Atheists, where did the universe come from?

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Physics.

Not exactly showing your work, eh? What is it about "physics" that led you to your conclusion?

Nothing comes out of nothing.

Including God, I assume... right?

Universe cannot come out of nothing.

What do you mean by "universe" and "nothing?"

For that matter, what do you mean by "come out of?"

 

[youknowme]

Physics. Nothing comes out of nothing. Universe cannot come out of nothing.

I think your view is more based in the typical linear black and white fashion humans tend to think in than any realistic natural constraints on the universe. The truth is, that we are not even sure if the underlying structure of existence can even be interrupted in our conceptual framework.

 

[Willamena]

I always thought "believing = not knowing"

No. Knowledge is belief that just happens to be true.

 

[Willamena]

At the risk of oversimplifying... if the universe is everything, then anything it came from is also the universe.

It's turtles all the way down.

 

[Revoltingest]

It must have had a starting point, no?

Not necessarily.
When you observe a sine wave, where does it start?
At zero? At a peak? At the prior peak?
Maybe it just turtles all the way down....like she just said.

 

[FearGod]

Indeed.
If we knew everything what a boring place it would be. What would scientists do? All research cancelled?

Atheists don't invent explanations, "I don't know" is an acceptable answer rather than "God did it"

Not knowing means to you "no one did it"

 

[FearGod]

"Not knowing is much more interesting than believing an answer which might be wrong."

-- Richard Feynman​

Such as some believe that God doesn't exist, right

 

[FearGod]

No need to rush ahead - I only asked if he is satisfied to reply the scientists are "working on it". After all by all appearances they will never be done working on it - not to mention during the poster's lifetime.

Actually they saw the smoke which God mentioned that earth and the sky were kind
of smoke, the atheists say Oh, it looks like smoke but actually it isn't smoke according to science.

 

[Willamena]

Not knowing means to you "no one did it"

But then you put Sherlock Holmes out of work.

 

[FearGod]

The gaps are getting smaller and smaller and eventually God will not be needed

How you know that eventually God won't be needed?
better to keep saying "I don't know"

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Not knowing means to you "no one did it"

Why would we assume that the cause of the universe was a person?

 

[Remté]

I think your view is more based in the typical linear black and white fashion humans tend to think in than any realistic natural constraints on the universe. The truth is, that we are not even sure if the underlying structure of existence can even be interrupted in our conceptual framework.

That does sound more realistic and natural..

 

[ratiocinator]

Such as some believe that God doesn't exist, right

It's more a question of seeing no reason at all to take any of the many, many, many gods that humans have and do believe in, seriously.

If somebody comes up with a good reason to take one (or more) of them seriously, I'll revise my position.

Not knowing why the universe exists is not (by itself) a good reason to take a god (or gods) seriously because it doesn't help with the ultimate question of existence - we then just have the question of why that god exists. It's a baseless guess that doesn't really get us anywhere.

 

[stvdv]

I always thought "believing = not knowing"

No. Knowledge is belief that just happens to be true.

No? So what is "Believing"?

 

[Willamena]

No? So what is "Believing"?

Accepting something as true.

 

[ratiocinator]

So what is "Believing"?

Err, is this a real question? It's thinking something is true.

 

[FearGod]

But then you put Sherlock Holmes out of work.

You mean Arthur Conan as a fiction write?

 

[FearGod]

Why would we assume that the cause of the universe was a person?

Who said a person?

 

[Willamena]

You mean Arthur Conan as a fiction write?

Well, no… I meant Sherlock Holmes as a fictional character.

 

[HonestJoe]

The reason I ask atheists is that the religious will largely agree and I know their view.

The religious agree!? There are countless widely different religious creation stories and even within many religions, they don’t always agree on the interpretations or details. On top of that, a whole load of religious people will hold to the (knowingly incomplete) answers established from scientific study and thought.

There simply isn’t an “atheist answer” or a “religious answer” to this question (or indeed pretty much any other) and I feel making that distinction in asking can only serve to be unhelpfully divisive. There is really no reason to not simple ask what we think.

As a side point, you’re also inadvertently excluding anyone who isn’t atheist but isn’t religious either, an apparently ever growing population these days.