Xian Tian, Hou Tian: A Nobel Prize physicist's theory

[Taomeow]

https://news.yahoo.com/earlier-universe-existed-big-bang-174323840.html

[Michael Sternbach]

Thanks for posting this, Taomeow. 

 

This refers to Penrose's Conformal Cyclic Cosmology (CCC) which IMO is the most intriguing variation of the more conventional form of Big Bang theory that he himself helped establish back in the day.

 

I find it intriguing because it reconciles the modern scientific  conception of the history of our universe with the kind of cyclic view so prevalent in Eastern and other metaphysical systems.

 

Eight years ago, I attended a physics congress in Lucerne (Switzerland) where Penrose introduced his CCC. As soon as the opportunity arose, I grabbed one of the microphones that were offered to the audience and presented my own spontaneous thoughts on how this theory resonated with views traditionally held by the Kabbalah and Hinduism.

 

The reply I received from one of Penrose's close associates was telling... He informed me that, even though they (the cosmologists) don't mind me connecting science and religion, that kind of consideration was entirely outside their scope as scientists.

 

This once again reminded me of the Cartesian divide that contemporary natural scientists make between the physical universe  they feel so very competent to talk about and the transcendent, including those "last questions" that pertain to it - whose exploration they gladly leave to the philosophers and crackpots. 

 

While this attitude may seem fair enough overall, it is  obviously a far cry from the kind of natural philosophy that was founded by the ancient Greeks and  culminated in the teachings of the Renaissance scientist and metaphysicist Giordano Bruno who was burned at the stake for discussing the mind of God in conjunction with his cosmological vision of an infinite universe.

 

Well, since then the Church has fortunately lost its stifling grip on the liberal expression of intellectual thought, and while Penrose and his colleagues  themselves may not be willing or able to close the gap once opened by their predecessors during the Scientific Revolution, I maintain that innovative models such as CCC could potentially contribute to a revival of the holistic natural philosophy of the ancients, albeit updated to include modern-day knowledge and conceptions.