# Poll on Outer Space Beliefs **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 16, 2014, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-outer-space-beliefs/686296 "2014-04-16T23:15:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2014, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-outer-space-beliefs/686296/21 "2014-04-17T19:45:01Z")
> [@Space\_Trucker](#): > > Thank you all for taking the poll. My question is, are these things deleted after the expiration date or does the poll stay up, without people being able to vote? My question is, why did you put an expiration date on the poll in the first place? ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2014, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-outer-space-beliefs/686296/22 "2014-04-17T19:49:59Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > God made the Big Bang, just to troll all the scientific types. Like the scientist-priest who came up with the concept? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2014, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-outer-space-beliefs/686296/23 "2014-04-17T19:52:33Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Aren’t they contradictory? All science so far points to a big bang. And if that’s the case my understanding would be that the universe is finite and expanding, not eternal and infinite. > > I think either is possible by the way, just not simultaneously. Could be one part of a [multiverse.](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/03/140318-multiverse-inflation-big-bang-science-space/) ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2014, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-outer-space-beliefs/686296/24 "2014-04-17T19:54:20Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Like the scientist-priest who came up with the concept? :dubious: Him especially. ---
**Author:** ![Space\_Trucker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Space\_Trucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Space_Trucker)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2014, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-outer-space-beliefs/686296/25 "2014-04-17T21:28:58Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > My question is, why did you put an expiration date on the poll in the first place? I think I will get enough information out of 7 days of polling. I would like to post this poll again on another date to see if people changed their minds. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2014, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-outer-space-beliefs/686296/26 "2014-04-17T23:16:59Z")
1 and 3 (I voted for 3). The trouble with positing a first cause is what caused it? “God was so powerful he created himself” seems to me beyond silly. Simpler to suppose it always was an always will be. The big bang was presumably a very improbable quantum fluctuation. But with infinite time, improbable happens. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-outer-space-beliefs/686296/27 "2014-04-18T00:02:51Z")
I picked both the big bang and eternal and infinite. There could be an eternal, infinite number of universes and our big bang was just one of endless. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-outer-space-beliefs/686296/28 "2014-04-18T09:29:17Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > God did it is always a answer but OTOH the Big Bang is just a question that does not explain anything, it’s just a projection of how far we can see into the past, it does not answer where that came from. > > Based on your options I vote for aliens did it as we certainly didn’t and yet it is done. And where did the aliens come from? And where did your God come from? ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-outer-space-beliefs/686296/29 "2014-04-18T10:58:49Z")
1 and 2. God created the universe, and the Big Bang was His way of doing it. God is infinite and eternal, and before He called the universe into existence, only God existed. (And maybe the angels, too-- the Bible’s a little fuzzy on that.) God will continue to exist eternally long after the Big Crunch. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-outer-space-beliefs/686296/30 "2014-04-18T11:32:26Z")
The question of what happened before the Big Bang is meaningless, as time itself came into existence during the event. Causality and entropy are a direction with one end point that ‘popped’ into our continuum ~ 13.82 billion years ago. All evidence that we as a species have encountered point to this one ineluctable conclusion. It is entire possible (in fact, in my opinion, probable) that this 4 dimensional Universe is but one of an infinitude of others, but that doesn’t make _this_ Universe infinite or eternal. However, I am but an humble computer scientist living in the forest, so maybe I don’t know everything. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-outer-space-beliefs/686296/31 "2014-04-18T11:49:49Z")
#1. We still have an incomplete understanding of the universe but a wizard did not do it. ---
**Author:** ![tonyfop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/85f322/32.png) [@tonyfop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tonyfop)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-outer-space-beliefs/686296/32 "2014-04-18T13:11:15Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > Then in what frame did God exist before he created the universe? > > Has he been here forever? > > Then why can’t the universe have also been here forever? I voted 1 and 2. The Big Bang was caused by God. As others have said, ours may be one universe in an infinite multiverse, but we may never know. There may be Big Bangs going on all the time. Our Big Bang may have been preceded by a Big Crunch. Maybe God was actually a scientist in some other universe who was doing experiments with Quantum Physics, and he induced it(Insert Arthur C. Clarke quote here). ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-outer-space-beliefs/686296/33 "2014-04-18T14:29:50Z")
I voted 1 and 2. The Big Bang is how God did it. Those who voted for 1 and 3 must have a different understanding of what eternal means than I do. But hey, as someone who chose another non-scientific combo, I can’t really criticize them. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-outer-space-beliefs/686296/34 "2014-04-18T14:33:43Z")
So assuming the multiverse theory is correct…and that prediction is being upheld by observation…did God create all of the universes in the multiverse, or just ours? If he created the other universes as well, are there people in them? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-outer-space-beliefs/686296/35 "2014-04-18T14:46:06Z")
I voted Big Bang plus God. I believe it is plausible to believe that God existed prior to the Big Bang and in fact created the Big Bang. And it’s equally plausible to believe in the Big Bang without God. I don’t believe it’s plausible not to believe in the Big Bang, nor do I believe it’s possible to explain why the Big Bang happened or what preexisted it. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-outer-space-beliefs/686296/36 "2014-04-18T14:51:35Z")
I voted 1 and 2. I was tempted to vote 3 as well, since the evidence seems to suggest that the Universe is infinite. However, while it’s possible that it’s been around forever and will always exist, it certainly isn’t eternal (“eternal” and “existing forever” are two very different concepts). ---
**Author:** ![Space\_Trucker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Space\_Trucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Space_Trucker)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-outer-space-beliefs/686296/37 "2014-04-19T04:23:56Z")
I appreciate all the responses. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-outer-space-beliefs/686296/38 "2014-04-19T13:20:57Z")
For anyone who introduces “god” into the explanation of the universe you might want to: a) explain how that “god” was created and why those conditions don’t apply to the universe itself b) accept that a universe without cause is a simpler explanation than a “god” without cause c) just admit that you are dealing with this from a position of faith and reasoned enquiry doesn’t come into it. the poll answer for me is 1 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-outer-space-beliefs/686296/39 "2014-04-19T13:33:09Z")
God does not need a creator, because God is eternal, while the Universe is not. ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-outer-space-beliefs/686296/40 "2014-04-19T14:53:56Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > God did it is always a answer but OTOH the Big Bang is just a question that does not explain anything, it’s just a projection of how far we can see into the past, it does not answer where that came from. You’re right that the BB does not explain why the universe exists. Nor does the claim that God did it. (You’re wrong that it doesn’t explain “anything” but I assume that you weren’t being literal.) > [@Chronos](#): > > God does not need a creator, because God is eternal, while the Universe is not. Right – that’s the typical Christian interpretation. For lots more thought on that from a very intelligent and educated philosopher, google J P Moreland. (I think he’s a very intelligent and educated idiot, but that doesn’t mean we can’t learn from him. He’s an idiot not when he explains his position, but when he does things like criticize sociobiology by attacking positions that are not made by sociobiology. He’s a bit of a Rush Limbaugh, happy to use bad rhetoric against his critics. He is quite consistent in explaining his own philosophy, though: he’s a Christian Platonist, which makes a lot of sense. It just doesn’t do a good job of explaining the world as I see it.) One thing I learned from Moreland is that while a lot of people these days look at the BB as antithetical to Christianity, it was a great shot in the arm for Christian apologetics since it allowed a nonliteral interpretation of the Bible to be reasonably consistent with cosmology. Before BB, the universe was assumed to have existed forever and be relatively consistent through time (thus Einstein’s Cosmological Constant). For Christian apologists, BB put a purpose for God back into the equation! Something had to start it all, something that _was_ eternal (and unchanging, and personal, according to Moreland). However, there’s another explanation, which is that “this universe” is just one of an infinite number, spawned from some meta-reality (the Multiverse, perhaps) that existed forever. And there’s also the explanation that maybe there was a beginning, before which there was nothing, not even time. This explanation is the least satisfying to many, but I don’t see any flaws in it. Currently, though, this doesn’t look like it’s the best explanation, especially after the most recent evidence about the expansion after the BB, at least, according to some experts whose opinions I have to take (dare I say it?) on faith. (Snicker. That’s “faith” with a little ‘f’, which is tentative.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-outer-space-beliefs/686296.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-on-outer-space-beliefs/686296.md?page=3)