Alexander Vilenkin - Why Did Our Universe Begin?

That the universe began seems astonishing. What brought it about? What forces were involved? How did the laws of nature generate the vast expanse of billions of galaxies of billions of stars and planets in the structures that we see today? What new physics was involved? What more must we learn?

Alexander Vilenkin is the Leonard and Jane Bernstein Professor and Director of the Institute of Cosmology at Tufts University. A theoretical physicist who has been working in the field of cosmology for 35 years, Vilenkin has written over 150 papers and is responsible for introducing the ideas of eternal inflation and quantum creation of the universe from nothing. His work in cosmic strings has been pivotal.

Closer To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.

[slick]

What if the universe was created just to be a giant star factory? If the star gets massive enough, it gets picked similar to how people harvest pearls. After the star gets picked, it leaves a black hole behind in our 3 dimensional space. Life could be analogous to little cockraches in the corner of the factory feeding off the energy.

[DouglasVoigt-tuxb]

Who else in the universe can ask WHY. Not how. Not where? Not when…but WHY. I love that I can ask that question. Love it! Don’t need to ask WHO.

[jimbuono]

No one knows what happens beyond our horizon and no one knows what caused expansion.
You can talk about it, hypothesize about it, think about it all you want but you there are going to be no answers for a long, long time.

[enriquetilve]

Trying to understand and explain reality from a three-dimensional perspective and considering time as a constant variable despite knowing that there are more dimensions and time is not constant is an effort doomed to failure.

[bobbarclay]

Some years ago Isaac Asimov posed this question. (Im paraphrasing slightly).
If all the energy of the universe is confined into a point, it must have been perfectly stable. If it was stable at all, and no time whatever had passed, why go bang?
If it was unstable, how could it have ever been a point?

[jameslyons]

Philosophy Always precedes the physical analysis of every aspect of reality.

[jimwilson-klxs]

There was no beginning and there will be no ending, beats me why scientists do not understand that

[carlcat]

One can ask why but there's not necessarily an answer. There are some things about the universe we may never know or be able to comprehend.

[AnonymousWon-uuyn]

Because matter cannot be created or destroyed that means that matter has always existed throughout the universe and it will continue to always exist throughout the universe in many different forms forever.

[asyetundetermined]

Video should be 5 seconds long. “I don’t know.”

[msilver]

where did all the laws such as gravity come from

[itzed]

I came here for the answer, not more questions.

[Joseph-fwxx]

It all sounds good but at the end these physicist tell u nothing be because they simply don't know the answer themselves

[MasoudJohnAzizi]

I was thinking about this guy's work yesterday, and today this video about his work appeared in my feed..

[jamesruscheinski]

when some of the older, earlier galaxies become causally disconnected from our universe, they will have greater ratio of gravity to cosmological constant expansion of universe? can this greater ratio of gravity be used to somehow measure now causally disconnected galaxies beyond this universe?

[cemalbengudeniz]

The idea of the Universe has always existed is somewhat more reasonable than it came from nothing. We might be asking the wrong questions by assuming that it began.

[georgedobler]

Why is a human question. Science has no why.

[gerardobaltodano]

Porque no hay la menor duda de que el universo "empezó". Esta comprobado 100% sin la menor pizca de duda, que el universo tuvo un comienzo. No se trata de pura retórica racionalista. Esa que simplifica todo a dualismos: inicio/fin, verdad/mentira, bien/mal, apagado/encendido, etc.

[johnpublic]

Infinity does not allow for a beggining.

[sanjosemike]

If one scientist wants to INSULT AND VILIFY another scientist, they will use the word “Creationist.” There is no word in any language that is a greater “insult.” Soon it will get to the point that the word becomes unprintable.

Sanjosemike (no longer in CA)