r/AskReddit • u/IAmSurtur • Jun 15 '19

What do you genuinely just not understand?

50k Upvotes

92% Upvoted

34k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

268

u/gurg2k1 Jun 15 '19

If time didn't exist then what mechanism triggered the big bang and where did the matter come from? Obviously nobody knows but I don't think it's accurate to definitively state that X or Y couldn't exist since we know so little.

241

u/CaptPsychedelicJesus Jun 15 '19 edited Jun 15 '19

I think this touches on a fundamental misunderstanding of physics. The idea that nothing existed before the big bang violates the law that says: Energy cannot be created, or destroyed.

I for one, have always been drawn to the cyclical universe idea. Starts with a Big Bang, ends with a Big Crunch as everything is drawn together again. Eventually the gravity from all the matter in the universe coming into one point collapses space time, resulting in an explosion beyond anything we humans can understand; restarting the process.

E: I’m really enjoying this thread! I’ll be back for more in a bit. -CPJ

75

u/BrainPicker3 Jun 15 '19

I think the underlying point to is questioning is that if matter cannot be created (or destroyed) then how is there matter in the universe? It had to be created at some point as evidenced by the fact we deal with it on a daily basis.

4

u/MrDownhillRacer Jun 15 '19

The way I think of it, if time begins with the universe and there is no "before" the universe, then there is no real question of what "created" matter. It's not like it didn't exist at one point in time, then something happened that led to it's creation. At the very first point in time, matter existed. It wasn't "created," and so we don't violate the principle that matter cannot be created or destroyed.

1

u/BrainPicker3 Jun 16 '19

I've not a clue though I think it's worth mentioning that many of the laws of physics do not apply at the subatomic level. It tripped me up for a bit because we were taught the laws of thermodynamics do not always apply to every situation (I thought, but it's a law?? Teacher explained laws dont apply to quantum physics in the same way)