Has the question of how many SETI@home members believe in the Big Bang theory?
have any message threads been dedicated to the question? ....if so, where can I see it?
Do you believe in the Big Bang theory?
*For The Record*
I happen to believe it's utter nonsense. Infinity and Eternity does it for me every time

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Has the question of how many SETI@home members believe in the Big Bang theory?
have any message threads been dedicated to the question? ....if so, where can I see it?
Do you believe in the Big Bang theory?
*For The Record*
I happen to believe it's utter nonsense. Infinity and Eternity does it for me every time

Welcome to the forums Splotboy! You're so new you're shiny!!! :) I was like that once-upon-a-not-too-long-time-ago :)

I have an open-mind on this one I must admit. I think if what we can see is (or was) the result of a "big bang" it was not the first time it happened. I most definitely believe in infinity and eternity and I must admit to rather liking those theories that flirt with the idea that a black hole could collapse to the point where the only way left to go was to chuck everything back out again. But I'm no expert...

Lovely chatting to you! Have fun! :)

This is supposed to be science where there is or is not, there is no believing.

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Welcome Splottboy to the Forum!

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Oooh oooh, a quick chance to bung my 2C in...

The universe is infinite in all directions, it has always been there and always will be there. Now and again, in one part of the universe, a super massive blackhole collapses upon itself to such an extent that the gravity cannot contain all the matter in it, and it simply explodes, and spews the matter out in all directions. What we are currently observing is the remnants of our own local big bang some time ago. There are most likely other local big bangs going on elsewhere all over the universe. It is like a cauldron of soup bubbling on a stove.

I tend to agree with you Chris 100%.

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Cheers everybody
Life is short so don't sip
Beer speaks, people mumble

Oooh oooh, a quick chance to bung my 2C in...

The universe is infinite in all directions, it has always been there and always will be there. Now and again, in one part of the universe, a super massive blackhole collapses upon itself to such an extent that the gravity cannot contain all the matter in it, and it simply explodes, and spews the matter out in all directions. What we are currently observing is the remnants of our own local big bang some time ago. There are most likely other local big bangs going on elsewhere all over the universe. It is like a cauldron of soup bubbling on a stove.

I tend to agree with you Chris 100%.

Me too - and you did a much better job of putting it across than I did. Thanks :)

The universe is infinite in all directions,

Actually, our Universe is finite but unbounded.

Actually the universe is carried on the back of a turtle; Turtles all the way down.

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I tend to look at it the way Chris does with endless multiple big bangs. But a lot of recent discoveries have made that position hard to back up scientifically. My response to that is that there is still so very much we don't understand and a universe that just keeps expanding until all matter breaks down into nothing, to me, is not very elegant. But even if that is the fate of the universe it is billions of years in the future and I don't expect that man will be around that long.

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Bob DeWoody

My motto: Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow as it may not be required. This no longer applies in light of current events.

This is a very good explanation of where the Universe came from, and what its state will be. Of course, our knowledge of actual events is changing all the time, but this is some good science. The Interactive section is also quite good.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/space/history-universe.html

One point that stands out very clearly, is that the earth is really an insignificant lump of rock that will disappear hundreds of trillions of years before the universe goes dark and evaporates.

Steve

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Warning, addicted to SETI crunching!
Crunching as a member of GPU Users Group.
GPUUG Website

... One point that stands out very clearly, is that the earth is really an insignificant lump of rock that will disappear hundreds of trillions of years before the universe goes dark and evaporates.

OUCH!


Don't tell the (USA) Bible Belt!!!

All Science Funding and Science Learnin' will be BANNED! BANNED they'll tell ya all!


All on our only one planet,
Martin

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See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

If certain elements of our society could have their way all scientific funding would be terminated and all the scientists branded heretics. But fortunately that segment is much smaller than their loud voices lead outsiders to believe.

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Bob DeWoody

My motto: Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow as it may not be required. This no longer applies in light of current events.

This is a very good explanation of where the Universe came from, and what its state will be. Of course, our knowledge of actual events is changing all the time, but this is some good science. The Interactive section is also quite good.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/space/history-universe.html

One point that stands out very clearly, is that the earth is really an insignificant lump of rock that will disappear hundreds of trillions of years before the universe goes dark and evaporates.

Steve

Oh... does that include the turtles then?

( :) forgot that bit in Brief History of Time, thanks Batterup)

A Big Bang advocate over here:)

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In my mind, the task is to follow the evidence. The universe is expanding, which states that it was smaller in the past. The rate of expansion is increasing, and we still don't know why. The observable evidence, including the radio background radiation being everywhere, indicates a very dense beginning. Density of that magnitude means extreme heat. With that much heat and density knowledge of physics grows weak. That is why we can understand the physics a trillionth, of a trillionth, of a trillionths of a second after the initial event, and through the present and future, but not at or before the event.

In a court of law, lawyers do their best to present evidence, and a determination by judge or jury is based on the evidence presented. There are many cases where years after a conviction, new evidence comes to light that can sometimes clear the person of having committed the crime. The best tool we have is to follow the evidence, and test it as we can. By performing experiments in physics, coupled with observation, the result that most fits is that there was a huge explosion that started everything.

I have also heard it described as a version of string theory. The basis for string theory is that matter changes based on the frequency of tiny strings. There are 6 different string theories, and they are not compatible with each other. By involving 11 dimensions, the math works out, and the strings are replaced by membranes. If two membranes were oscillating next to each other, and touched, that would change the frequency of their vibrations at the point of contact. It is like two sheets blowing in the wind. The point at which the sheets touched like a ripple, would become the existing universe. This is only a possible theory, like the big bang. I am not aware of any other theories than meet the observable or mathematical evidence.

A brief time line of events:
The initial event was 13.75 billion years ago.

The earth was formed 4.5 billion years ago, and is still forming today.

Man was first on the earth roughly 1 million years ago.

All recorded history spans just a few thousand years.

In 5 to 7 billion years, our sun will use up its hydrogen fuel and expand into a red giant, engulfing and incinerating the earth.

At some point all the stars will run out of their fuel, and die one of several possible deaths due completely to their size.

Red dwarf stars, which are smaller than typical stars, burn cooler, and thus will last for trillions of years instead of billions.

Brown dwarf stars will last longer, and black holes will be the last remnants of the universe, and eventually they will evaporate.

The total time is about 10^100 years.

The entire existence of this planet, and all life on it is only about a millisecond out of a trillion year time span. This is where we get by following the evidence. If our perception of the evidence changes, then we may more accurately understand where we came from, where we are, and where we are going.

Steve

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Warning, addicted to SETI crunching!
Crunching as a member of GPU Users Group.
GPUUG Website

Models are not the REAL thing, they are an amusing imitation.

Everything existing in the memory of your computer is not the "REAL thing" either. Maybe you are not real, but just a program.

At any rate, saying that it is not the "real thing" is rather remarkable. How about Newton's Laws? Are they the "real thing"? How about Darwin? How "real" do you want?

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Newtons laws are not in contention here, neither is Darwins natural selection. What I am challenging is theoretical mathematicians just making numbers on a piece of paper add up.

I think anything you put on a piece of paper or in a computer memory is an abstraction. All engineering designs for building, bridges and rocket ships to the moon are an abstraction. And all scientific theories, or hypothesis to be more accurate, are an abstraction (so is Shakespeare).

The question is how accurately do they represent reality. You have to do tests to determine that. The ones that model the early universe are not easy to test, and there are a lot of them. So it will take time to sort them out. But that does not mean they are not as scientific as Newton's laws were at one point. Certainly Galileo had his problems getting his ideas accepted, as do all other new ideas that we now accept as fact. About the only exception I can think of are all the screwball ideas that appeal to peoples' preconceived notions. They get accepted right away.

P.S. - You may be quite right that all the current ideas are wrong. But I am not at the level of astrophysics to be able to determine that, so I will have to just hold the question open for the time being.

A Majority of Americans Still Aren't Sure About the Big Bang



A majority of Americans don't believe in even the most fundamental discovery of 20th century physics, which 99.9 percent of members of the National Academies of Sciences do: that our universe began with an enormous explosion, the Big Bang.

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/04/a-majority-of-americans-question-the-science-of-the-big-bang/360976/

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I'm not convinced that the number of Americans who reject the scientific evidence is that high nationwide. But it troubles me that so many, on the one hand believe in the literal interpretation of the bible, and on the other hand live such unchristian lives in their daily routine.

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Bob DeWoody

My motto: Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow as it may not be required. This no longer applies in light of current events.

The concept of in-finite or in-finity is totally alien to us

1/0 = infinity. Most people don't understand math but they do understand arithmetic.

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