• Question: do you believe in god or the big bang?

    Asked by jim1 to Andrew, Emma, Marianne on 15 Jun 2010 in Categories: . This question was also asked by samjoeliam, jackster1997, kw28, cdrcodor, shrimpyking, jellybean11, scripps, laura99.
    • Photo: Andrew Maynard

      Andrew Maynard answered on 12 Jun 2010:

      Hi jim1,

      We’re 36 hours before I’m A Scientist starts, and you’ve already asked the question I was dreading – “do you believe in God”! Congratulations!

      Let’s take the easy bit first – the Big Bang. Belief isn’t an issue here – it either happened or it didn’t, and what I believe isn’t going to change things one iota. But the evidence and the science we are developing is pretty compelling that the current universe started from a point that people call the “Big Bang.”

      Then God… When I was younger, I would have answered that I believe in God without question. Now I am not too sure. I think that when you look at the world in which we live – including the science that underlies it – and the way people behave (including people that believe in God), it is hard to reconcile these beliefs with what you see. At the same time, I strongly feel that it is a mistake to try and undermine and ridicule peoples’ faith – there’s more to faith than a simplistic belief in God.

    • Photo: Marianne Baker

      Marianne Baker answered on 13 Jun 2010:

      I don’t think it’s necessarily an either-or situation.

      I, personally, do not believe in god and I think that Big Bang theory is our best explanation of the origin of our universe to date. Again, you’ll have to ask a physicist for a more in-depth description (I really recommend the talks from one of my favourite physicists here at TED http://www.ted.com/speakers/brian_cox.html )

      My feelings on this are that god(s) have always been used by people to explain things we don’t understand.

      So cultures have made gods responsible for the weather, the movement of the sun across the sky, illnesses, tragedies and wonderful things – but now we understand these things, we no longer assume it’s because of gods.

      We also have difficulty imagining what ‘nothing’ is(n’t) – that’s a very difficult philosophical question! So naturally when we think about the big bang, a question that arises is “what was before that?” and for many people their reaction is to place god in this gap.

      I prefer not to do that, personally, because I don’t think it explains anything for us. Indeed, if we ask what’s before the big bang, why not ask what’s before gods?

      My favourite idea at the moment is that the universe (or however many universes there are!) is on a cycle of big bang- big crunch- big bang – big crunch etc.
      So the universe expands out from a point and then collapses in on itself, then expands out again – ad infinitum!

    • Photo: anon

      anon answered on 14 Jun 2010:

      I don’t think this has to be either or, neither or both. To some extent these are different things. I guess you mean creationism/theism vs big bang cosmology. I don’ t think you can believe in the big bang. Belief is a word I don’t think you should really use in a scientific context. It’s too personal.

      I don’t know enough about physics to plump for the big bang and I don’t even know if it is still the ‘cutting edge’ explanation for the origin of the Universe. After a quick search i discovered this (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/04/020429080540.htm). The problem with science is that it is always changing and evolving. It is never possible to say, ‘I have proven beyond refutation that x is true’. This is a famous problem in philosophy of science.
      Karl Popper wrote about a chap who collects info on swans and discovers that every swan he encounters is white. He concludes not unreasonably that all swans are white. Unfortunately he can never prove this statement. every white swan he documents lends weight to the statement he has made but even if he counts 1 million white swans, if the 1,000,001st swan is black (and there are black swans!) his statement has been proven incorrect.

      Therefore science is not so much ‘seeking for truth’ or ‘truthing’ but more about falsification. It is always possible that something will be proven false (falsified). I guess what I’m saying is that i don’t believe in the Big bang but I do suspect from my limited knowledge that is currently the best theory to explain the origin of the Universe.

      I don’t believe in a big, beardy man lighting the touch paper on a cosmic bomb that brought us all into existence. I don’t think many Christians do either. I like a balanced view point and tolerance. I think there is room for a spiritual, moral framework in most people’s lives and how they choose to express that is a matter of upbringing, personality and freedom of choice. It’s always important to separate the failings of ‘the Church’ (the governors of religion) from the teachings of the religion. I think Philip Pullman has explored that really well in ‘His Dark Materials’ and ‘The good man jesus and the scoundrel christ’

    • Photo: anon

      anon answered on 15 Jun 2010:

      Hi everyone! I am a believer of the big bang theory and I don’t believe God created the world. I was brought up in the Church of England but as my Dad is a Scientist, he told me about the big bang theory and I watched a programme called Horizon on it and it made a lot of sense to me:).

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