What do you think existed before the universe was created? And if the universe is finite, what would beyond the edge of the universe be like?

[Physics-Man]

[hellionthesagereborn]

I don't know but its a fascinating question. If their was a big bang (and I have grievences with that assumption (To many contradictions and holes in the theory in my opinion and no one addressing them (or they make very convoluted excuses for them)), then that means their would be something beyond our universe in my opinion. Because you had nothing then something, you would need something to facilitate that or for these forces to have come from somewhere.

So for me, I (due to my mythology background I'm sure), think of it as a primordial sea. In mythology their is always a primordial sea (but never the ocean, its not an ocean as we know of and think of it) which all things originate from (Specifically the gods and the earth (or the thing that the earth is eventually made from)).

Interestingly the romans refered to it as Void and the greeks refered to it as Kaos. I think both of these might be more accurate then you would first think. Basically if you have a true void that means no matter, no energy, no time and no space but also no physics. You would have nothing that governs the laws of nature so if their are no rules and laws then by my reasoning that would mean anything becomes possible (hence kaos/chaos). This would also allow for the "something from nothing" and inevitable violation of causality that is required for reality to exist.

So I think of it as a "sea" and our universe (and maybe other universes if they exist) are like bubbles in this sea, which come into existence in this void, little pockets of order in an otherwise entropic void. Obviously good luck ever proving this one way or another, but it was an interesting thought to me and I feel like its as likely as anything else.

[Anonymous]

I like to think that its custard.

A multiverse is the only thing that makes any sense to me, so what is outside of the universe is custard or whatever, its an environment which spawns universes like the bubbles you get in the foam of your bubble bath or washing up.

The problem isn't with nature its with our puny minds and awful perspective, its impossible to imagine how big even the universe is or how long it has been around for so when you are then asked to imagine that our whole universe is itself just a flash in the pan inside some other mechanism it all gets a bit much but the idea that there is only one verse is absurd.

[razelove]

I think a universe much like ours existed, though there will never be a great crunch, I think new "universes" will be created within our own. Afterall, the universe we see is only the universe we see, even if we are onside or overlapping other universes we would never know until the light got to us, and if it was moving away that would be never. So, let's say thermodynamics is flawed and entropy can be decreased by converting into matter, wouldn't the stored entropy of a universe be enough to create one? Just one thought, entropy always hits me as a really odd bug, also the insane amount of it that will be hanging around at the heat death of the universe, or really weird artifacts like methuselah star.

[Tiffany_Taylor_Made]

As far as we're concerned, the universe refers to existence in itself. Thus, I don't think it's possible for us to ever answer that question. Us attempting to perceive something that doesn't exist is self-defeating because perception itself is something that exists. If we were to ever perceive something that existed before the universe, that would, in fact, still be the universe because we would be envisioning something that we can perceive, which is still another form of existence. In addition, it's also dubious to state that the universe was "created" as well. If the universe truly does encompass everything that exists, then pinpointing its "creation" would be scientifically impossible because, theoretically speaking, the "creator" would require a creator and the cycle would never end. Also, each of those "creators" would be a part of the universe because, if we can perceive that "creator," then it exists. Moreover, if the universe truly does encompass everything that exists, then it's very likely to be infinite to the mind that perceives it.

[Anonymous]

weird imagination: i sometimes imagine there's a multiverse and we're all expanding within our own little jars and when we reach the jar walls we will stop expanding or something lol

hmm but srsly maybe another universe before us>it collapsed>singularity>big bang>expansion>decay>collapse>repeat from singularity similar to CCC

religiously tho.. i think there is a god out thwre who made the first singularity and from there allowed the creation of the universe. I don't know sometimes our spiritual beliefs are comfort when facing the unknown.

[OfDeath]

CCC doesn't involve a bounce. That's one of the fundamental rules of it. It doesn't break the second law of thermodynamics.

[AllThatSweetJazz]

Anything possible to articulate is probably less interesting than the truth.

Although of the more interesting ideas is that their is no "before" in the classical sense, but rather, their is a mirror universe reflected in time which is made of antimatter. So rather than "before" and "after" there is time moving in two opposite directions with anti-matter instead of matter. So there would sort of be a beginning of time, except rather than a strict beginning and only moving forward, the past is being created simultaneously with the present. I think there's an issue with the weak force parity conservation violation making anti-matter not a perfect mirror of matter, but whatever, it's kind of fun.

[purplepoppy]

Time is a byproduct of universal expansion so before the universe there was nothing. But since nothing happens to nothing and therefore a universe could not be created we have to assume that something was added to the nothingness. I suspect another universe neighbouring the nothingness somehow seeded this nothing causing the big bang and probably destroying the motherverse

[razelove]

heh, you said seeded

[DWornock]

It is impossible to know what, if anything, existed before our universe.

There is no edge of the universe. Think of the universe as the surface of a sphere. As the sphere expands, items on the surface become more distant, and the greater the distance the faster they grow apart. Since the surface of the sphere is the universe, there is no edge. To two dimensional creatures on the surface, there are only 2 dimensions. Think of our universe as a three-dimensional surface of a 4-dimensional sphere. To us, there is no 4 dimension. Therefore, we are limited to the 3-dimensional surface for which there is no edge.

[CurlyGirl42]

Before there was just another state of the universe.. higher energy/denser..

I do not like the thought of a finite size universe xD.. then you do need that edge and something beyond it anyway, which I would have no real guess about.. perhaps other universes with different physical constants.. Way simpler just to say it is infinite :D

[Daniela1982]

Our universe exists inside an ornament on some beings neck. The ornament was created, but where the universe part was picked up was from the bottom of some supreme being's shoe. No wonder our world stinks. P. U. !!

[serious]

That is MIB movie concept. The first MIB movie. I don't think that is how it is in real.

[RaveWorthy]

Let's say that the Universe was created. Who or what created it and who or what created who or what create that... and so on and so forth. I would suggest that there was nothing before and there is nothing after the edge of the Universe.

However, I am an avowed Apatheist:
Such that I feel that at some point something happened and somehow something or someone was created and somehow I, a bunch of other people, and a lot of other animals got here. I can live with that.

[Daniela1982]

Time is a creation of man as a measurement. we can only relate to finite numbers in our own existence. Maybe 1 million years is a drop in the ocean to another infinite spiritual being. It is obvious the universe is expanding and has been here a long time, more time than we can comprehend with our finite minds. But even the stuff to create the Big Bang had to come from some place. Created is the only thing that makes any sense. For all we know our galaxy could just be an atom in turd laying on someone's lawn on some beings world.

[RaveWorthy]

@Daniela1982 Well, actually there is a whole school of study that shows a well accepted theory that the universe did indeed come from nothing.

Can Physics Tell Us How Something Can Come From Nothing?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqLi9e-b8ts

Did the Universe Come From Nothing?
www.freethoughtforum.org/.../did-the-universe-come-from-nothing

There are as many different theories on all of this than it appears we have stars... That's why I'm an Apetheist; I really don't care one way or the other, since the answer will not affect or change my life in any meaningful way.

[Liam_Hayden]

The common error is the logic is that "Everything has a cause." The proper phrase is "Every effect has a cause." there is no logical reason to exclude the possibility of something - or someone - possessing aseity. What we do know, logically, is that ex nihilo nihil fit. There are no uncaused effects logically possible.

[Liam_Hayden]

Logically absurd, but fun.

[Liam_Hayden]

I mean the something from nothing.

[Daniela1982]

Science also says matter cannot either be created or destroyed. It just goes into another form, like ice goes to water or steam. Science is always changing it's tune from one decade to the next so how can you believe anything it says?

[RaveWorthy]

@Daniela1982 I take it you missed the entire part where I said "There are as many different theories on all of this than it appears we have stars... That's why I'm an Apetheist; I really don't care one way or the other, since the answer will not affect or change my life in any meaningful way." It is thus a moot point.

[gerardroger]

Hi, I really like some of your questions!
The Hebrew people were pretty much the only ones saying the Universe came from NOTHING
While the who world said or rationalised that how can something come from nothing?
However, the science is increasingly pointing to the same thing - it came from Nothing. NOTHING EXISTED
Not me, that's what science is saying - at least until the current time

[andreasderjuengere]

My 'idea': the universe is finite only for a fraction of a moment - and expands into a potential surrounding which by doing so becomes 'real'. Like empty 'space' on a hard disk drive.
Similarly, the universe-to-be has come to existence into the potential 'here and now'?
You mention: 'created'. I do believe that someone had pressed the enter button to make it happen.

[CountessSarah]

The problem is that 'before the universe' may be a meaningless question. Because not only would that 'thing before the universe', /be/ the universe, but the origin of the universe is also the origin of time itself. There is no time outside of a universe in which for something else to have existed.

[OfDeath]

I don't think we know enough about fundamental reality in order to make an accurate guess at what conditions existed before the big bang if there was a before, but I think there was one. I have a feeling there is a profound reality which is infinite in both directions.

[Daniel3035]

Possibly some form of organism that did not require oxygen and could travel in the vacuum of space.
As for the edge of the universe I think there is no edge I think the edge is like a conveyer belt that goes under to the anti matter universe black holes are the doors between the two universes.

[MysteriousDarkness]

Currently, the farthest object in the observable cosmos is a galaxy known as GN-z11 which is approximately 32 billion light-years away. There was a time when we could not see outer space beyond what we could see with our own eyes. I believe that we might never know how big the universe really is. I also do not think we will understand what truly created the universe so for many they use god as the starting point.

[Bismarck_96]

Well if you think about it everything has an end people/animals/trees/the earth/stars/meteors/ etc if everything has an end then there should be an edge to the other side of the universe many people claim the world is flat others say its round WHAT if the world is round and the universe is flat and were trapped inside it like the flat earthers claim our world is trapped what if were inside an alien car just powering their UFO source of energy? Like from Rick and Morty?

[OddBeMe]

The multiverse seems to have more evidence pointing to it- in my layman’s view. But it might not be separate multiverses, just one that dies and is reborn with the Big Bang. Again, this is all speculation and even the multiverse isn’t scientifically prove yet.

[Surely]

If you believe in the bible. In the beginning there was God. He created everything. Guess that you are not supposed to ask how he was created
Be careful cause you may fall off the edge if it is finite. Something that we will never probably know of

[Hispanic-Cool-Guy]

God existed. God can't be created nor destroyed.

How can a being always exist and have such great power and intelligence no human can comprehend God.

Its unbelievable how everything was created but God himself. Its the number one reason why He is worthy of being worshipped, because He created all things yet nothing created Him. God is truly awesome of a being.

[norie18]

The universe has always been there. It created itself and there will be an infinity of the universe that just keeps on going and going. But also alternate universes make up the entire universe too... I think my mind just exploded lol