I enjoy watching shows on the Science channel, specifically 'Through the Wormhole' and not just because Morgan Freeman is the perfect narrator for everything... It's because of the really far-out-there questions the show asks of scientists and by extension, their viewers. In one of the recent episodes, astrophysicists and other scientific minds were working on measuring time and eternity, asking the question, "Does Eternity End?" Basically, the show finds scientists arguing their beliefs based on various methods of measurement and observation, and therefore drawing their own conclusions to the question at hand.
Most of the people on the show tend to be astrophysicists, meaning they work on the physical interactions of the bodies in the universe, such as stars and planets. They will sometimes work with subatomic particles in space and in stars. These subatomic particles are named so because they are smaller than an atom(the building block of all matter) and therefore exist in the atom or between atoms (Ex. Electrons and Protons you probably heard about in chemistry class or astronomy class).
To save time and my fingers, I'll refer to astrophysicists as just 'scientists' throughout this post.
A scientist will argue that Newton's laws of motion (the foundation of physics) should apply to all things, including time and eternity. One of those laws states that for every action there must be an equal and opposite reaction. Therefore, if there was nothing at the "beginning" of time, then there could never be something out of that nothing, disproving the 'big bang theory' (not like the tv show, which is a favorite of mine). I put "beginning" in quotes because scientists are finding it hard to quantify (measure) time when going back to the big bang/beginning or going forward to the theoretical end of time/existence.
In our society, we've segmented time into equal measures, second, minutes, hours, etc. to help us interact with one another and make plans. In a more cognitive approach, we've symbolized time as a line, moving in one direction (not like the band) from the past to the future. We, as a society, have an abstract idea of time, going in an order and allowing ourselves to be nostalgic and remember our lives in the past. When we think about our lives, time stretches from our birth to our death on a timeline like a facebook page.
But scientists turn that idea on its head, because if time were on a line, then time would have had to begin and that means that time would have to end...but with the theory of quantum mechanics (the study of the movement of the subatomic particles) shows that scientists can never be certain of the location or interaction of subatomic particles because they don't have solid walls. Meaning that scientists cannot say if the particles touched each other, or a particle could be there or not there at all at the same time. If you apply quantum mechanics to larger objects such as people or planets, then you can say you were sitting on the couch now and you say you weren't sitting on the couch at the same time. This uncertainty is ludicrous to normal physics and observation, but with quantum mechanics, it's important enough to basically through time out the window.
Time doesn't exist, we as a people made it up to measure our world. BUT, if it is made up by humans, then does it mean all existence always was? And are the predictions or calculations giving basis to theories of beginning and end just foolish?
Albert Einstein believed space (matter, stars, energy) is intertwined with time. So then when space began in the big bang, time began also (quantum theory allows for a spontaneous existence of a particle out of nothing - another post perhaps sometime in the future). So maybe Einstein was right, or could he be wrong in his understanding of space-time? Because time (as far as we know) hasn't changed, but it's clear according to the big bang theory, space has changed. This scientist argues that perhaps time existed outside of space/matter and therefore, time will be here for eternity...
Another scientist in the show believes that, if given enough time, all things will happen. The quantum theory, as I said before, allows for spontaneous particles to become real out of nothing. So if the observations and theories say that space will eventually be eaten up by black holes and all matter will disappear, then (because dark energy will still be there in a small amount) eventually a particle will appear and continue for infinity... until a new big bang begins the universe again and there would be a new YOU, which would make your life now add up to nothing.
Another scientist believes there is what's called a multiverse, which means we can only see so far to the edge of our universe (where light shows us) and there are other multiverses exist outside of us. Using some complex mathematics and the uncertainty of quantum mechanics, the theory works out to say that eventually our universe will decay just like the others in the multiverse and there is nothing we can do about it. Although this theory doesn't address the problems brought up in the first theory (if time began, where did it come from?) it's an interesting thought. So, according to this one scientist, the universe will end and time will end (as we know it in our observable universe.)
Yet another scientist gives the theory that our universe is like a holographic projection far away from us. We are traveling towards an existence that has always existed, but our observation of time is as if we are far away from the universe and we cannot see all things. So our observations would travel closer to the true universe, and time is a measure of distance from the holographic projection. It explains how our universe came from nothing, because we would be so far away from the projection to see anything, but it was still there (just out of sight).
Finally, we get down right weird...What if the future determines our present along with our past? Another scientist does tests on particle behavior, measuring them and observing them. With quantum mechanics, there is the uncertainty again. Scientists cannot accurately measure where a particle is at any one time. When they looked at particles at 2o'clock and measured only a couple at 2:30, they found that those they measured at the beginning corresponded to particles behaving in the same manner at 2. Therefore, saying that because they saw the particle at 2:30, those particles acted in a certain way at 2. Basically, proving that the future decision of observing those particles would determine how they acted in the present. Freaky! But applying anything from quantum mechanics to the larger world has problems, but this proves that the future decisions can influence the present just as much as the past. So, time has a destiny and so we have a destiny...
The last scientist covered in the show calculated the most information humans could ever learn or obtain. It was a large number, 10 to the power of 10 to the power of 90. That's 10 with 10 zeroes times 90 zeroes. He calculated the theoretical size of the universe and the measurement of how much we would have to know to a number of 10 to the power of 10 to the power of 123. If we had a machine to measure this information, we could only get to the first number, leaving out a very, very large number. If you tried to write out that number, writing a zero every second, you would run out of time. The laws of physics prevent us from measuring everything, because the machines necessary to measure it all would be so massive that it would collapse the universe into a black hole. So, he says why bother trying? Haha...
Now to my real purpose for this post...My belief in God allows for a few of these theories to work. For instance, the measurement of all knowledge shows us how far away we could ever be from knowing everything. So how could we know all that God knows?
Working backwards, the theories on the future and the past working together in the present makes me think of how God orders our steps. Our present is affected by the future we are meant to live.
The theory about the holographic projection, meaning that the universe always existed and our observations of it exist in time, allow for God to exist, because no one ever created Him.
The second and third theory talking about all of the time in eternity creating all possibilities (and possibly multiverses), no one can disprove it. We can never know if there are other universes because we cannot obverse them (at least, with scientific instruments). And since it's theoretically possible because of quantum physics, it's a mathematically sound theory. But, as I said, the theory about all time existing into eternity and the multiverse theory don't answer the question of where time began. Where did the multiverse come from? When did it start? Time, and by extension, God can exist outside of these theories.
The best theory I see is the first theory. Even though it disproves Einstein, theoretically, if time and space are intertwined, then time must have changed along with space, and there is no evidence of that. Time can go on forever, because I know there is another plane of existence outside of the observable universe, and God exists there as well as here in our world (through experience, and only in the physical for about 33 years). God orders our steps, affecting our present and leading us toward our future.
~ Buzz
