This is really getting into the second part of the question I earlier
posed.
Ä Area: PHILOSOPHY 
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
  Msg#: 2                                            Date: 26 Jan 98  
8:12:16
  From: Todd Henson                                  
    To: Richard Meic                                 
  Subj: Time and Again
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
 RM> The nature of time/space seems to contradict any theory of a beginning
 RM> to the universe.  Unless your the kind that would cop out and state
 RM> that time/space was made to _look_ that way .
The universe, by its nature, is necessarily finite. I explained this to
you before with the analogy of the half-infinite line, which you never
addressed, and couldn't counter.
Time is limited in scope, but constantly progressing. The key here is to
understand that anytime you have a progression of events, such as a
sequence of moments of time, a numeric progression, chicken and egg scenario,
etc. you are dealing with the finite. For instance, lets look at chickens
and eggs. A chicken lays an egg, the egg makes a chicken, the chicken
lays another egg, which makes yet another chicken. How long has this
continued? Can you count the number of generations of chickens since the
beginning? Its a big number, however, both evolutionists and creationists
understand that there are points in history where there were no chickens,
and there are periods afterward where there certainly were.
Time is the same as any finite progression of events. If time were infinite
then its existence would simultaneously exhibit all points of possible
existence. Time isn't like that. Time progresses moment by moment - it
doesn't matter if you measure moments in years, seconds, etc - the
effect is the same. One finite moment of time passes and ends, then another
comes and goes, and so on. It is a finite progression of events. Time is
continually moving toward the future. Moments that are now in transition
are the present, and the present moments move into the past, and new
moments that have never happened before are now added to the sequence.
If time were infinite, the it would not pass. it continually passes from
one mode of temporal existence to new modes that it did not occupy. That
is why there are moments that have not happened yet - time's existence is
finite, and as more moments pass, time is covering new moments that it
did not previously cover. Its the same as the chicken and the egg.
Arbitrarily saying that it always existed is not only illogical, but a
cowardly cop-out. Every finite sequence has a beginning.
It hinges on the first question I posed. We can agree that if there was
ever a point in which absolutely nothing exists, then nothing would EVER
exist. Now, the second half of that is that if there was ever a time in
which anything DID exist, then that means that there is a level of reality
which has always existed. Remember, if nothing exists, nothing ever will
because there would be nothing to cause anything. So, seeing as how
something DOES exist, then we know that there was NEVER a point in which
nothing existed.
Now, the universe does not exhibit characteristics of infinite as I have
explained. There is another level of reality which does not change, which
is beyond time, which as always existed and always will, and that is the
origin of the universe. Any sequence of progression, whether it be chickens
or moments in time, by its very nature, is finite and had a beginning, else
it would not be in the process of progressing from state to state because
its infinite existence would already encompass all points and possibilites
and wouldn't be in a process of progression or change.
Time flows in one direction, and is often compared to a line. A mathematical
line is construct that is an infinite set of points along a direction.
Infinite in both directions. The scenario you are proposing is that the
past extends into infinity, yet we see that the future is still happening.
That makes the line infinite in one way, yet finite in the other. You cannot
have something that is half-infinite. That's illogical.
The very nature and behavior of the universe under the laws of physics
demands a finite universe. The universe operates on entropy and inertia.
Eventually, stars "die", energy dissipates. Angular monentum is lost - maybe
bled off in the form of scattered heat. The natural tendency is toward
balance - nature hates a vacuum as they say. This natural winding down,
coupled with everything I have told you so far, indicates a finite universe
which existed in a more energetic and maybe concentrated state from which
the winding down process began. And as with all things, this process
continues.
The universe is finite, yet logically, because existence HAS ALWAYS existed
in some level, there remains a force, God, continuum, etc that has
always existed, always will, is beyond time, and brought the universe into
existence.
... Blue Wave - World Tour - 1998
... Blue Wave - World Tour - 1998
---
---------------