[Physicist]

Either way, something existed before our spacetime bubble began to manifest so things did not come from nothing.

I do not accept your premise that there is an absolute need, either philosophical or mathematical, for there to be a "before" with respect to "our spacetime bubble". Time exists in the universe; the universe does not exist in time. Causality presupposes time, time presupposes existence (i.e., a universe). The existence of the universe cannot be contingent upon any sort of causal behavior.

Furthermore, I don't accept "fine tuning" or "specialness" arguments. Finely tuned parameters are, to me, indicators of physical principles that simply haven't been discovered yet. And "specialness" arises from our perspective: it's not that our universe is right for us, it's that we are right for our universe. Had it been different--radically different--we would have been radically different. But just the same we'd look out at it and say, "had it been any different, we couldn't be here."

[MHGinTN]

I do not accept your premise that there is an absolute need, either philosophical or mathematical... The limitations of our mathematics sets the zero points back beyond which we are presently unable to look.

[MHGinTN]

Time exists in the universe; the universe does not exist in time. So, how 'big' is the universe in which time exists and did there exist a field into which time expanded, or is time the field into which the universe you measure expanded? When you physicists find the 'gut', will we see beyond the buble?

[MHGinTN]

Had it been different--radically different-- Actually, had there been a very small difference in one of several parameters, we would not exist as we are. Would we exist in a different form? That presupposes an intelligent observer is a necessity, an inevitable development for a universe of any set of variables, doesn't it?

[Old Professer]

I do not accept your premise that there is an absolute need, either philosophical or mathematical, for there to be a "before" with respect to "our spacetime bubble".

Does that allow an "always" or a "never?"