Processes and Entities

Abstract

The prevailing cosmological theory today is that everything in the universe has emerged, in some sense, since the Big Bang, about 13.8 billion years ago. This theory is supported by the evidence that the universe is expanding, apparently at an accelerating rate. Thus, it might seem that the ancient dispute between those, such as Aristotle, who argued that the universe could not have had a beginning, and those espousing a Christian view that it occurred ex nihilo, has finally been resolved. But no! There are still others today who argue that the Big Bang was a ‘singularity’ produced by some pre-existing situation. Either way, that the phenomena which constitute our current universe have emerged over time, beginning with a moment of infinite density and extraordinary heat such that the current laws of physics did not obtain, can no longer seriously be gainsaid. As we shall see, shortly after the Big Bang, a crucial event of symmetry-breaking occurred, which made possible the emergence of the world we know today.