which is believable seeing that time is the measurement between two intervals. A theory I have checked out that fits this concept is that the universe is an infinite space and in order to grow it has to be constantly moving, hence the newtons law of motion and hubble's constant, and that eventually it will use up all of it's expendable energy and would eventually have to reverse it's action in order to compact it's energy into a high concentration to so it can then create more energy to then start to grow again. Because if all motion in the universe ceases then time would have to stop. This is a proposed theory I have checked out that I thought was pretty cool. Hope you found it interesting.

Answer 5

We don't know for sure.

But, you need a vague understanding of quantum mechanics.

The energy was always in motion, actually. There were quantum effects acting on the energy at the beginning of the universe, as it was contained within a line of planck time (1.6x10^-34 meters).

Quantum effects simply means the energy was displacing itself completely randomly. This is what happens to things on very small scales; they act completely randomly. I think it was proposed by S.Hawking that the big bang could have been caused by a large enough fluctuation caused by the quantum effects.

Or so we think.


We can't directly observe and study the big bang though, only everything a trillionth of a second after it. That is why it is so difficult to understand how it actually happened.


But applying newtons first law it seems sort of impossible that a God would be able to exist then, now doesn't it?

Answer 6

You're stating a common misconception: under the law of conservation of mass and energy and the simple logic principal that "something cannot come from nothing," the most scientific and logical explanation is that the matter which constitutes the universe has always existed. The big bang theory is used to show how this matter spread out and formed into our present universe. Here is a fascinating site on this issue: http://www.thekeyboard.org.uk/Where%20universe%20from.htm

Answer 7

Okay, first I want to say this: If there was nothing before the bang and then there was something after it and that is what created our universe I should be able to take two rocks and smash them together at a high rate and create a living organism. That is more of a mathematical deduction than science though. Second, I too question some things about my faith and how certain things are possible or if they are true, however, I would rather continue to believe what I have been taught as a Christian and be wrong and have nothing happen to me rather than NOT believe in God and his creations and be wrong and end up in Hell.

Answer 8

like the call says, it extremely is a concept. no person mentioned it extremely is reality. In technological know-how we classify recommendations which at the instant are not completely shown as concept and recommendations that are shown to be rules (ie. Newton's regulation of gravity). actual in terms of evidence, the great bang concept has maximum of unknowns like how the inflation era of the 1st few seconds worked, and so on.. What all of us be attentive to is in all probability under even a million% of the information. whether the explanation why the great bang concept is popular via maximum scientist is with the help of the fact it relatively is the thought maximum suitable suits what we notice. Its extra like " it relatively is what we see" than a "it relatively is what got here approximately". for that reason as a fashion to proceed gaining knowledge of on different phenomenas, scientist assume that the thought is right till shown incorrect. it relatively is the comparable with Einstein's theories which appeared like mambo jambo on the time. in reality till now all human beings remains arguing how precise is Einstein. whether via assuming Einstein's theories are frequently precise, we've geared up many technologies like the computer chip, laser...and so on Its the comparable with Newton,in case you relatively learn newton's rules, contemporary technological know-how can prepare that newton's regulation do no longer artwork completely on the very small (electrons) and intensely huge scales (universe). yet for ninety 9% of the universe, newton's rules artwork, so we are in a position to nevertheless use it to calculate the wear and tear of a vehicle crash as an occasion. Its the comparable with the great bang, the thought is extra a pragmatic theory particularly than some idealogical one. no you could actually say that it extremely is reality, yet via assuming that it got here approximately, we are in a position to proceed exploring and come out with functional technologies. the only rationalization why the great bang concept is so arguable is with the help of pseudo-religious people who attempt to create some meaning of existence concept at the back of it.

Answer 9

God created the heaven and the earth. (the universe) And the earth was without form, and void, (the singularity that was the material of all that is in the universe), and darkness was upon the face of the deep (the single mass was dense and void of light)..."and God said, let there be light!".

BANG!!

The singularity exploded sending matter to the ends of the universe.
And the rest is history.

PS -- Dr. Hawking came up with a similar conclusion. He stated, (although he does use the term 'God' as a metaphor), that something HAD to create the singularity that began everything. It is, after all, the only LOGICAL solution.

Answer 10

If you post this question in science category you can get a better answer. For me I believe in science and in the Bang theory. I prefer to believe in something by proof instead of faith. The principal reason is that science is not perfect, like humans and all the living things on this planet. Faith in contradiction is static and your are supposed to believe without questioning the Sacred Books.