Why is there anything at all? (Introduction)

by David Turell , Wednesday, June 11, 2008, 14:02 (6008 days ago) @ George Jelliss

If I may summarize George's position: There must be something before the Big Bang. There cannot be a quantum fluctuation to start our universe without quanta. Therefore, in a sense, Einstein's original assumption that the universe is eternal is in a way correct. Something is eternal. A multiverse is an eternal possibility. An undescribed quantum state is an eternal possibility. The theist position is that there is an eternal God. Reasonably we come back to Pascal's 50/50 wager. The natural materialists want an eternal something and so do the theists. Interpretation of the evidence is then based on personal preference, which is why the decision for belief or un-belief must be based on more evidence than cosmologic origins. The design of the universe and the design of life strongly suggest a designer. Once again personal preference comes to play, but I think the odds are no longer 50/50. The design we see, if by chance, is mathematically impossible, using Borel's 10 to the minus 50, or Dembski's 10 to the minus 150. For example Roger Penrose concluates the odds against the initial conditions to start the universe at 10 to the minus 123.