Posted on 04/02/2006 7:46:13 PM PDT by snarks_when_bored
Me neither. Teach both views. Let the chips fall where they may.
The sequence of events are in conflict. Genesis says that the earth was formed before the sun and the stars, while Big Bang cosmology says that the earth formed after. And, of course, the Genesis claim of the universe forming as we currently know it in only six days is totally incompatible with the Big Bang Theory, which suggests 15 billion years.
Now, I know that many Christians claim that if you "interpret" Genesis the right way, then it will all fit. That's fine with me and only proves my previous point. Christians are so deeply invested in the Bible that they must believe it's stories are true despite any apparently contradictory evidence, but they are also modern, rational people who cannot afford to dismiss mainstream science. So they force a compromise that explains that the Bible means something totally different from what it is apparently saying. I understand this tactic well because I used it all the time, myself, when I was religious -- I had to in order to keep my sanity. (To be sure, though, not all Christians rewrite the Bible when it encounters a direct challenge from science. Creationists, for example, do seem to be comfortable dismissing mainstream science when necessary.)
This is why I have no doubt that most Christians will have little trouble accommodating a multiverse. Personally, though, I see serious conflicts between a multiverse theory and any form of structured religious belief. After all, if there is a universe for every possible outcome of a quantum event, then there would have to be countless universes where people who are Christian in this universe are atheist, or buddhist, or muslim, or something else. Also, are there universes where Jesus was never born? Wouldn't there have to be? I don't see how it can possibly fit, but I'm fairly confident that there will be plenty of people telling me that there is no conflict at all.
Got no problem with that either.
What happened to the fundament?
Sort of a science thread, but with a bit of bloodbath thrown in for good measure.
Stealing Energy from a Black HoleXMM-Newton observed the x-ray spectrum of iron gas whirling in the black hole's accretion disk. The researchers reveal that the energy output was too great to simply be the result of matter being crushed and falling into the black hole. They add that the observed light was stretched to extreme lengths by gravity. This observation indicates that the emitting gas must be exceptionally close to the black hole, where gravity's influence is greatest. According to theory, the supermassive black hole must be spinning to let material get that close before being swallowed.
by Vanessa ThomasUnveiling the Flat UniverseIn Einstein's general theory of relativity, space curves around massive objects. In a closed universe, there is enough mass and energy so that space as a whole curves until parallel lines will eventually meet. An open universe, which has much less mass and energy, curves in the opposite direction, and parallel lines seem to diverge. Hot and cold spots about 1° across mean that the microwaves in the background radiation would remain parallel almost all the way across the universe. There's just enough mass and energy to keep the universe flat. With flat, Euclidean geometry, parallel lines don't curve in either direction.
by Diana Steele
Excuse me, this is pretty stupid. An open universe would have the mass going to infinity, therefore would change itself in a close universe (!). The universe is closed. Period. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Who measures (sic!) its state? God? Or just anybody? This is a dumb affirmation seen by miles far away. So much with the modern physicists!
my favorite universe is the one where Spock has a beard.
I'll try to get back to you in three and a half months.
:') The multiverse is familiar from my wasted youth (dungeons and dragons, and some low-end fantasy fiction and science fiction).
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