did the big bang really happen?

Question

i think its just an attempt to form a reference point....its hard for me to believe that everything in the universe sprung out of nothingness all at once like that....if there was no time or space or matter or energy or anything before the big bang then what do you call that period? why would all of this stuff just appear suddenly when there was nothing before it to serve as a catalyst? seems strange to me that science could cling to a theory so subjective......i'm not looking for the christian angle here, i'd rather get some informed physics or astronomy type answers.....and thanks!!!!

Answer 1

Need there have been anything before the big bang. If there was no time, 'before' the big bang is not something worthy of examination. The precise moment of the big bang is what needs to be examined, but I find that the easiest way to imagine it is that everything did exist, it was just compressed into an infinitely small space - so is referred to as being 'nothing' solely because it had no dimensions. Having no dimensions does not mean that it didn't exist though, because, for example, light has no dimensions. But light exists. In the same way, all of everything did then exist, because it did still have energy. And it was the energy that caused the rapid expansion that is referred to as the 'big bang'.

Answer 2

Hi Larry -

Well - as usual, we don't know everything about it, but we're trying. The theory is the best that fits all the existing observed data. The theory probably originated from the observation that virtually all the galaxies are receding from us, and the further away they are, the faster they are receding. This means that the universe is expanding, at least in our part of it. After the theory was developed, the cosmic background microwave radiation was discovered, which was precisely what the theory predicted (in fact, folks were searching for it to support the theory when it was sort of stumbled upon by communications guys trying to reduce ambient noise). So that's strong evidence. This background radiation is exactly what you asked about in your earlier question, i.e. the "light" from the original expansion.

So far, the theory fits the observations; I have difficulty at the nanosecond level where the physics is supposedly being created. I think that will be tough to prove, since the physics is whatever someone thinks it is, but if anyone has any better ideas and would like to spend a lifetime working on it to PROVE it (not just proclaim it), you might be able to help us all.

Answer 3

Wow, most of those answers sucked. Especially considering that you said 'no religion'.

Yes, as far as we can tell, from all the evidence we have gathered (and that's a lot), the big bang happened. It's not a question of religion because we actually do have evidence.

The first piece of evidence that everything began somewhere was Hubble's observation that all the galaxies he observed were moving away from us. That means that all the galaxies would observe that - all the other galaxies moving away. That means everything must have once been much closer. Extrapolate that back enough, and you get a point that everything expanded from.

The second big piece of evidence was the observation of the cosmic microwave background - the universe is slowly cooling off. That means it must have once been hotter. Much hotter, in fact.

So there you go. Once the universe was smaller and hotter. Sure, those are very simple terms, but a lot of very complicated math went into figuring out just how small and hot - and you get a singularity.

It didn't all just appear from nowhere; the best supported theory is that our universe emerged from the collapse of a previous universe. It's not nearly as subjective as people think - otherwise, it wouldn't be science. But way too many people never bother looking into it. Kudos for bothering.

Answer 4

First of all ,. and this is my view by the way,.there is no such thing as nothingness,.never has been , never will be,. a lot of people,.physicists included seem to come off like space for example is empty,. they refer to space that does not contain planets or star...etc ..ect..as a void, this is not a realistic view in my opinion,.. because Space is Full of Space simply because we cannot adequately describe Space,.does not mean it does not exist,.. yet Scientists talk as if it doesn't. The book of genesis in the Bible says.. and i quote.."In the beginning there was Darkness,"..Darkness is the absence of light,. yet Darkness is also a tangible concept,.without Darkness there would be no separation of one thing from another thing,...in other words it is the difference between lignt and dark that describes the physical world we see with our eyes,. All things be they atoms,.or whatever,.. came from the so called Nothing,.or Space,.exactly how something can come from nothing is the greatest question of all,.answer that question and you will have explained not only the true nature of the Physical,. but also the True Nature of the Meta-physical.

Answer 5

well if you believe either the big bang or religion than you believe that the world sprung from nothing. and since there wa no time before it there would be no prior period. and some theories have come up with what could have caused the big bang, non of them really wideley accepted. for instances the multiple universe theory says that there was several universes around this one and 2 of the collided and caused a massive shockwave of energy that triggered the big bang. the string and m-theory says that 2 'branes' collided and triggered it.

but they can stick to it because if you really think about it, it makes just as much sense as religion. science says a small particle screated everything and anything, and religion says that god did. the only difference is that science is based on information and observation, not faith.

Answer 6

In the first place, you have no "period" to call anything before the big bang. If time did not exist then it is meaningless to even talk about before the big bang. There was no "before".
You also can't talk about a catalyst causing this. Existence has no meaning before the big bang. The instant of the big bang there was a singularity and whatever instability that caused it to explode. It was all simultaneous. This, of course, comes more under the heading of philosophy than science since it is impossible to know anything before or at the instant of the big bang.

Answer 7

There are some very good answers above. I have to same problem you have and every night I fall asleep trying to figure out how the singularity came into being. Science gives no credibility to there being a perfect void, that does not mean that such a thing never existed. I offer you something to dwell on, if there was such a void, why could not some kind of great stress develop in it to cause the creation of the bubble of energy known as the singularity?

Answer 8

There are so many good answers here. To sum them up in a nice way:
The Big Bang can not be proved or explained by scientific physics. It's a question of philosophy if we are inclined to believe this theory.
I for myself do not believe that all the energy (or matter or matter+energy combination that is now apparent in the universe was there at the starting moment of big bang in singularity of no dimension. I mean not in a ball of one foot or one inch diameter - no "Big-Bangers" postulate all was suddenly there concentrated in matter and energy with near zero dimension.
Then furthermore the whole arrangement and patterns of the billions of galaxies and galaxy clusters can not be explained in a meaningful and acceptable way by "accidental" expansion and natural arrangement.
The theory of Big-Bang belongs into the same field as creation. = philosophy

Answer 9

well we couldn't tell exactly because it's still a thoery. all of these thoeries (even the christian theories) are not yet proven.

Answer 10

No. It does not seem realistic.