To the theists of the world:

[conuly]

Oh, you got me, I don't know how the universe started. Neither do you! The difference between you and me is that I admit it. Don't give me that "first mover" nonsense - that just pushes the question back.

Not that it's a very interesting question, mind.

Comments

[elf]

I'm always willing to share the true and correct creation story with biblethumpers, and ask them why I should believe their version instead? After all, my holy book was written more recently, and is obviously therefore more correct and relevant, just like the New Testament overrides some of the Old.

Just for completeness:

[amaebi]

I'm a theist and don't claim to know how the universe(s) started. That's not relevant to my mythology. And I'm not lonely.

Re: Just for completeness:

[conuly]

You're also not obnoxious, so there's that.

[mount_oregano]

It's turtles all the way down.

[conuly]

Yes, that.

[poliphilo]

The universe never started. Neither is it going to end. It exists in the eternal present. Linear time is an illusion- and only applies to the dimension in which we have chosen to live.

Timelessness is almost impossible for the human brain to grasp- but then the human brain is an instrument with very limited functions.

[redbird]

The somewhat-related questions I find interesting are, Did the universe start (or always exist, or is that question meaningless because it assumes too much about the nature of spacetime?) and What happened in the earliest moments of the expansion of our universe?

Neither of those questions has to do with, nor implies anything about, ethics or right action. Ethics says things like, People matter, therefore we should do thus-and-such.

[conuly]

Scariest person I ever online met was a theist who insisted that it was always immoral to go against what your creator dictated, whether you were a human or a hypothetical robot not wanting to murder people. I lie awake nights hoping she was a troll.

[oloriel]

Personally, I think it's a super interesting question, but then, I also think that all the answers are super interesting.
I mean, sure, it doesn't matter, but it's amazing to see what people have come up with across the centuries!

[conuly]

I've moved past finding the answers interesting because some people are just such assholes.

[oloriel]

Yeah, that can be a turn-off, but that goes for pretty much every question (or answer)!