>>> cramer at unix01.voicenet.com 09/07/00 10:25AM >>>
There is no such thing as "prior" to the big bang. Time itself began with
the big bang. A statement implying time outside of the big bang ("before
the big bang", "cause of the big bang", etc.), is like saying "what is the
sound of one hand clapping?" Your statement was correct, of course, it is
just a peeve of mine to see people casually mention the big bang yet not
fully apply the concept with their choice of words.
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CB: What about the perspective that there has always been existence and time extends infinitely backward, that there is no beginning and no end ( i.e. God) , but eternal change ? That would imply something before even the big bang.
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Anyway, laws of physics, by definition ARE absolute. That is what makes them laws. F=ma is a law, gravitation is a law, etc. If they are shown to be not absolute, then they are not laws. Without accepting certain concepts as laws, it would be hard to apply the scientific method.
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CB: Don't natural scientists' borrow the term "law" as a metaphor from laws of a human society ? And what of the dialectic of relative and absolute truth ?