coldtrashpanda

coldtrashpanda t1_ixuncgx wrote

The theory basically says "the universe started out as a singularity, a point of infinite density where all of our knowledge of physics breaks down. Then all that energy, matter, and spacetime expanded outward."

It's the point at which reality twists beyond all recogniton. Reality includes time. Our personal clock started then for any practical purposes because to the best of our ability to study it, the point of arbitrary density included time being busted.

Whether existence is a cycle , whether our universe is floating ina higher dimensional space, etc, there could have been other places with their own time flowing. Those ideas are a million years beyond our ability to research so they're the realm of abstract math or daydreaming. Hypertime and previous universes just can't be a part of anything we do in the observable universe yet. We're compartmentalizing because omniscience is impossible.

If you feel like scientists are playing word games and are using a gross and weird definition of time, you're gonna have to learn to deal with it. People who do the research know the limitations of the models and just use the language that lets them talk to their peers without going nuts referring to "time before the universe" like flavor text in a video game.

If you feel like the public just doesn't understand this well enough: probably! Science writing for the public is an absolute nightmare of a job

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