Cosmologic philosophy: dark matter first (Introduction)

by dhw, Wednesday, August 14, 2019, 13:27 (1928 days ago) @ David Turell

dhw: I think there is confusion all round. If there was a Big Bang, there must have been a “before the Big Bang”, which means time did not start with the Big Bang, unless you believe in an effect without a cause. Nobody has a clue what existed before the Big Bang, but since “dark energy” and “dark matter” simply mean something we know nothing about, we might just as well say that the Big Bang, if it happened, and the resultant progression of universe to Milky Way to Planet Earth to bacteria to humans and the duckbilled platypus were the result of unknown forces. That, I suggest, is a precise description of our knowledge at the moment.

DAVID: 'Effect without cause'? Commented upon as a true Agnostic. How about a timeless eternal God as the cause?

dhw: Yes, yes, we’ve been over that a thousand times. The alternative first cause is mindless energy and matter infinitely and eternally forming new combinations. Now please tell me if you believe the Big Bang was an effect without a cause, and therefore marked the beginning of time. Meanwhile, would you agree that my summary, beginning “nobody has a clue…” provides a precise description of our knowledge at the moment?

DAVID: The Big Bang had a cause, God. You ask for proof, and are correct, no one has it.

You might just as well say the Big Bang had a cause, the mindless interplay of energy and matter. You ask for proof, no one has it.

So nobody has a clue…etc.