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ORIGINAL: superdan

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ORIGINAL: Larry Of Arabia
... and as a guess is subject to being completely dismissed.

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ORIGINAL: BigKovacs
God has to be proven to exist before claims can be made on its input in the universe. Seeing as no one has managed that it can be dismissed out of hand.

Which would be pointless, as there is no evidence of anything else either, at all. There is no better or worse argument. You can simply dismiss it of course (as indeed I would be inclined to do), but doing so in this instance does little other than to merely demonstrate a certain prejudicial stance. There is no proof of anything when it comes to the principle start of the Universe, unlike evolution etc.

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Also 'goddidit' is borderig on the absurd, the word God be interchanged with literally anything, Zeus, Cthulu, Katie Price, whatever.

'God' is just a word obviously, the point was more to do with what it represents.

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ORIGINAL: BigKovacs

There are theories that the universe has always existed, negating the need for a creator, this will most likely change over time but it still beats and notion of a first cause god.

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ORIGINAL: Dpp1978
There are certainly times where calling a person a cunt is not only reasonable, it is a gross understatement.

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ORIGINAL: elab49
I really wish I could go down to see Privates

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ORIGINAL: superdan

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ORIGINAL: BigKovacs

There are theories that the universe has always existed, negating the need for a creator, this will most likely change over time but it still beats and notion of a first cause god.

Where's the proof though?

Edit: The notion of an infinite universe that somehow had no beginning and will have no end is almost as difficult to stomach as some supreme being.

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ORIGINAL: BigKovacs

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ORIGINAL: superdan

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ORIGINAL: BigKovacs

There are theories that the universe has always existed, negating the need for a creator, this will most likely change over time but it still beats and notion of a first cause god.

Where's the proof though?

Edit: The notion of an infinite universe that somehow had no beginning and will have no end is almost as difficult to stomach as some supreme being.

It's a theory so it's based on some facts that we already know, even if it is pretty hat stand.

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There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable.
There is another theory which states that this has already happened.

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ORIGINAL: horribleives

Where do these hardline clerics stand on unnecessary apostrophes?

That deep-browed Homer ruled as his demesne.


TREK WARS

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ORIGINAL: homersimpson_esq

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ORIGINAL: horribleives

Where do these hardline clerics stand on unnecessary apostrophes?

Thank GOD someone mentioned this. I was dying here.

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ORIGINAL: Lazarus munkey

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ORIGINAL: homersimpson_esq

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ORIGINAL: horribleives

Where do these hardline clerics stand on unnecessary apostrophes?

Thank GOD someone mentioned this. I was dying here.

There, they're, their...

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ORIGINAL: Skiba

One, won,

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ORIGINAL: homersimpson_esq

What really bakes my noggin is the whole infinite, beginning, beyond the universe, type thoughts. So The Big Bang started everything. But, like, what was before that? I mean, really, that's a mindfuck. The idea that there was nothing. Not "a vast empty space full of nothing", but actually nothing. Just, no concept of time or space or existence or anything, just...nothing. And then, suddenly, everything. How did the everything happen? It's just.... O_o

And then, once we accept that things exist, and that the universe is expanding, the whole "beyond the edge of the universe" thing. What's beyond the universe? It's that nothing again. Not "emptiness", but nothing. Literally nothing. I really struggle with that idea of a finite universe. Because to have boundaries it implies something else is out there. Yet the very idea that the universe is EVERYTHING means there cannot be anything else out there. Because this is it.

This is an interesting webpage about the big bang theory - http://www.big-bang-theory.com/ What is interesting is where the knowledge breaks down. So many unknowns, uncertainties.

What I dislike is the idea that people take away that God is the bearded guy. That he's something knowable, something comprehendable. He isn't. And I say "he" just because saying "it" seems wrong. There's a temptation to take a very simplistic view, a reductive argument, at something that is the most complex thing of all.

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ORIGINAL: sanchia

Isn't the theory that this Universe is just one of many which have existed in that it is in a permanent state of expansion and compression? The Universe expands from the Big Bang and then at a certain point it contracts back to a single point of highly compressed matter and then expands again in an eternal cycle. (It appears this was the theory put forward by Roger Penrose).

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ORIGINAL: sanchia

Isn't the theory that this Universe is just one of many which have existed in that it is in a permanent state of expansion and compression? The Universe expands from the Big Bang and then at a certain point it contracts back to a single point of highly compressed matter and then expands again in an eternal cycle. (It appears this was the theory put forward by Roger Penrose).

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ORIGINAL: DancingClown

Homer summed it up perfectly for me. The notion that there was nothing before the big bang is impossible to grasp, being that 'nothing' or even 'oblivion' are still concepts and you still can't have 'nothing' without some actuality for the 'nothing' to exist in itself. It's a massive contradiction.

Think about it too long and my brain starts weeing.

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ORIGINAL: Rinc

I've heard theories that the universe is never ending and if you went to the edge of it you'd just end up back on the other side or something like that. Does. Not. Compute.

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ORIGINAL: Lazarus munkey

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ORIGINAL: sanchia

Isn't the theory that this Universe is just one of many which have existed in that it is in a permanent state of expansion and compression? The Universe expands from the Big Bang and then at a certain point it contracts back to a single point of highly compressed matter and then expands again in an eternal cycle. (It appears this was the theory put forward by Roger Penrose).

As I understand it, the most popular theory is known as the 'heat death' of the universe which involves constant expansion until all of the energy has been used up. Galaxies drift further and further apart until they are alone in the observable universe, i.e. you can't see any others. This would take trillions of years and the universe today is still relatively young in this model.

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ORIGINAL: Rinc

Something like that. No matter what I read on the subject, none of it makes any more sense to me. And I like to think I'm an intelligent guy, but this is something that is beyond my comprehension.

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ORIGINAL: Lazarus munkey

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ORIGINAL: Rinc

Something like that. No matter what I read on the subject, none of it makes any more sense to me. And I like to think I'm an intelligent guy, but this is something that is beyond my comprehension.

The key to begin getting your head around it is to appreciate that matter does not exist in space and time, more that space, time, energy and matter are all part of the same thing and are inextricably linked as opposed to separate entities.
The universe is finite but boundless, which is to say it is not infinite but there's no edge to reach.
Imagine travelling the surface of the Earth. Assuming you can cross oceans and mountains, you would travel forever, theoretically as the surface of the Earth is finite but boundless. The key is trying to imagine the same idea with an extra dimension. It can be demonstrated mathematically but can't be drawn.

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ORIGINAL: superdan

Though if it is expanding (as it appears to be), presumably there must be something it is expanding into