Dec. 18: The Big Bang Theory
So apparently there's this show on TV called The Big Bang Theory and
it's about nerds who live in an apartment and one of them wears a Green
Lantern shirt a lot. Also there's a girl across the hall and she is not a
nerd and I bet she is physically attracted to non-nerds but she can't
help but feel a deeper connection with the nerds in the apartment across
the hall from her.
I tend to not absorb a whole lot of pop culture. I have never seen an episode of Friends or a complete episode of Seinfeld, Family Guy or Breaking Bad. When I go to the movies, I favour foreign films with English subtitles. I have not seen Titanic or Back to the Future but I like James Bond. I guess James Bond is about as pop culture as I get.
So maybe I should just spend some time talking about the actual big bang theory, which is a pretty nifty way to explain the origin of the universe. This theory holds that billions and billions of years ago, all matter was contained in one very small point. Then it exploded and matter flew everywhere and then it started to cool off and then sub-atomic particles formed and then atoms formed and then we had the sun and the moon and the stars and Earth and trees and cucumbers and kangaroos and bearded hippies who drive Saabs and Cheez Whiz.
The Big Bang Theory holds that the universe is always expanding. My question is: What is it expanding into? If the universe is everything that exists, then the universe can't be expanding into itself because that's an oxymoron.
Some people believe in the multiverse, which is the theory that there are several parallel universes and that we are just one universe in a pantheon of many. (I probably misused the word 'pantheon' but I don't care.) I hope the multiverse doesn't exist because it would suck if a big bang is going to go off in the multiverse next to ours. It might actually expand into our universe. Ever see two suns collide? It would probably be a bad thing for life on Earth. (Some people tell me that would never happen because each universe is protected behind its own magic barrier that nothing can get by.)
And now it's time to quote someone smarter than me.
"For a start, how is the existence of the other universes to be tested? To be sure, all cosmologists accept that there are some regions of the universe that lie beyond the reach of our telescopes, but somewhere on the slippery slope between that and the idea that there are an infinite number of universes, credibility reaches a limit. As one slips down that slope, more and more must be accepted on faith, and less and less is open to scientific verification. Extreme multiverse explanations are therefore reminiscent of theological discussions. Indeed, invoking an infinity of unseen universes to explain the unusual features of the one we do see is just as ad hoc as invoking an unseen Creator. The multiverse theory may be dressed up in scientific language, but in essence it requires the same leap of faith."
— Paul Davies, A Brief History of the Multiverse
And now I'm going to channel Bill Maher. NEW RULE! NEW RULE! IF YOU'RE GOING TO BELIEVE IN THE MULTIVERSE THEN YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO MAKE FUN OF YOUNG-EARTH CREATIONISTS ANYMORE.
-
I should confess that I wouldn't mind living in a parallel universe where Paul McCartney never records Wonderful Christmastime.
-
On planet Earth, pretty much everyone you meet will tell you there is a big problem with the world. You can grill them about it for hours but in the end, what they're really saying is that the reason Earth sucks so much is that everyone doesn't think exactly the way they do.
Capitalists tell us that socialism creates poverty. Socialists tell us that capitalism creates poverty. Environmentalists tell us that the oilfields are wrecking our planet. Oil people tell us that the oil fields create jobs. Tea Party people say that we should do mandatory drug testing before we hand out welfare. A few welfare recipients I know say "Whoa, I gotta stop smoking weed or the government won't give me money to play Nintendo all day? Dude, that sucks."
-
I guess I am not surprised that The Big Bang Theory television show is as successful as it is. Geek culture has become more acceptable. Comic conventions - once a mecca for geeks - are now as popular as baseball games. Back in the 80s, you were a nerd if you were into computers, Batman and magic tricks. Today, Batman and computers are cool. Magic tricks are still for nerds.
-
I think the big bang happened. I don't know if time was created in the big bang. I don't like thinking about time because it makes my brain hurt. I don't think there can be a first moment. What happened before that? There had to be something. Maybe time is a circle. If it is, that sucks because it means that I will have to live my life all over again. Actually, that doesn't suck too much because I've had an okay life but it would suck for all the people who were burned to death in brazen bulls in Ancient Greece.
As such, I think time is just a never-ending line. My life is represented by a tiny red blip on that line. My blip intersects with a whole bunch of other blips, but ultimately they are just blips. If my blip is the size of a grain of salt, it is contained inside another blip that is about the size of my thumbnail.
That blip is for all of mankind. We're going to be extinct one day unless God intervenes.
I tend to not absorb a whole lot of pop culture. I have never seen an episode of Friends or a complete episode of Seinfeld, Family Guy or Breaking Bad. When I go to the movies, I favour foreign films with English subtitles. I have not seen Titanic or Back to the Future but I like James Bond. I guess James Bond is about as pop culture as I get.
So maybe I should just spend some time talking about the actual big bang theory, which is a pretty nifty way to explain the origin of the universe. This theory holds that billions and billions of years ago, all matter was contained in one very small point. Then it exploded and matter flew everywhere and then it started to cool off and then sub-atomic particles formed and then atoms formed and then we had the sun and the moon and the stars and Earth and trees and cucumbers and kangaroos and bearded hippies who drive Saabs and Cheez Whiz.
The Big Bang Theory holds that the universe is always expanding. My question is: What is it expanding into? If the universe is everything that exists, then the universe can't be expanding into itself because that's an oxymoron.
Some people believe in the multiverse, which is the theory that there are several parallel universes and that we are just one universe in a pantheon of many. (I probably misused the word 'pantheon' but I don't care.) I hope the multiverse doesn't exist because it would suck if a big bang is going to go off in the multiverse next to ours. It might actually expand into our universe. Ever see two suns collide? It would probably be a bad thing for life on Earth. (Some people tell me that would never happen because each universe is protected behind its own magic barrier that nothing can get by.)
And now it's time to quote someone smarter than me.
"For a start, how is the existence of the other universes to be tested? To be sure, all cosmologists accept that there are some regions of the universe that lie beyond the reach of our telescopes, but somewhere on the slippery slope between that and the idea that there are an infinite number of universes, credibility reaches a limit. As one slips down that slope, more and more must be accepted on faith, and less and less is open to scientific verification. Extreme multiverse explanations are therefore reminiscent of theological discussions. Indeed, invoking an infinity of unseen universes to explain the unusual features of the one we do see is just as ad hoc as invoking an unseen Creator. The multiverse theory may be dressed up in scientific language, but in essence it requires the same leap of faith."
— Paul Davies, A Brief History of the Multiverse
And now I'm going to channel Bill Maher. NEW RULE! NEW RULE! IF YOU'RE GOING TO BELIEVE IN THE MULTIVERSE THEN YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO MAKE FUN OF YOUNG-EARTH CREATIONISTS ANYMORE.
-
I should confess that I wouldn't mind living in a parallel universe where Paul McCartney never records Wonderful Christmastime.
-
On planet Earth, pretty much everyone you meet will tell you there is a big problem with the world. You can grill them about it for hours but in the end, what they're really saying is that the reason Earth sucks so much is that everyone doesn't think exactly the way they do.
Capitalists tell us that socialism creates poverty. Socialists tell us that capitalism creates poverty. Environmentalists tell us that the oilfields are wrecking our planet. Oil people tell us that the oil fields create jobs. Tea Party people say that we should do mandatory drug testing before we hand out welfare. A few welfare recipients I know say "Whoa, I gotta stop smoking weed or the government won't give me money to play Nintendo all day? Dude, that sucks."
-
I guess I am not surprised that The Big Bang Theory television show is as successful as it is. Geek culture has become more acceptable. Comic conventions - once a mecca for geeks - are now as popular as baseball games. Back in the 80s, you were a nerd if you were into computers, Batman and magic tricks. Today, Batman and computers are cool. Magic tricks are still for nerds.
-
I think the big bang happened. I don't know if time was created in the big bang. I don't like thinking about time because it makes my brain hurt. I don't think there can be a first moment. What happened before that? There had to be something. Maybe time is a circle. If it is, that sucks because it means that I will have to live my life all over again. Actually, that doesn't suck too much because I've had an okay life but it would suck for all the people who were burned to death in brazen bulls in Ancient Greece.
As such, I think time is just a never-ending line. My life is represented by a tiny red blip on that line. My blip intersects with a whole bunch of other blips, but ultimately they are just blips. If my blip is the size of a grain of salt, it is contained inside another blip that is about the size of my thumbnail.
That blip is for all of mankind. We're going to be extinct one day unless God intervenes.
Comments
Post a Comment