tiled_rainbows's Journal: Before the big bang

This was originally written as a post in response to someone claiming that the Big Bang theory rested on a "leap of faith" because it couldn't say what happened before the big bang. It pretty quickly (and fairly) got modded offtopic, but I like it, so I thought I'd put it here instead.

what happened before Creation?

Small Kid: "What's North of the North pole, daddy?"

Dad: "Nothing, son. you can't go North of the North Pole."

SK: "yeah, but, daddy, suppose you did? What would be there?"

Dad: "Nothing."

SK: "You mean, like, a big empty space?"

Dad: "No, I don't mean a big empty space, I mean, no space at all, nothing, there's nothing North of the North Pole becuase that's as North as you can get."

SK: "So, if you're at the North Pole, and you go North, which direction do you go in?"

Dad: "You CAN'T go North of the North pole, because there is no North from there!"

SK: "So, suppose you're half a mile south of the North Pole, and you walk North for a mile, where are you?"

Dad: "You're still half a mile South of the North pole, but on the other side."

update: Moderation now (22 Jan 04) stands at 30% funny, 30% offtopic, 20% overrated, score 1: insightful. Not sure how that works or what it means but it's most definitely the weirdest moderation I've ever got.

What?

[Feztaa]

So, are you trying to say that if we were half an hour from the big bang, and we went back one hour in time, we'd still be half an hour away from the big bang, but on the other side? :)

Re:What?

[tiled_rainbows]

you know, I might be saying exactly that. I'm not sure. I remember reading a brief history of time a long long time ago, and hawking said something about imaginary time, which, I think, was a bit like imaginary numbers, in that it could be seen as at right angles to the normal time continuum. Or something - the only area in which my ignorance is more apparent than in physics is mathematics.

So yeah, that might be where the analogy breaks down, but it's the easiest way I've found tothink about the idea that

Magnetic North or True North?

[Talking Toaster]

Or does it make a difference?

Was there a big crunch before the big bang?

Can you post a link to the discussion?
I'm curious about it.
Maybe I should suggest that instead of a big bang there was a toaster.

Re:Magnetic North or True North?

[tiled_rainbows]

Here you go. [slashdot.org]

Since I last posted, it seems that there was a whole thread that veered wildly OT and into the implications of the existence of extraterrestrial life for religion. There's lots of "God's real!" "No he's not!" "yes he is!" "and yo momma!" -type flaming, but also some interesting stuff there, too.