# Time - Eternal **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 22, 2004, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-eternal/256364 "2004-07-22T16:15:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kel_Varnsen_Latex_Division)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-eternal/256364/1 "2004-07-22T16:15:07Z")
Is time eternal or did have a beginning? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-eternal/256364/2 "2004-07-22T17:11:26Z")
I don’t think there’s a factual answer to this question. If you believe the universe was created at some point, then it would have a beginning. If not, then it doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Ross](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@Ross](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ross)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-eternal/256364/3 "2004-07-22T17:41:45Z")
I’m pretty sure that time is tied into this “universe” thing we see banging about us. It started with the Big Bang, whatever that was, and I don’t think “time” is supposed to have much meaning prior to that. I was quite interested in physics for a bit - the elementary stuff, which makes some sort of sense. Then some eejit handed me a Stephen Hawking book. That finished me off. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-eternal/256364/4 "2004-07-22T18:15:44Z")
Get yourself a piece of graph paper, and draw a graph on it. Label the X and the Y axes. Ask yourself “Does the X axis ever end?”, “What is beyond it?” Erase the letter X, and replace it with the letter t (for time). Ask yourself "Does the t axis ever end?, “What is beyond it?” ---
**Author:** ![Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kel_Varnsen_Latex_Division)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-eternal/256364/5 "2004-07-22T18:18:19Z")
But doesn’t the x (t) axis have a beginning where it connects to the y axis? ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-eternal/256364/6 "2004-07-22T18:35:15Z")
> [@Kel Varnsen - Latex Division](#): > > Is time eternal or did have a beginning? In The Beginning… No one knows for sure, S. Hawking calculated and speculated. When will time end… No one knows, speculate all you wish. Time is a dimension we experience now, we remember the past, and anticipate and/or speculate about the future. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-eternal/256364/7 "2004-07-22T18:59:51Z")
> [@Kel Varnsen - Latex Division](#): > > Is time eternal or did have a beginning? [Time](http://millionmagazines.com/time.html) began on March 3, 1923. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-eternal/256364/8 "2004-07-22T20:53:32Z")
The question is meaningless. If time has a beginning, what was before that? But, without time there is no before. Time does have an ending though. The letter e. ---
**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:** [July 22, 2004, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-eternal/256364/9 "2004-07-22T21:09:48Z")
Are you looking for a philosophical answer or a physical one? If you’re looking for a physical answer, current evidence seems to indicate that time began with the Big Bang, approximately 13.7 billion years ago. The question is not meaningless, precisely because as **DocCathode** says, there is no time before time. The question of what came before, however, _is_ meaningless. An analagous question would be to ask “what’s north of the North Pole”. Just because there isn’t anything north of the North Pole doesn’t mean that the Pole itself doesn’t exist: Rather, that’s the definition of the North Pole. If you’re looking for a philosophical answer, then I can’t help you. If that’s the case, then you should e-mail the moderators and ask that this thread be moved to Great Debates, where you can discuss philosophy to your heart’s content.