The Big Bang theory is wrong. That’s according to a new model run by scientists in Egypt and Canada. Building off of Einstein’s theory of general relativity and ideas put forth by theoretical physicist David Bohm, the work of Ahmed Farag
The Big Bang theory is wrong. That’s according to a new model run by scientists in Egypt and Canada. Building off of Einstein’s theory of general relativity and ideas put forth by theoretical physicist David Bohm, the work of Ahmed Farag Ali and Saurya Das—if accurate—solves well-recognized flaws in the Big Bang theory while painting an entirely different picture of our Universe. An article summarizing their findings is available here.
Though this piece is devoted to the philosophical implications of Ali and Das’s work, a brief overview of the science is warranted. Long before their new model, scientists recognized certain flaws in the Big Bang theory, which holds that, in the beginning, everything occupied a single, infinitely dense point called singularity. Our Universe began, the theory goes, after singularity started to expand with a “Big Bang.”
The problem with this theory is that, though we can mathematically explain what happened after singularity, we cannot do so before and at it. In other words, the Big Bang theory is an incomplete one, incapable of fully explaining itself and dependent upon accepting a breakdown in the laws of physics. That’s hardly the stuff of objectively verifiable proof.
Ali and Das’s new model requires no such leap of faith. In essence, their work concludes that our Universe has no beginning and no end. According to these guys, our Universe has always existed and will continue to exist forevermore. I urge you to read the article linked above before continuing.
Let’s assume that their work is completely accurate and turn to its philosophical implications. Operating from this premise, it becomes clear that Ali and Das may have provided the tools for solving one of life’s trickiest dilemmas.
The debate over free will
For ages, thinkers of every stripe—from theologians to philosophers to scientists and on—have debated the natures of free will and destiny. Whether they truly exist, whether they can be objectively explained, whether they are mutually exclusive: all these questions and mor