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When a curious boy was told by his parents that the universe had
neither beginning nor end, he was as satisfied as they. However, later,
he asked them how they knew that.
He was then told that it is a belief in the Hindu faith as they knew it; and they had been taught that both through books and sundry gurus. The boy noted that, like most other religionists, his people were focused upon the rituals carried out by their priests, which offered the solace and security they sought; yet, there were others in the clan who were interested in the place of mankind in the Cosmos.
As he grew up, he noted, as an aside, that their priests did not seek to control or direct the people, or even tell them what should do about their lives. Their role was to perform appropriate rituals. It was the astrologers who, after completing their calculations based on the minute of a client's birth, who were known to offer advice as to future personal actions. The priests also did not attempt, commendably, to convert those of other faiths to Hinduism. Perhaps they were aware that the size of a religious sect, each based on a variation of a single belief, may matter only in terms of political influence; but that the religious path one is on would not make one iota of difference in terms of where one is going (or not going).
As the boy grew up, he discovered that the belief in the Western world in the then prevailing Stationary State Theory about the cosmology of the universe is just that - a belief. It was comparable to his family's belief in a universe that is ever-existing. Both beliefs offered durability with an implied stability. Were both Westerners and Easterners unaware of the complex cosmology of Hinduism, which spoke of durability, but with disastrous repeated instability?
This Hindu view is clearly also a matter of belief because it is un-testable. How is one to prove that the universe will stop growing temporarily after 4.32 billion years, be in suspense for an equivalent period, and then be renewed, this cycle of 8.64 billion years to be repeated until a total collapse of the Cosmos (including possibly multiple universes) after 311.04 trillion years?
However, when the Big Bang Theory came into vogue, he read that there is evidence to back it. A claimed expansion of space was seen to be taking 'visible' galaxies away from one another at an increasing pace. However, this theory seems to be based on yet another belief - of an inexplicable 'singularity' which burst forth into an expanding space together with cooling and coalescing matter, to become the universe as we know it.
What is this singularity? An improbably tiny spot, whose origin is unexplained. It is believed to have just happened. What caused it to then blossom forth, and what was there before, are said to be meaningless questions.
Some claim that space, and even time, resulted from, or were associated with, the explosion of the singularity. The so-called Big Bang (probably a misnomer) led ultimately to the creation of the universe. Since space, whatever its origin, is expanding faster than its material contents, visible galaxies are accepted as moving away from one another, and at increasing speed.
How do the scientists know all this? From some observed evidence, and calculating backwards in time. Given the mystical nature of the inferred singularity, is the Big Bang Theory any more than a belief, but more credible than so many other human beliefs?
Belief does not equate to reliable knowledge. Knowledge is not necessarily equivalent to understanding. Seeking a place for mankind in the universe is a desirable hope, but how can we know that we belong?
He was then told that it is a belief in the Hindu faith as they knew it; and they had been taught that both through books and sundry gurus. The boy noted that, like most other religionists, his people were focused upon the rituals carried out by their priests, which offered the solace and security they sought; yet, there were others in the clan who were interested in the place of mankind in the Cosmos.
As he grew up, he noted, as an aside, that their priests did not seek to control or direct the people, or even tell them what should do about their lives. Their role was to perform appropriate rituals. It was the astrologers who, after completing their calculations based on the minute of a client's birth, who were known to offer advice as to future personal actions. The priests also did not attempt, commendably, to convert those of other faiths to Hinduism. Perhaps they were aware that the size of a religious sect, each based on a variation of a single belief, may matter only in terms of political influence; but that the religious path one is on would not make one iota of difference in terms of where one is going (or not going).
As the boy grew up, he discovered that the belief in the Western world in the then prevailing Stationary State Theory about the cosmology of the universe is just that - a belief. It was comparable to his family's belief in a universe that is ever-existing. Both beliefs offered durability with an implied stability. Were both Westerners and Easterners unaware of the complex cosmology of Hinduism, which spoke of durability, but with disastrous repeated instability?
This Hindu view is clearly also a matter of belief because it is un-testable. How is one to prove that the universe will stop growing temporarily after 4.32 billion years, be in suspense for an equivalent period, and then be renewed, this cycle of 8.64 billion years to be repeated until a total collapse of the Cosmos (including possibly multiple universes) after 311.04 trillion years?
However, when the Big Bang Theory came into vogue, he read that there is evidence to back it. A claimed expansion of space was seen to be taking 'visible' galaxies away from one another at an increasing pace. However, this theory seems to be based on yet another belief - of an inexplicable 'singularity' which burst forth into an expanding space together with cooling and coalescing matter, to become the universe as we know it.
What is this singularity? An improbably tiny spot, whose origin is unexplained. It is believed to have just happened. What caused it to then blossom forth, and what was there before, are said to be meaningless questions.
Some claim that space, and even time, resulted from, or were associated with, the explosion of the singularity. The so-called Big Bang (probably a misnomer) led ultimately to the creation of the universe. Since space, whatever its origin, is expanding faster than its material contents, visible galaxies are accepted as moving away from one another, and at increasing speed.
How do the scientists know all this? From some observed evidence, and calculating backwards in time. Given the mystical nature of the inferred singularity, is the Big Bang Theory any more than a belief, but more credible than so many other human beliefs?
Belief does not equate to reliable knowledge. Knowledge is not necessarily equivalent to understanding. Seeking a place for mankind in the universe is a desirable hope, but how can we know that we belong?
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