No, it does not. All it says is that the universe of spacetime exists. There is no 'creation' because creation happens *within time*. So, logically, the BB does NOT involve the 'creation' of spacetime at all.
Well, it isn't. Science is based on the scientific method: collecting data, making hypotheses, making predictions based on the hypotheses, testing to see if new data agrees with the predictions, and changing hypotheses as required.
There is no assumption of 'naturalism': simply the requirement...
On the contrary, it is based on the best evidence we have currently: analysis of how the brain works, analysis of different states of consciousness, analysis of how conscious states changwe based on changes in the brain, etc. The neuroplasticity is simply the fact that there are feedback loops...
What makes you think consciousness is non-physical? EVERY piece of information we have about it suggests that it is a consequence of brain processes.
My position is that everything supervenes on the physical: in order for anything to be different, something physical must be different.
ALL causes we know about are within the universe. Until we see causes outside of it, there is no reason to postulate such.
It seems you have difficulty with the concept of a definition. A definition is simply how we use language. So, if I want to define a smorgle to be a yellow unicorn, I can...
Well, as an example, neutrinos are 'dark' in this sense. They are not charged, almost no mass, no magnetic field, etc. They do not interact strongly via electromagnetism. So they are 'dark'.
They were initially a candidate for dark matter, but it turns out that their small mass would make them...
Nobody is 'blowing up' the balloon. In the analogy, three dimensional space is the universe of spacetime. Time is the radial coordinate. That is all.
ALL causality happens within the universe.
As I see it, the universe of spacetime 'simply exists'. It has no cause because it *cannot* have a...
Yes, I have. But it seems I am busier now than before. We moved and are getting the new place in order. My mother has been having health issues, and I am taking care of the dog more. Once things get reasonably stabilized, I will return.
Not really. The universe is defined as all that is physical and time is physical in the relevant sense of being measurable. The term 'before' implies time and thereby physicality, and so the universe.
When you use the words 'came from', you are implying the existence of time. But time is part of the universe of spacetime. That is true whether or not time is finite into the past.
An analogy is to look at a globe and think of latitude as analogous to time and longitude as analogous to space...
More specifically, the three dimensional submanifold of space is the boundary between the past and the future. Spacetime is a four dimensional manifold.